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With few exceptions, YouTube's original shows have only been available to YouTube Premium subscribers, locking them behind a relatively pricey paywall. That will change starting late next month, Google has quietly revealed, when many YouTube Originals will be made free for everyone to access. This doesn't mean YouTube Premium subscribers should cancel their plans, however -- there will be perks available only to those who pay.

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W Hotels, specifically the W Hotel in Washington, DC, has introduced a new room service option that'll appeal to YouTubers: the Sip & Slurp menu for filming mukbang videos. The new menu is pricey and only available for a limited time, offering customers more than just food -- they also get a lapel microphone and cell phone stand for recording the content.

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For many college students, the end of August marks their return to school -- and for many people, they're starting university for the first time, opening the door to all sorts of student discounts and promotions. Companies are vying for students' limited budgets, offering incentives for people to sign up in the form of free promotions and discounts. Among those companies is YouTube, which has three free months for eligible students.

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If you're looking for a live streaming television service, Google is hoping you'll choose its YouTube TV service. To help lure in new customers, YouTube TV has doubled the length of its free trial, extending it to a full 14 days before customers have to cancel or pay.

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It seems that Elon Musk envisions Tesla's cars as more than transportation machines. Not so long ago, the electric car maker started adding the ability to play games on cars' displays. That naturally requires more interaction than some drivers and passengers might be comfortable with but what about passive forms of entertainment? That may be the line of thinking behind the visionary's revelation on Twitter that cars will soon play videos from Netflix and YouTube but not while it might be dangerous to do so.

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In the war for music streaming dominance, functionality and feature sets are a big deal. YouTube Music's recent launch means it has some catching up to do to more established players like Spotify and Apple Music, and today, it's trying to give itself an edge by rolling out a feature it's unique situated to deliver. If you're a YouTube Music subscriber, you'll now be able to switch between audio-only tracks and music videos at will.

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YouTube Premium, the subscription service offered by YouTube for users who want access to more features, has added the ability to save videos from favorite channels and recent topics for offline viewing. The new feature, which is only available to subscribers, helps users ensure they always have access to the videos that interest them the most.

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YouTube may be the prime venue for watching videos online but when it comes to interacting with viewers in real-time, platforms like Twitch and, more recently, Microsoft's Mixer, are the venues of choice. YouTube has been trying to get a piece of that pie with Super Chat and now it's announcing new features at VidCon that will let fans express their adoration and support. That is if they're willing to pay for it.

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When you’re watching videos, no matter if it’s on TV or on your phone, you probably don’t want to be distracted by anything else. On streaming media, in particular, user interfaces should get out of the way when not needed and be as unobtrusive as possible when they do get summoned. At the same time, however, they should also offer as much information necessary that viewers might want to quickly see at a glance. It’s a very delicate balancing act and YouTube TV’s latest update tries to achieve that.

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YouTube Music was created to address what the company discovered to be one of the service’s biggest use cases. But organizing playlists by hand can be a daunting task, especially when the subscription service boasts of thousands of songs. If you’re the type to prefer spontaneity and surprise in your music selection, the app’s new Smart Downloads feature might tickle your fancy. Either that or make you be more careful about the songs you Liked.

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If you sometimes feel like the algorithm that generates YouTube's recommendations has gone off the rails, you definitely aren't alone. While it's often good at recommending videos you might want to watch, sometimes you get recommendations for things you have no interest in. Then, of course, we've got people on both ends of the political spectrum accusing YouTube of bias in its recommendations, with some claiming that the company either props up or buries videos from one side or the other.

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The comment section on YouTube is notorious for its generally low-quality and otherwise awful content. Users get into fights with strangers, the occasional scammer peddles their garbage, desperate creators beg for viewers, and trolls stir up drama with incendiary comments. Many users avoid the comment section altogether and now YouTube is testing a feature that makes avoidance easier.

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