YouTube will let creators react live to other people’s long-form videos, and the person reacting pockets the live ad revenue.
Watch With began as a way to react to YouTube’s own tentpole broadcasts before creeping into tests between creators’ livestreams, and with views now counting from the first frame, credit for a shared view is a fair thing to fuss over. So, YouTube’s newest expansion aims to tackle that.
YouTube Watch With lets creators react live to any eligible video
YouTube unveiled the expansion at Made on YouTube and promised that creators will tap “React live” on any eligible long-form video or livestream to stream their own reaction alongside it once the rollout begins later this year.
In YouTube’s demo, the original video sat above the reactor’s camera feed. YouTube said reacting creators keep the live ad revenue and fan funding they earn during the stream, while original creators get clear attribution, added view credit in YouTube Studio, and full control over which videos can be reacted to.
That view credit is a bit murky, as YouTube did not say whether it turns into revenue for the original creator, which leaves the reactor as the only confirmed earner, and Tubefilter also asked whether a reaction view would count as a full one or a fraction. The announcement never spelled out what makes a video eligible either.
Meanwhile, the live audience is enormous, because YouTube said more than 600 million logged-in viewers watched live content each day on average in August 2026. And since the platform only began testing reactions between creators’ livestreams earlier this year, this stretches a young experiment across swathes of YouTube.
YouTube warned in July 2025 that reaction content with little original insight could lose monetization, so a built-in react button that pays the reactor makes for an intriguing sequel.
I’m Abhishek Sharma, an author at TigerJek.com. I enjoy exploring games, testing different strategies, and turning what I learn into clear, useful guides. My goal is to help players understand the game better and improve without the usual confusion.
