YouTube: Multilanguage audio now available for everyone

YouTube is making the option of uploading audio tracks in other languages available to all users of the platform in the future. The video platform explained in a blog post that this will take place gradually over the coming weeks. The option to upload your dubbing in addition to the main language was tested for two years with selected channels.

Multilanguage audio support is not to be confused with the automatic translations that YouTube itself has been creating for some time. Some viewers find the monotonous and sometimes robotic-sounding translations difficult to bear. Which adds to the annoyance: anyone who has set their language setting to English will hear the AI translation when watching German-language videos.

25 percent more views on average

The option that is now available to everyone puts the responsibility for translation in the hands of the creator. For example, they can use AI translation services to translate their videos into different languages and make them available as an additional audio track. The advantage: many services translate the language track in a quality that comes close to the original.

According to YouTube, testers of the function found that they were able to record an average increase of 25 percent in views because the offer in the respective native language attracted new viewers to the videos. YouTube has also made it possible for participants to localize their thumbnails so that viewers can also be addressed in their language.

Localized thumbnails

Participants in the tests include well-known channels such as those of MrBeast and TV chef Jamie Oliver. Initially, they had to work with external translation tools. However, YouTube now offers its own AI-based software tool that uses Google Gemini to translate the speaker's voice and expression into other languages.

(mki)