
Pilar Sánchez, Head of Top Creators and Agencies at YouTube
Pilar Sánchez, Head of Top Creators and Agencies at YouTube, detailed the platform’s strategy for evaluating real viewer engagement, confirming that the value of a viewer goes beyond a simple view. Sánchez asserted that success hinges on a combination of factors that ensure the final user genuinely enjoys the content.
Defining Viewer Value: Beyond the View Count
Sánchez explained that YouTube relies on a multi-metric approach to understand true engagement:
“As a platform, we don’t just look at a view, which may not give us that indication. Instead, we look at many metrics, especially watch time, likes, how often a video is shared. This type of interaction tells us whether the content was liked or not.”
Crucially, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is now being integrated directly into the YouTube Studio to empower creators. This allows them to analyze the sentiment of their videos:
“AI is being integrated into the YouTube Studio so that creators can use it to analyze the sentiment of videos. This allows them to ‘understand what is working and what is not’ and make content increasingly better for their audience.”
SHORTS vs. Long-Form on Connected TV (CTV)
Addressing the rise of short-form content like Shorts, Sánchez emphasized that YouTube’s strategy is to prioritize user choice rather than push any single format. The user dictates the consumption based on their current moment and device:
“Currently, it is not something the platform pushes; rather, depending on the user’s moment, they choose whether they are watching shorter content, which is usually entertainment on their mobile, or perhaps longer content, which is currently consumed on television.”
Sánchez highlighted this consumption dichotomy: short-form snack content is watched on mobile, while long-form content (podcasts, live streams, extended videos) is increasingly consumed on TV. She noted that in many countries, television already accounts for over 50% of total YouTube consumption.
Platform Responsibility: Safety and Community Guidelines
Sánchez stressed the platform’s stringent responsibility regarding user safety and content moderation, particularly for minors.
YouTube utilizes sophisticated systems to identify and manage inappropriate content, especially related to mental health or eating disorders in adolescent audiences. If a minor watches a specific number of sensitive videos, the platform intervenes by blocking further exposure and displaying professional help resources.
The platform is governed by its Community Guidelines, which explicitly ban illegal content like terrorism or pedophilia:
“We have metrics showing that more than 99.9% of these types of videos disappear in less than three minutes… I believe that, as a platform, we are among the most restrictive to prevent certain content from reaching audiences who should not see it.”
Sánchez concluded that while clear boundaries exist, YouTube consistently aims to balance content moderation with the fundamental principle of freedom of expression, always adhering to relevant legislation.