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What are annotations on YouTube?
Annotations were a feature on YouTube that allowed creators to add clickable text boxes, links, and other interactive elements directly onto their videos. These annotations could appear at specific points during the video, and viewers could click on them to be redirected to another video, playlist, channel, or even external websites.
However, annotations were discontinued in May 2019, and are no longer available for new videos. YouTube phased them out in favor of end screens and cards, which are now the primary interactive tools for adding links and engagement features.
Key Features of YouTube Annotations (Before They Were Discontinued):
- Clickable Links:
- Annotations allowed creators to insert clickable links to other videos, channels, playlists, or websites. These could appear as text boxes within the video itself.
- Text Boxes:
- Creators could add text annotations to provide additional context or commentary. These could be used for things like emphasizing points, explaining something further, or adding information that was relevant to the video.
- Call to Actions (CTAs):
- Annotations were often used to encourage viewers to take action, such as subscribing, watching another video, or visiting a link.
- Pop-up Boxes:
- Annotations appeared as small pop-up boxes within the video. These could be moved around the screen, but they sometimes obscured part of the video.
- Customizable Timing:
- Creators could set when annotations would appear in the video. You could customize both the timing and the duration for how long each annotation remained visible.
Problems with Annotations:
While annotations were useful in many ways, they also came with some drawbacks:
- Intrusiveness:
- Annotations often obstructed the video content, distracting viewers from the main action, especially if they were placed poorly.
- Mobile Compatibility:
- Annotations didn’t work well on mobile devices, as they were primarily designed for desktop viewing. This made them ineffective for a large portion of YouTube’s mobile audience.
- User Experience:
- Many viewers found annotations annoying, especially when they popped up too often or in the middle of key moments in the video.
Transition to End Screens and Cards:
YouTube’s move away from annotations to end screens and cards addressed many of the issues. Here’s why:
- End Screens appear in the last 5-20 seconds of a video, promoting other content (videos, playlists, channels) or encouraging actions like subscribing. They are non-intrusive and don’t obscure the video content.
- Cards are clickable elements that appear throughout the video (rather than popping up and blocking the video). They can link to videos, playlists, channels, polls, and external websites, and they work across both desktop and mobile devices.
Benefits of Moving Away from Annotations:
- Better User Experience:
- Cards and end screens provide cleaner, less intrusive ways to engage viewers without obstructing the video content.
- Mobile-Friendly:
- Both cards and end screens are mobile-compatible, improving the experience for YouTube’s growing mobile audience.
- More Interactive:
- Cards, in particular, offer more diverse interactivity options (like polls) and appear at specific points in the video, allowing for better timing and relevance.
While annotations are no longer available on YouTube, the features that replaced them—end screens and cards—offer creators more effective and user-friendly ways to increase engagement, promote content, and drive actions like subscriptions and video views.
