What YouTube data teaches us
Outliers, niches, titles, thumbnails: analyses drawn from millions of videos, and how to use them.
5 min read
How long should a YouTube Short be? Data from 49,000 Shorts
The best YouTube Shorts length in 2026, from nearly 49,000 recent Shorts by small channels: median views, outlier rate and million-view Shorts for every length from under 10 seconds to 3 minutes.
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YouTube Shorts titles that go viral: what 49,000 Shorts tell us
Do titles matter on YouTube Shorts? We compared nearly 49,000 recent Shorts from small channels: emojis, "bro", rankings, questions, hashtags and title length, with the views and outlier rate of each.
5 min read
YouTube Shorts vs long videos: which grows a small channel faster?
Shorts or long videos? Data from nearly 84,000 videos and 2,600 small channels: median views, viral rate and monthly subscriber growth for Shorts-only, mixed and long-only channels.
6 min read
Best YouTube Shorts niches in 2026: where small channels get millions of views
The YouTube Shorts niches where small channels break out most, from nearly 40,000 recent Shorts: how many small channels hit 5x their normal, median views, how many Shorts passed 1 million, and the format behind real viral Shorts.