YouTube has announced the full launch of its multilingual audio feature, which allows creators to add dubbing to their videos in multiple languages. In the coming weeks, this feature will be available to all content creators, reports TechCrunch.
The feature was first launched in 2023 as part of a pilot project involving only select authors, including bloggers MrBeast, Mark Robert and chef Jamie Oliver. At first, authors used the services of third-party services for dubbing, but later YouTube integrated its own voiceover and translation tool based on Google Gemini technology. The system is able to reproduce the intonation and emotions of the original author during translation.
According to the company, in the process of testing, the authors noted an increase in views. On average, more than 25% of the time spent watching videos with multilingual tracks was in languages other than the main language. For example, Jamie Oliver’s channel saw a three-fold increase in views after the feature was introduced.
In addition, the company is testing multilingual thumbnails with a select group of authors. Starting in June, creators were able to customize their thumbnails to display text in different languages for the convenience of an international audience. Such localized thumbnails are created with the text in mind to match the chosen languages of the viewers.
