YouTube expands custom feeds and creator partnership tools

YouTube is updating its in-app discovery listings, combining Ask Studio with its support chat tools and testing personalized product recommendations for creator partnerships. The platform is also expanding Hype with Jewels to additional markets.

Custom feeds move into top navigation

YouTube’s custom feed generation feature, currently available to U.S. users, lets people describe what they want to watch through conversational prompts to its AI system.

The company is adding these custom feeds to the top navigation bar, where they will replace non-custom topic options.

YouTube is also moving subscription and standard feed options into the top-of-feed display.

Integrated support and product recommendations

For creators, YouTube is rolling out a combined Ask Studio and YouTube Help chat interface. It brings AI-powered channel guidance and access to YouTube’s internal support into one workflow.

YouTube Head of Editorial Rene Ritchie said creators would no longer need to switch between chat windows for those services.

The company is also testing a personalized product recommendation shelf in YouTube Studio’s shopping hub for eligible affiliate creators. According to Ritchie, recommendations are based on a channel’s past content, audience engagement and trends in its niche, such as beauty, technology or home.

The display will also show estimated commission rates for each potential partnership.

Hype with Jewels expands to more markets

YouTube said its Hype with Jewels expansion began November 6, 2026, for eligible creators and viewers in the United States, Canada, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Poland, Spain, Turkey and the United Kingdom.

Jewels are an in-app currency viewers can purchase in packages and use to buy digital stickers to send during livestreams. Creators receive a share from stickers sent during their streams.

Hype lets viewers allocate points to a video to boost its ranking. Hype with Jewels allows creators to use purchased Jewels to add more Hype to videos.

YouTube is also expanding Hype limits for streams, allowing viewers to allocate as much Hype as they like to streamers. Hype with Jewels is rolling out to YouTube Partner Program creators with between 500 and 500,000 subscribers.