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.

8 channels · 98 videos analyzed

Window

Last 3 months Last 6 months Last year Last 2 years

Show

All uploads Top performers only

Showing 98 videos · last 3 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 98 videos

top: mystery_question · 35%

35%

30%

13%

11%

mystery_question

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

35%

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.

30%

direct_promise

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

13%

hot_take

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

11%

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

teaser_loop · address_objection · 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 98 videos

top: shorts_micro · 34%

By share · 14 formats

shorts micro dominates the rotation at 34%. 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.

34%

tutorial_step_by_step

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

16%

gameplay_letsplay

Live-recorded gameplay or activity playthrough with running commentary.

commentary_with_clips

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

review_critique

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

news_recap

Time-sensitive event coverage. Reports on something that happened.

essay_thinkpiece

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

+ 7 smaller formats

talking_head_explainer · case_study_breakdown · documentary_storytelling · interview_conversation · live_stream_recap · challenge_stunt · compilation_listicle

15%

§03

Title shapes

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

13 distinct shapes across 98 videos

top: all_caps_word · 28%

№ 01 · Cover story

28%

33 videos · 6 channels

all_caps_word

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

№ 02

21%

bracket_paren_tag

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

№ 03

20%

question_open

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

№ 04

name_drop

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

№ 05

superlative

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

№ 06

colon_split

'Subtitle: Explanation' structure with a colon.

№ 07

first_person_personal

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

№ 08

numbered_episode

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

№ 09

time_bounded

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

№ 10

contrarian_negation

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

№ 11

you_addressed

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

№ 12

mystery_bait

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

№ 13

versus_comparison

'X vs Y' framing — direct comparison.

§04

Length distribution

How long videos in this niche tend to be.

6 duration bands across 98 videos

modal length: Shorts (<1m) · 30%

Shorts (<1m)

30%

29 videos · Shorts

1–4 min

12%

12 videos · Short

4–10 min

6 videos · Standard

10–20 min

24%

24 videos · Medium

20–45 min

17%

17 videos · Long

45 min+

10%

10 videos · Marathon

51% 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 17% of the catalog.

18% 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 · 227 mentions

top: sims 4 · ×59

№ 01–15Frequency

sims 4

×59

phone review

×30

pop up design

×21

paper art

×17

space exploration

×15

cooking recipe

×12

deep sea

×10

antarctica

×10

physics research

×6

×5

save file

×4

sulfur burps

×2

star trek

×2

trump's iran war

×2

earth's mantle

×2

№ 16–30Frequency

secret network

×2

trees communication

×2

modular structures

×2

wombat poop

×2

earth's core

×2

earthquakes

×2

human body physics

×2

human brain size

×2

diamond growing machine

×2

brain cells

×2

andy weir

×2

hollow earth

×2

medicine destruction

×2

heartbeat detection

×2

mobile payment hacking

×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.