Your channel and Google+
Over the past year, we’ve been encouraging people on YouTube to connect your YouTube channel with a Google+ profile or page to access new features. Most active YouTube channels are already connected to Google+.
What happens when I connect my channel to Google+?
- Your YouTube channel will share its name and channel icon with the Google+ profile or page. Any name and photo changes will apply to both the Google+ profile or page and the YouTube channel.
- The “About” tab of your YouTube channel will include a link to the connected profile or page.
- Your channel URL (i.e. www.youtube.com/user/username) will not change.
Do I need to change my channel name?
As always, you’re in control of how you’re seen publicly. You can keep your current YouTube username, choose your full name, or even choose a new name for your channel. If you want to keep using a different name on YouTube than on other Google services, you can still do that with the Google+ identity system.
Explore the Google+ options for your channel.
What are the benefits of connecting my channel?
We’ve released several new features that integrate YouTube and Google functionality, and are continuing to build more. In order to take advantage of these new features, your channel needs to update to our Google-wide identity system, which works both on YouTube and also across the rest of Google. This identity system is powered by Google+.
- Better names. You can use your full name, or you can use a brand or business name. Google+ supports longer names, including spaces. Pages have no name restrictions. Get the name you always wanted!
- New tools for creators. These include Top Fans and comment moderation tools.
- Better private sharing. Google has great sharing technology that gives you fine-grained control over who can see your content. You can easily share private videos with specific people and groups.
- Advanced channel management with Google+ pages: When a channel is connected to a Google+ page, multiple people can manage the channel without sharing password information. You can also manage multiple channels from a single Google Account.
- Hangouts On Air. With Hangouts On Air, you can run a live broadcast to the world, and then share the recording on your channel.
- Post in the new comments system. YouTube’s updated comments system takes advantage of Google technology.
- YouTube tab on Google+. Your connected Google+ profile or page will include a new YouTube tab that shows thumbnails of all the public videos on your YouTube channel. Clicking a thumbnail takes you directly to the video on YouTube.
- Auto-posting. When you upload a public video to YouTube, you can choose to simultaneously add a customized post on Google+ that links to the video.
New YouTube channels and Google+
When you create a new YouTube channel, it is connected to either a Google+ profile or a Google+ page.
- A YouTube channel that’s connected to Google+ has a Google-wide identity, which lets you take advantage of new and better channel features.
- Most active YouTube channels already use a Google-wide identity and are benefitting from the features we’ve been building. As such, we no longer support new YouTube channels without Google+.
- As always, you are in control of how you are seen publicly when you create a new YouTube channel. You can choose your full name, or another name like a business or brand name.
Learn more about the new channel features that integrate YouTube and Google functionality.
Common Questions
When you create a new YouTube channel, you choose how you are seen. You don’t have to use a full name. Google+ gives you choices for your public identity. See What are my choices for a Google identity? below.
Google+ provides the common identity system for all of Google. You have choices for your public identity:
- Google+ Profiles are designed for individuals.
- Google+ Pages don’t have name restrictions. They’re often used for brands, businesses, and organizations. Your full name won’t be associated with your YouTube channel in any way.
There are several other differences between profiles and pages.
If you just want to watch and like videos and subscribe to channels, then you don’t need to create a YouTube channel.
When you create a new YouTube channel, it is linked to either a Google+ profile or a Google+ page, giving you one Google-wide identity. Whether you choose a full name, or another name like a business or brand name, this public identity shows when you upload, make public playlists, or comment on videos.
Many people use YouTube without a public YouTube identity (a YouTube channel). For example, if you just want to watch, like, and subscribe, you don’t need a channel. And if you don’t have a channel, you don’t need to have Google+. See Do I need a YouTube channel? above.
If you do choose to create a YouTube channel, your channel needs to be connected to a Google+ profile or page. This will have your channel’s public name on it; it doesn’t need much else. It’s up to you to decide how much information to put on the profile or page, and how much (if at all) to engage on Google+.
If you don’t post on Google+, your profile or page will show the YouTube tab by default, where people can find thumbnails of your videos and a link to your channel. If you want to limit discoverability of your page or profile, you can hide it from searches.
Note: As they are linked, deleting your connected Google+ page or profile will have an impact on your YouTube channel.
Google+ options for your channel
To use new and upcoming features that integrate YouTube and Google functionality, first connect your YouTube channel to a Google+ identity which works across YouTube and the rest of Google. You have a few options depending on which name(s) you want to use:
Use only your Google name
You can use your Google name (e.g. from Gmail) on your YouTube channel too. For example, you might have wanted to be “Joey Samson” on YouTube, but the best choice you could find was “jsams587”. Now “Joey Samson” is available, and you can extend your Google name to your YouTube channel.
To do this, just go to your account settings, click Connect channel to Google+, and follow the steps. If you don’t yet have a Google+ profile, you’ll get one with your name.
Use only your YouTube name
Perhaps you have a great brand on YouTube, and you want to use that name across all Google services, for example, as a business account. Or you might not use other Google services. If so, you can replace any other name on the Google Account (e.g. your Gmail name) with your YouTube channel name.
This option is only available if your account doesn’t already have a Google+ profile. If this applies to you, then you can go to your account settings, click Connect channel to Google+, choose your YouTube name from the list, and follow the steps. You’ll get a Google+ profile with your YouTube name.
Use both your Google name and your YouTube name, separately
Maybe you like the way things are set up today. For example, you might use a personal name on Google (e.g., “Jill White” on Gmail), and a brand name on YouTube (e.g., “JW’s Knitting Lessons”). You can keep this setup with the new system by connecting your channel with a Google+ page (instead of a profile).
If you were Jill, you’d keep your regular Google Account with the name “Jill White”, and get a new account for your knitting brand. Your channel would move to that new account, which acts like a subsidiary account that can be accessed from her personal account. Learn more about what happens when you connect your channel to a Google+ page.
Differences between Google+ profiles and pages
- Google+ profiles represent individuals.
- Google+ pages generally represent entities like brands, businesses, or organizations; they can also represent celebrities, individual personas, or pseudonyms. They’re often managed by multiple people.
There are several differences between Google+ profiles and pages and what happens when you connect them to a YouTube channel:
| Google+ profiles | Google+ pages | |
| Identity acrossGoogle services(Gmail, Drive, Play, etc.) | Your profile identity is used across all Google services, so you’ll have a consistent name across YouTube and all of Google. | Your Google+ page identity is separate from your profile identity, so you can use a different name on your page and channel than you do on other Google services. |
| Channel managers | As your profile represents you as an individual, the channel connected to your profile can only be managed through your own account. | A page can have up to 50 managers. This means that multiple people can manage a page and its connected channel without sharing sign-in information. |
| Managing multiple channels from one account | Since a Google Account can only have one Google+ profile, you can only have one channel connected to the profile on your account. | You can manage up to 50 different pages from one Google Account. You can switch between pages and connected channels without having to sign into a different account. |
If you’d like to learn more: You can read more about Google+ profiles and about Google+ pages.
If you’ve decided which type of identity to use: Find out how to connect with a Google+ profile or how to connect with a Google+ page.
Channel connected to Google+ page
What’s a Google+ page?
A Google+ page is an alternate identity, managed by a Google Account, that you can use to support a business or brand identity. You can switch back and forth between a profile identity and one or more page identities.
What happens when you connect your channel to a Google+ page?
When you connect your channel to a Google+ page, the channel is moved from your primary Google Account (which has your name on it) to a subsidiary Google+ page account that has your channel’s name. Your normal Google Account becomes a manager of that Google+ page, so you can still access the channel from your Google Account like you did before. You don’t need a separate password.
When you sign in to your Google Account on YouTube, you’ll now see a sign in switcher that asks you if you want to use YouTube as your Google Account, or your page (or pages). You can always switch channels by clicking on your channel icon in the top right corner.
There’s no public association between your Google Account and the Google+ page, so viewers of your YouTube channel won’t see your name or email address.
When you’re using the page, you might see an unusual email address in some places, like this: page-name-1234@pages.plusgoogle.com. This isn’t a real email address; it’s just an identifier for the page. Email notifications will go to the notification address that you can set for the page.
What else can you do with a channel on a Google+ page?
You can add additional managers to your Google+ page. This way, you and any teammates or collaborators can manage the channel without having to share passwords. You can also manage multiple pages (and their channels) from one Google Account. This helps if you have more than one YouTube channel.
Learn more about managing channels connected to Google+ pages.
