The Meta

What's landing across YouTube.

Aggregate trends across every channel we've analyzed: the hooks, formats, title shapes, and topics that keep showing up. Drill into a niche below for category-specific patterns.

10 channels · 160 videos analyzed

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All uploads Top performers only

Showing 160 videos · last 6 months

§01

Hooks that are landing

How the first ~15 seconds of a video tends to open. Picked once per video. Hover a band or row to link them.

10 distinct hook types across 160 videos

top: mystery_question · 36%

36%

27%

15%

12%

mystery_question

Opens with a genuine question to be answered: 'Why does X happen?' Not rhetorical bait — actually addressed.

36%

cold_open_no_hook

No deliberate hook — the video just starts (e.g. 'Hey guys, today I want to talk about…'). The honest 'no-hook' label.

27%

direct_promise

Explicit statement of payoff: 'In this video I'll show you how to X.'

15%

hot_take

Strong contrarian or provocative opinion stated up front: 'Everyone is wrong about X.'

12%

tutorial_step_zero

Skips the hook, opens with immediate instruction: 'Step one is…'

narrative_in_medias_res

Drops the viewer mid-action — already underway, context filled in later.

+ 4 smaller patterns

address_objection · teaser_loop · confession · personal_stakes

§02

Formats in rotation

How videos are structured overall. Picked once per video. Hover a planet or row to link them.

14 distinct formats across 160 videos

top: shorts_micro · 28%

By share · 14 formats

shorts micro dominates the rotation at 28%. The rest orbit around it.

shorts_micro

Vertical, sub-60s content optimized for Shorts feed. Use this for any vertical short regardless of internal structure.

28%

tutorial_step_by_step

How-to with sequential steps a viewer can follow along. Often screen capture or hands-on demo.

21%

review_critique

Evaluation of a product, media, or experience. Verdict-driven.

10%

essay_thinkpiece

Long-form argument or analysis. Builds a thesis. Editorial voice.

case_study_breakdown

Deep dive on one specific subject — channel, product, event, person.

commentary_with_clips

Analysis layered over clips/footage of an event, game, or topic. Voiceover-driven.

gameplay_letsplay

Live-recorded gameplay or activity playthrough with running commentary.

documentary_storytelling

Edited narrative arc with footage, B-roll, and structured chapters. Higher production.

+ 6 smaller formats

talking_head_explainer · news_recap · interview_conversation · live_stream_recap · challenge_stunt · compilation_listicle

11%

§03

Title shapes

Patterns titles use. Multi-label — a title can carry several at once.

14 distinct shapes across 160 videos

top: all_caps_word · 26%

№ 01 · Cover story

26%

44 videos · 6 channels

all_caps_word

At least one ALL-CAPS word used for emphasis (not an acronym).

№ 02

19%

bracket_paren_tag

Has a [Tag] or (Annotation) appended — e.g. '(2026 update)', '[FULL VIDEO]'.

№ 03

16%

question_open

Title is or ends with a question. Includes implicit questions ('Why X is…').

№ 04

13%

colon_split

'Subtitle: Explanation' structure with a colon.

№ 05

name_drop

Mentions a public figure, brand, or product as the hook.

№ 06

superlative

Uses 'best', 'worst', 'ever', 'biggest', 'first' — extreme framing.

№ 07

first_person_personal

'I tried…', 'I built…', 'My experience with…' — personal narrative frame.

№ 08

time_bounded

Anchors to a year, deadline, or window: 'in 2026', 'before X happens'.

№ 09

emoji_present

Contains one or more emoji.

№ 10

numbered_episode

'Part 2', 'Episode 5', 'Day 30' — explicit serial numbering.

№ 11

contrarian_negation

'X is dead', 'Stop doing Y', 'Why X doesn't work'.

№ 12

you_addressed

Directly addresses the viewer with 'you' or 'your'.

№ 13

versus_comparison

'X vs Y' framing — direct comparison.

№ 14

mystery_bait

'This changes everything', 'You won't believe', 'Nobody is talking about'.

§04

Length distribution

How long videos in this niche tend to be.

6 duration bands across 160 videos

modal length: 10–20 min · 23%

Shorts (<1m)

23%

36 videos · Shorts

1–4 min

14%

22 videos · Short

4–10 min

13%

21 videos · Standard

10–20 min

23%

37 videos · Medium

20–45 min

19%

31 videos · Long

45 min+

13 videos · Marathon

50% of uploads run 10 min or longer. The long-form floor.

27% sit in the 20-min-and-up zone. The 20–45 min slot alone owns 19% of the catalog.

27% live in the 1–10 min middle. The standard mid-form band.

§05

What they're talking about

Free-text topic phrases extracted per video, grouped into clusters of near-equivalent topics. Counts sum every phrase in the cluster.

30 unique phrases · 333 mentions

top: phone review · ×61

№ 01–15Frequency

phone review

×61

sims 4

×59

pop up design

×42

cooking recipe

×30

paper art

×30

space exploration

×15

physics research

×12

deep sea

×10

antarctica

×10

×8

chemistry experiment

×8

food science

×5

creative exercise

×5

save file

×4

game development

×3

№ 16–30Frequency

practical engineering

×3

sulfur burps

×2

star trek

×2

trump's iran war

×2

negative space

×2

earth's mantle

×2

secret network

×2

trees communication

×2

modular structures

×2

asbestos problem

×2

gameplay

×2

wombat poop

×2

earth's core

×2

earthquakes

×2

human body physics

×2

By niche

Drill into a category.

Niches with data float to the top. Pick one to see hooks, formats, and topics filtered to that category.

Education

6 channels · 142 videos

Tech

2 channels · 50 videos

DIY & crafts

1 channel · 30 videos

Gaming

1 channel · 25 videos

Cooking

1 channel · 25 videos

News & commentary

1 channel · 25 videos

These figures reflect the channels analyzed by our community, not all of YouTube. There's bias toward channels people are paying attention to — which is also what makes the signal interesting.