YouTube says the secret to success isn’t their algorithm, it’s your audience

Much of the talk at VidCon 2026 focused on how long-form horizontal content is at the forefront of reinventing the traditional Hollywood model. In a panel about the merger, Pocketwatch CEO Chris H. Williams declared, “If it works on YouTube, it will work anywhere,” pointing to The Besties’ crossover success on Hulu and, soon, the Amazon Fire TV Stick.

A recurring theme throughout the panels is how broadcasters like Hulu, Amazon, and Tubi hire creators, access their YouTube libraries, or fund original content. But what will it take for a video to go viral on YouTube in 2026?

That was the question Vidcon’s audience had in mind as they sat down for a panel titled Deconstructing the Algorithm: What Your Audience Really Wants from YouTube. Presented by YouTube, the three-person panel included YouTube Creator Link and Head of Editing Rene Ritchie, YouTuber Katarina Mogus, and YouTube Senior Director of Growth and Discovery Todd Beaupré.

However, instead of giving you a guide on how to make the algorithm work for you, Beaupré takes away the guesswork the creators have about it. At their head, Beaupré dismissed the idea that YouTube’s algorithm penalizes users for posting regularly and says creators aren’t penalized for trying new things.

“It depends on what you bring back, and whether it’s interesting or not.” Beaupré said of the gaps in posting, “We did an in-depth study of millions of channels and looked at the time spent between uploads to see if there was a correlation between how long it was between uploads and what was the difference in views before and after the break. We found no relationship at all. And if there is, the longer the break, the more likely it is to have more views.”

There are few slides and figures presented in the panel. But Beaupré presents a provocative idea.

‘Your primary audience is probably not as important as you thought.’

“Almost every channel has a click-through rate of less than 10% of subscribers. These are the people who click the red button when you ask them to subscribe,” said Beaupré. “But, 90% of the time, when they see your video, they won’t click on it [it]. This is normal.”

He continued, “Some of your subscribers will see your video in the first few hours, and 90% of them won’t watch it. YouTube understands that. That’s the same for many channels. So if you’re thinking, like, ‘Oh, my first 100 people, if they’re not the right people who see it, is my video going to die?’ No, because we know that even among your biggest fans it might not be the right time.”

Beaupré’s advice in the end was that creators should be more concerned with attracting their audience than using YouTube’s schedule. He said, “If you have a question about an algorithm, I encourage you to replace the word ‘algorithm’ in your question with ‘audience.’ How that works here is that if you take a break, the algorithm won’t penalize you. But the audience may have different feelings when you return. If you’ve been gone for six months, they’ve probably moved on and found new channels, right? They are on YouTube. And so you may not be as top-of-mind for them as you once were. Therefore, the audience’s reaction influences its distribution.”

Mashable is reporting live from VidCon 2026 in Anaheim. Follow our coverage with creator interviewsThe best photos of the panel, and the biggest moments from the meeting floor.