The problem with meta-gaming any system is that we will abuse it like crazy.

What you should do has been completely overtaken by what you can do. So that now, everything you can do is what people say you should be doing. Basically, YouTube thumbnails have thrown all meaning, or function out of the window, because now the meaning and function is to get views. So just throw some boobs and anything at all even if it's not in the video.

The problem with meta-gaming any system is that we will abuse it like crazy.

What you should do has been completely overtaken by what you *can* do. So that now, everything you can do is what people say you *should* be doing. Basically, YouTube thumbnails have thrown all meaning, or function out of the window, because now the meaning and function is to get views. So just throw some boobs and anything at all even if it's not in the video.


I saw Kitty's channel. Rest in pest you amazing animator.


I love how P5 music as background is pretty much a standard now


My personal favorite thumbnail is the one for Folding Ideas' video "Minecraft, Sandboxes, and Colonialism".


PokeaimMD has some of the best thumbnail branding 🔥


way back then i thought people put a custom single frame picture in the video so you can choose that as a thumbnail lmao


honestly 20% ill watch just because of a thumbnail. 80% is the title if it sounds interesting ill watch like this vid, i hated the thumbnail but i read the title and it sounded interesting.


Super Mario RPG music always earns a thumbs up from me.


I seen Mr Beast talking to I think it was moistcritikal about it and Beast has multiple thumbnails lined up for the one video and they test them and keep an eye on metrics to see which one is working best, apparently it can be a pretty minor difference that can get clicks too.


4:47 “A site where random amateurs can succeed in spite of their technical shortcomings.”

You mean just like P-

They killed him before he could finish the comment.

@Justin H Ah yes, Ronhub a site for images of Ron Weasley


12:21 It’s funny you’ve included AsumSaus in this video, because recently he’s been making more smash videos that follow your style of video-making. He used to just make compilations of melee moment, but his newer videos are informative and talk about melees mechanics. Just compare one of his newer videos to yours and you’ll be able to see the similarity. Also he puts a lot of effort into his thumbnails!

@Seth Stoll Emplemon sounds more like FUNKe tbh

I was thinking the same thing. They even sound alike.


Well this was helpful I just wish I had the equipment


I'm pretty sure AVGN's older videos got more views because of newer thumbnails. Literally, some of his videos from 8 years ago (as of 2020) have newer thumbnails.


Ok super off topic but hearing the Mario Kart Wii menu theme unlocked a level of nostalgia long forgotten.

Anyway, really interesting video. Definitely makes you realize how much thought (or lack of) goes into something so simple and intrinsic to this website.


This is an amazing video about thumbnail thank you to making this video


@mat check out creators.tf they've got active community servers and community made updates that could easily pass as real valve-made updates

there will Never Ever be Another Good TF2 Update.

@valentine nah I can understand why someone wouldn't like tf2, the skill ceiling is massive and it has people with thousands of hours that'll roll you in less than a second, bots are plaguing the game, some weapons are unbalanced or unfun to play against. I know the faults of the game, I've been in discussions about it before, calling the game hot trash isn't a take, it's a hyperbolic statement

@valentine It's the community that made it what it was, less the game itself. It was many people's first FPS, first steam game, first PC game for over 10 years running. It certainly was mine.
Along with the fact that Jerma985, Star_, Uncle Dane and LazyPurple (among other early youtubers) found their fame playing that game gave it lots of popularity.
Add all the Gmod and Source Filmaker videos on top and you have an incredibly iconic title, whether people like it or not. In fact, those Gmod vids are almost another extensions of YTPs.

Whoops, well there you go Emp, there's your script for the TF2 never ever. Contact me maybe if you need research help, I'm going to meld back into the white noise of the comment section.

he'd probably never give quake credit for starting team fortress

@Made of Mandrake A Never Ever won't be the same as a Lazy's Timeless masterpiece. Never Ever tends to look at a much broader scope of the topic, especially the later installments of it. I only ask for it because Emp does reference the game a lot and I'm interested in his opinion about it

@Pikmin012 Actually yes. A Never Ever for TF2 would just be Lazy's video. If you want the Never Ever, just go watch that (again).

Too many people have already made "never ever" style videos for TF2 already. LazyPurple's "TF2 is a Timeless Masterpiece" for example.

There will never ever be another tf2 update

The downward spiral works in mysterious ways my guy.

Bruh can we just get  community servers back, like matchmaking was the worst thing to happen to multiplayer games


Using the Vsauce technique you mentioned in the video was pretty smart


DEAR RAYCON: THE PROMOTION IN THIS VIDEO ACTUALLY INFLUENCED ME AND I AM CONSIDERING PURCHASING RAYCON EARBUDS!


Best thumbnail on youtube, "Should you use a lightbox?" By Miniac.


"Haha face of Linus i click don`t recommend channel" - Me

"Haha I am a simple man, I see (blank) and I click haha."

"OMFG! Look how low his jaw is! Some really fucked up stuff is happening in there!"

"Nn-nooooO!! You have to appreciate the visual design and symbolic aspects of this carefully crafted thumbnail!!!!!"


The GT4 menu music 2/3 of the way through hit me like a freight train


The more clickbaity they look, the less likely I am to partake as a matter of principle.


Actually I think I can prove that theory. I was watching AVGN like his old stuff and he changed the thumbnails a while back but I've seen more views on them


Even porn sites let you upload custom thumbnails nowadays. It's hard to believe that it wasn't always for everyone


If anybody is interested, at 1:49 the language used in the fake thumbnail is windings. It spells out "Downward Spiral"


The Mario paint music brings this video to masterpiece heights


Since a while I often get videos I've already watched in my recommended, but without the red bar indicating I've already watched it. Could this be a sideeffect of changing thumbnails or titles? It's annoying af, especially because i rarely get recommendations for fresh content anymore...


That ad segway was so smooth that I didn't skip it.


I always assumed that the best thumbnails were built from a similar design principle to the boxes of movies, book covers, album covers, etc.


Yes. You talk about well thought out facts. No, I dont know why do i keep watching because im not a youtuber and i generally hate the now days youtube meta and youtubers who do that. Yes, i do respect you and am here because of your content. No, i did not watch the video to the very end because i did not need anymore information. I will need this information only if i forcefully have to make youtube garbage marketable. Soooo? Thanks?


2:00 everytime I hear this music I immediately think of Speed Luigi, and I can't decide if I love or hate that


Not even 30 seconds in, we already see that even Lemon thinks Destiny is a joke (hopefully) :,3


that is the most blessed thumbnail i have seen


I intentionally avoid clickbait thumbnails and their corresponding videos to avoid sh!tty recommended videos and see only what I care about in my feed, like this video.


they said dont judge a book by its cover...

but this time i have to disagree to that quote


When he said "Your face is just a waste of space"... I felt that


Ngl, I was drawn in by the thumbnail for Operation Red Herring, that video brought me back to your channel after a break.

Nice psychology there Emp.


I feel attacked.   I hardly make thumbnails, I also stopped trying while ago.


Why do I suddenly care about thumbnails when I don't even do YouTube? Seriously EmpLemon, this is an academic paper grade of video.


I love that of all things Dan Gheeslings Minecraft series had a cameo in this video, never expected to see that anywhere on YouTube except his own channel


I've had this account since 2007, and I've learned that I can pass on videos if the thumbnail has:

-A face occupying 50% or more of the available space, especially if its making some stupid, obnoxious expression designed to get impulse clicks from toddlers.
-An avatar that's given center stage, particularly if its a damn furry.
-A title in all caps, or the clickbait part in all caps (ex: I PRANK a BRO in the GHETTO: GONE SEXUAL!?!?! COPS CALLED)
-That bizarre and creepy Youtube Photoshop editing... if you've seen the Spiderman and Elsa videos, or even those primitive survival videos, you know what I mean.
-A woman with her tits hanging out for impulse clicks.

A thumbnail should either say what the video is about, or work in conjunction with the title to convey an emotion. If the title is "Video Game review" and the thumbnail is a depressed guy slouched over on a couch, I generally know what I'm in for, and even a little bit about the comedic or editorial sense of the uploader. Failing that, the thumbnail should at least serve as an introduction to the content to come, serving as a sort of secondary title so that, amidst all of the content that pops up when you search "The Simpsons" that SuperEyePatch Wold video "The Fall of The Simpsons" sticks out. But when the thumbnail is xxXXGAMERGURRRRLXXxx's tits mushed up against the camera, with some soyboy off to the side looking on in absolute shock at said tits, all against a neon background, I know there is absolutely nothing of value in that video and I can skip it without a second thought.

@There's Always Another Way I know... and that really pisses me off. As tacky, offensive, and grotesque as those thumbnails are, a closeup of Markepliers face as he screams at "teh scarry animals #1104" still rakes in millions of views. I genuinely blame the parents that give tablets to impressionable children and let them roam Youtube clicking on bright colors and funny faces. That's bad for the aesthetic development of children, and horrible for Youtube as a community and platform.

unfortunately you're the minority there, and those BS thumbnails can still work well on a mainstream audience.

TBH This is just the basics for judging and navigating through YT thumbnails, but it does take a while to figure out. However, even in the ocean of good content with good, interesting thumbnails there's still thousands of videos, so the creators still need to scratch their heads hard to make something outstanding.

Replying to this cause this is very good logic that more people should use! Thanks!


That ad was so smooth I had to watch all the way through


thank you for three days grace, metallica, breaking benjamin, seether, and all the other great bands in that one frame lol


Here’s a good thumbnail:

Rainbow background with bold text saying DANK MEMES with tons of recognizable characters in the bottom of the screen

Here’s a good thumbnail:

Rainbow background with bold text saying *DANK MEMES* with tons of recognizable characters in the bottom of the screen


I still find it hilariously funny that the Sans thumbnail turned both Sans and Matpat onto a joke that hasn’t gone away

Jcast1 MatPat has, but Sans hasn’t.

That meme is fucking dry to the bone.

@Snowy121 I think their talking about the "Sans is Ness" thumbnail

Aren't you the "bunboi" person from twitter? Where did you get that profile picture from?

perhaps one of the most iconic thumbnails on the site now.


I remember you for your old YTPs but this is a nice perspective.


I tend not to click on clickbait thumbnails on purpose<br>Like, even if I know I'd have liked the video or if it's a youtuber I like, my egotistical ass just doesn't click. Like, I feel like I'm "above that" is a way; I feel like that's the case for a buncha people as well, hence why clickbait seems to work less and less

I tend not to click on clickbait thumbnails on purpose
Like, even if I know I'd have liked the video or if it's a youtuber I like, my egotistical ass just doesn't click. Like, I feel like I'm "above that" is a way; I feel like that's the case for a buncha people as well, hence why clickbait seems to work less and less


Damit Now I have to change my thumbnails again haha. Thanks for the in-depth look into your thumbnail process.


Haven't watched the video yet but I can tell this one will be interesting!


I remember camping for his spongebob ytps back in the day.


the start had like 8 thumbnails of videos I've watched

glad to see Nerel and understand why he hes getting in peoples recommended as he is lteraly remaking majoras mask so well my laptop will melt everything around it until it reaches the core


Damn. You are really criticizing the album covers and movie posters and therefore, can use it and show it fully legally


Prior to being able to select your thumbnail, you were able to make 1/3rd of your video the thumbnail you wanted, choose it as one of the 3 frame options, and then go into YouTube Editor and crop out the 1/3rd of the video.

This was how the cool '90s kids did it at least B)


I always ignore those videos that have thumbnails with someone pulling a stupid face on them


Actually I think that changing your thumbnail does boost views because many times I haven't clicked a video until I see it some time later with a new thumbnail and I wonder why it changed, so I click.


Thumbnails keep me away from certain channels. If it doesn't look like a serious creator made it or if it looks like something I'd see on a RyansToyReview video then that video is much more likely to make me not want to watch it. Thumbnails that do draw me in usually have something hard to visually read making me a bit more interested. Thats a little nebulous but so are thumbnails in general.

You're videos have a very surreal feeling about their thumbnails. And that feels good when I go to read its title im already interested.


This guy has changed since I last saw him


The thumbnail should've had an actual thumb in it.


One of the best YT channel available. Cheers friend


How dare you put down Dan Gheesling like that... my man is the best big brother player of all time


I love the gran turismo music in all of your videos. So nostalgic.


2:51 I see you slipping in that Uncle Dane “The Engineer Mindset” thumbnail like nobody would notice


I like the detail of Mario actual getting rid of the clown make up.


I think the AVGN changed all his thumbnails so that they can look more modern.


Wow..
Frederick “Ka-Nudd-sen”

Wow. It always amazes me how little the young youtube community seem to know of the actual world around them… Things that don’t involve looking at a screen seem to have become not worth knowing…
Yes, apparently i am now, in fact, a Grandpa


i can't be the only one who really doesn't look at thumbnails, right? back when clickbaiting thumbnails was all the rage i just decided to stop looking altogether.


9:50 2-1 DROP

never expected to see my boy Dan here


do you or anyone have a link to how i can make a similar radial effect? I use photoshop and illustrator


Gonna be honest almost all the videos I watch are because the thumbnail or the YouTuber


walks in
"Debating my mom"
Walks out

Fucking streuth, same.

*walks in*
"Debating my mom"
*Walks out*

Fucking streuth, same.


I saw a comment on how there should be a "there will never be" for team fortress 2

I beg you Templeton please make this

He will make a video on Star so yeah there will be a video on TF2

алексей Цыплёнков


The "newsprint" effect is called dithering.


graphic design

                  is
  my

                             passion

graphic design

                  is
  my

                             passion


that alternative Nevermind cover caught me with my pants off


That Segway into the advertisement was gold.


Why didn’t you mention the genius of Ahoy’s or Lemino’s minimalist thumbnails


I love how team fabulous thumbnail is just a random frame from the video


Ima just add 100 arrows with a high contrast and zoomed in circle saying "did you see it?"


12:21
Glad to see someone acknowledge asumsaus' AMAZING thumbnail design

Judging by the number of likes this comment got, I'd say he's wildly underrated.

His thumbnails have always been top tier


The thumbnails should be used to help guide the audience not trick them!


The very first frame of the video shows a Game Theory thumbnail intentionally meant to be stupid because it was an April fool's day episode

Seriously?

*The very first frame of the video shows a Game Theory thumbnail intentionally meant to be stupid because it was an April fool's day episode*

Seriously?


You know, I tried to customize my thumbnails in my Youtube videos and guess what, if I got to YouTube Studio then I have to confirm my account on my nonexistent computer. What's the point of that?


YouTube's motto: "Find your niche and exploit it!"


I’ve thought about it a bit, and what if 9:52 is an Easter egg? A hint to an upcoming episode of never ever “there will never ever be another reality TV contestant like Dan Gheesling” he’s honestly someone who deserves an episode dedicated to him, and I wouldn’t put it past Emp to leave little clues like that. All I’m saying is I don’t think it’s a mistake...

To add to the likelihood of this being true is the fact that Dan Gheesling himself commented on this, Emp didn’t apologize or anything for not knowing who he has, he knew what he was doing. My guess is that Emp contacted Dan about his upcoming episode of never ever, and this is kinda just an inside joke between them until the video drops.

But hey maybe I’m just a conspiracy theorist


I need that little end video. And I need it now!


I'd love to see a video where Emp explains his thumbnails like he did with operation red herring


I used to have an old YT channel with my friend Ryan. Our thumbnails, although horribly made, I would always make sure two people were on them.

Wario and Waluigi.

We joke about Wario and Waluigi constantly in the videos, so we tried to make that apart of the magic and although not very successful, I still think they were exceptional.

If you wanna see, the channel is called RinoAndJoel


I'm shocked that the Red Herring video thumbnail is not, in fact, inspired by the poster for Hunt for Red October. You just happened to come to an extremely similar solution to the same problem.


lol that Add pitch was like "you cant even afford rent! so buy raycon now!"


The Operation Red Herring thumbnail looked better without the outline imo


13:21 could have worked before darkmode but now it 50 50


I swear, the Nerrel Majora's Mask 3D thumbnail is still one of my favorite thumbnails. Everytime I see it, I just lose it.


There will never ever be another YouTuber like Filthy Frank


Get ready for the Youtube Description Metagame


You have the best backround music in your videos!


Wrong, there's only one way to make a thumbnail net you a wide audience. One SURE FIRE way.

Big Tiddy


“Smaller channels” <b>shows Dan Gheesling, Big Brother contestant, and one of the most famous reality tv show contestants of all time.</b>

“Smaller channels” *shows Dan Gheesling, Big Brother contestant, and one of the most famous reality tv show contestants of all time.*

Emerald if you watch competition reality shows he’s basically an icon

9:58 "smaller films" shows Parasite as an example.....

i only blame the fact that i no longer watch TVs as much as before.

who and what is big brother?

Victor Valletas u really owned him, faceless youtube user :p

@Emerald "How could one not know Big Brother season 10 winner and season 14 runner-up, Dan Gheesling?"

By not ever watching a single episode of Big Brother in my entire life.

And look, I'm not saying it like some kind of "I'm cool because I don't watch reality TV" flex, I just don't care for 95% of the shows in that genre and I've never seen a Big Brother advertisement that made me think it is a show I would enjoy watching, so I just don't watch it. There's plenty of other content I enjoy, most of it on Youtube.

Not to bandwagon but I've seriously never heard of him.

How could one not know Big Brother season 10 winner and season 14 runner-up, Dan Gheesling?<br>Also many know him from his collaborations with the streamer/youtuber Northernlion.

How could one not know Big Brother season 10 winner and season 14 runner-up, Dan Gheesling?
Also many know him from his collaborations with the streamer/youtuber Northernlion.


I had completely erased my mind of that image of princess Peach.


At first glance I could have sworn  that the Evanescence album cover was like a promotional visual for the anime Ergo Proxy. (Which I would recommend if anyone likes anime.)


You can always choose a frame in middle of the video.


All your videos are ultra worth watching


I knew something was up when you mentioned bland airpods, then raycon took over the video


no, this is "don't kill" 2:17
and this is "I am y*** your god"  2:31


This thumbnail intrigued me to click so nice work man


The sky does minecraft thumbnails are extremely memorable to me, all of them are just so memorable and tell you exactly what video it is, like the cops and robbers thumbnails, I can remember the first one easily even though I haven’t seen it in years

Vsauce thumbails are also extremely memorable, and it represents a different side of the thumbnail spectrum compared to skydoesminecraft, Vsauce thumnails are always so simple, and because of that they’re easy to remember and make an immediate impact when you see them, because theres usually only one thing to look at


I have to say your Horror in Isolation thumbnail is not your best work. Thats all that comes to mind.


You love to see Dan Gheesling pop out of  nowhere


That DANIEL GHEESLING cameo got me pogged out of my mind tho


The reason you removed the youtube wake up icon reminds me of why they changed the poster for 12 Monkeys.


There was one thing where Corridor Digital changed the name of a half life video they made to half life: Alyx right after the game released and it boosted the video quite a bit.


He put Daniel “Guldan” Gheesling in the video. Let’s Go!


As something a bit irrelevant if you ever read this comment since I first watched your channel i think you should someday do a video about Gran Turismo 4, it always feels so surreal listening to the main menu themes on a yt video, Gran Turismo 4 is one of my all time favourite games and it has meant a lot in my life, I played it as a kid and it´s what really got me into cars and i still boot up that ps2 to play it from time to time. I think it would make a good "never ever" video, i can think of a lot of things to say about that game but i´ve never done a video essay and i dont really have the equipment, and it would still have pretty much no exposure as would a video of you have


Can we take a moment to congratulate Downuardo Spiral on their Doctorate in Youtube from Green Simpson University?


I generally don't get mad at clickbait thumbnails. Like, it's your own fault you fell for it, so don't whine about it. It's only a problem if it's <i>true</i> clickbait, such as a thumbnail saying "OMG Shrek came to my house!" and then Shrek not showing up. That's real clickbait.

I generally don't get mad at clickbait thumbnails. Like, it's your own fault you fell for it, so don't whine about it. It's only a problem if it's _true_ clickbait, such as a thumbnail saying "OMG Shrek came to my house!" and then Shrek not showing up. That's real clickbait.


I remember there was this Scooby Doo parody with a thumbnail that looked like Velma and Daphne were gonna make out and like one scenes was Fred telling them to pose for the thumbnail lmfao.


"when it's popular it doesn't mean it's good"


"My first time jizzing" is my favorite thumbnail ever


the same guy who killed behind the meme for being a normie is making clown jokes in april of 2020


Emplemon watches JobbyTheHong confirmed. 2020 suddenly feels a lot better.


Changing the thumbnail of a video does help the a channel I sometimes watch changes the thumbnails of newer videos and I often click them again


this is why videos like "w" (jan misali) grab my attention now. so unassuming and yet so anti-meta


I cannot skip Reykon ads fast enough. Screw wireless earbuds. Just screw earbuds really.


The Japanese at 10:29 says
"Misuda¹ super coal²"
¹: Misuda is the literal translation of
ミスター.
²: Coal could come from the word コル, which sounds like "koru". Coral could possibly come from the word too, but it's most likely coal.

ミスタースパーコル
Means:
Misuta supa kuru

And you most read as:
MISTER SPARK
Because is in katakana used for foreing words

Greetings from Mexico 🇲🇽


Welp, and I always thought the circles on the last thumbnail where just a stylisted version of the downward spiral...


Ive definitely watched a video again exclusively because I didnt remember the thumbnail, just anecdotal, but still. Probably gaining a few more views from idiots like me.


"then your face is just a waste of space"<br>Oof.

"then your face is just a waste of space"
Oof.


The first 7 seconds was scarily recognizable. I think I watched ALL of those videos O_O


I honestly thought Matt Watson was in some sort of scandal for a second.<br>No, not that one! The SuperMega Matt Watson. How common is such a name, though, I wonder?

I honestly thought Matt Watson was in some sort of scandal for a second.
No, not that one! The SuperMega Matt Watson. How common is such a name, though, I wonder?


I hate the ones where the youtuber looks like they're about to receive a creamy buffet


This make sense why I thought about thumbnails being changes, with a bunch of Deja vu memories. That literally made me woke until 3 am due to recommended videos being interested with curios thumbnails.

I stole your liver while youre reading my username


5 seconds in and i’m already liking the video, shrek has swag 3 deserves that


@Kokonut Binks which is even funnier because that picture keeps on being used for all the memes, I recognized Dan first then noticed it was his own youtube channel

Imagine being a big brother winner and getting a ? :pensive: dangBruh

Kinda dying seeing him there, Emp must think he's some sort of small Minecraft Letsplayer when MC is so far from what he's known for

3:09 We can see Ringo, Paul, Minkus, and Paul.

I can't believe the Big Brother champion and social engineering mastermind Dan was snubbed like that.


Don't judge a book by ita cover when the cover is all you see.


A (educational?) music youtuber called Adam Neely uses “anti clickbait”

A title of one of his videos is “what is the slowest music possible?” And the thumbnail has the text “it’s about 33bpm”

He raises a question, answers it briefly, then that leaves you with a different kinda of question than a vsauce thumbnail.

A vsause thumbnail leaves you asking “what”, but an adam neely thumbnail leaves you asking “why”

Both questions can be answered by watching the video, but adam neely’s thumbnails make clicking his videos super comfortable. You know he doesn’t have a cop-out answer or anything,. His thumbnail lets you know that he will get right to the point


The persona music is so relaxing to have in the background

The Mario Paint/RPG/Kart music was also pleasant.

Everybody relaxing to Persona music until「Mass Destruction」kicks in


If thumbnail/title swapping is a legit strategy to get more views, i think it would be because it produces a simulated engagement because something youre familiar with is changing independently of you so now youre interested in watching a video you previously bypassed. If this becomes widespread Im going to have a mental break though because there will be no consistency over time for popular videos, it would be wack.


I actually look at the title of a video rather than the thumbnail tbh. If the title never grabs me, I just most likely won't watch. Unless its someone I already sub and follow, though.


I would say that putting that much effort into your thumbnails isn't worth it, but I honestly won't click on many videos which have a bad thumbnail (or title). With that said, the only thumbnails I consider to be "bad" have ugly people on them or gross-stuff. Something that actually makes me NOT want to look any further. Besides that, I don't mind thumbnails too much, even bad ones.


I'm actually deterred and uninterested specifically by the design and title of the next video: "Operation Red Herring". Ironically. Maybe it's simply not my thing.


It’s amazing that my boi Stimpee never got a cameo in this one, he makes some art pieces.


You aint slick with the amazing Persona 5 ost in the background

Good choice, great game


1:22 Literally at this moment of the video. YouTube on my roku just quit. My annoyance with the site summoned in one moment.


You might want to check Joseph Anderson and his The Villain of Edith Finch thumbnail curfuffle. He wrote about it on hit twitter few months ago.


Is that MOTHERFUCKING JOBBY in the end I see?


When the Thumbnail looks random or looks filmed in Vertical Orientation then you're probably scrolling through Youtube at 3 AM


08:36 I can confirm that it's true. I have seen it happen to several of my videos.


The Matt Wattson thing honestly looks like the poster to American History X


10:00 the person who plays the father in that film is a very successful korean actor, so i don't think this is a very good example.


"My first time jizzing"<br>-Youtube thumbnail

"My first time jizzing"
-Youtube thumbnail


It was driving me nuts where Emp got that brain image from, then he made the RLM reference


The "luigi exposed thumbnail has been changed 😥😥😥


<b>Imagine creating Luigi's Gay Theory</b>


I actually did click on this video because of the thumbnail, it looked interesting


that Raycon segue caught me off guard lmao


I literally clicked on the video just because I thought 16:20 was a reference and it turns out it was a Mr. Plinkett reference after all.


Practical engineering has great thumbnails


im not even using ones in my channel ffs, im just streaming shit i like in case i kick the bucket


Literally anything happens. <br>YouTubers: •O•

Literally anything happens.
YouTubers: •O•


i submit the boys at internet today for the best thumbnails on youtube


What's the chart at 2:46? That looks interesting


Was Majora's Mask 3D a Bad Remake is the good thumbnail... however it continues to haunt my Youtube suggestions, including this video's


Good video but I feel you haven't really covered any art based thumbnails (like drawn thumbnails like the likes of the ones from Supermega)


it seems that everyone forgot wires exist ever since apple and samsung remove the headphone jack


every youtuber and their mother is being sponsored by raycon now

like i bet the cash is good, but their earphones are trash


I think Stimpee has the best thumbnails. The gay porn really catches my eye.


I'm kinda scared he is gonna get banned because of the baby at 3:15


Then you have YouTubers who look desperate in their thumbnail design. YouTubers who just needs to put red circles and at least one red arrow into almost every thumbnail. Adding short question words like "WHAT?", and the whole thumbnail looking "loud" and obnoxious. – This is apparently a technique that seems to work because popular YouTubers, who really can't stand on their own line Vsauce, utilize it to get millions of views. Probably a lot of young people who don't know better. But it just tells me that their content don't have much substance and aimed at the impressionable youth, and it makes me not wanting to click. – There's just too much impressionable folk on YouTube.


3:26 you forgot the most iconic album cover. Demon Days


8:38

Joseph Anderson, after about a year of his video "The Villain of Edith Finch" being uploaded, changed the thumbnail and it got a relatively large spike in views directly afterwards

Cpt. Battlecock I guess a better question is why it’s getting recommended in the first place

@Noah Bearden so does it get boosted in the algorithm because it gets higher views or it gets higher views because it repeatedly gets recommended to people

Cpt. Battlecock It did get a view spike, and the fact that you got multiple recommendations shows that it got boosted in the algorithm

I dont know about that, but i certainly got the video reccomended to me recently multiple times. Didnt click on it tho.


i watched this when it was released and wached it again just now lol. great video!


1:41
Can anyone help me find this absurdist masterpiece?


Just put an ahego face in the thumbnail even if it doesn’t have anything to do with the video, works every time


I think it’s hilarious that the thumbnail for this video didn’t load before so clicked on it.


Those ending credits really make me miss your ytp.

downward something something


Emp such a chad putting the ad at the end of the video because he knows people will watch till the end


People look at thumbnails? 12:25 best menu music, ever devised.


6:49 i don't think i've watched whatthebuck for almost a decade, what a throwback.


9:55 "For smaller youtubers the face is meaningless"

I think using Dan Gheesling is a pretty poor example since he won a reality TV show. His face is pretty recognizable to a good subset of the YouTube community

Eh never heard of him and when I saw his thumbnails I don't feel like clicking on it. 🤷

@Dan Yeah, but the point being illustrated was facial recognition, and him being BB10's America's favorite, his face is pretty widely recognized


I'd say Vsauce cares about his thumbnails


The best thumbnails come from Internet Historian or the Internet Bloodsports guys before they all killed their careers becoming lolcows


The channel Real engineering does it quite nice


My first reaction to the operation red herring is that it was a Youtube red video and ignored it


shots fired at Dan "literally who" Gheesling


the period in time in which this was uploaded was one of the most important ever


Shrek has swag VI is an amazing video with an amazing thumbnail


At 5:26 well that's the firey-est fire segue I've ever heard (since Julien Solomita)


my favorite thumbnail has to be Nostalgia Critic gaping his maw open for his Freddy Got Fingered review


Fact: Using Persona music automatically doubles your subscribers


how to thumbnail:
- white outline around people/objects
- red arrows and circles
- big bold ALL CAPS text
- dramatic facial expression

I fucking hate it. I deliberately won't click on some videos if the thumbnails are too over the top.


I notice high boi has a green border on his thumbnails. Initially I didn’t notice them, but after a couple vids I start looking for it. Very subtle branding


Operation Red Herring was the first video I watched by you so my brain must have noticed it too.


I couldn't have not noticed yours usage of negative space in thimbnails. Red border aside from branding is concealing the red progress bar that shows you where you stopped watching and subconciouslly slightly disturbs the shape of the frame. Not sire if intended but ingenious anyways.


I use my raycon ear buds to tune out during ads from random ear buds!


WarioWare music is definitely the way to go for ad soundtrack lmao


3:03 HOLY SHIT EMPLEMON HOW IS THERE SO MUCH STUFF I LOVE HERE

3:03 *HOLY SHIT EMPLEMON HOW IS THERE SO MUCH STUFF I LOVE HERE*


Yes finally, more emp lemon for my addiction


i didn’t even recognize this channel bruh wtf i used to watch ytp back in the day


I just let Jesus take the wheel with my thumbnails.


did not expect to see AsumSaus in here. proud of my boy


Me : some of the worst thumbnails in the game


Seeing the thumbnail for kitty0706's 'Team Fabulous 2' made me smile.


Well game theory really did the episode complete about Luigi's dong


Dan Gheesling! One of my favorite twitch streamers 9:51


Last time I was this early emp was killing behind the meme


This idea of be yourself is so important today. Every thing else is simple after that. Don't be sheep and mob mental. It like saying be the best you.


I remember when the thumbnail was just the exact middle of the video so you had to put a frame in.


He used DAN GHEESLING the man, the myth, America's favorite big brother winner.


Emp watches AsumSaus? He truly is a man of culture.


I got distracted by the fact that CinemaSins interviewed Ray William Johnson when he made his first million.


Me reading this title: I’m looking at you Reddit thumbnails


Vsauce had a blank white thumbnail and he got over a 10 million views on that video


The thumbnails are probably the most important thing on youtube.<br>Mostly by adding clickbait titles and thumbnails to make you click on the video basically it's expectations and reality.

The thumbnails are probably the most important thing on youtube.
Mostly by adding clickbait titles and thumbnails to make you click on the video basically it's expectations and reality.

@Paolo i havent seen justin in a long time now.

Dud, I keep seeing you everywhere, you're like that Justin guy


That endcard... I don’t know what to say...

It’s very... Internet?


You're probably not gonna see this but i gotta say, you're not the same guy i used to hate back in 2016/17, i used to think of you as a typical toxic 4chan user but that doesn't seem to be the case anymore, i just saw your BTM defense video and that's a massive improvement if I've ever seen one


Also there's those thumbnails that have lewd pictures of video game characters


The irony is me just clicking this because I read EmpLemon in the notification menu and went ''hey this will be a good time'' and not seeing the thumbnail at all, cause when you see stuff in the notification, the first information is the avatar icon, the name, the name of the video and then the thumbnail (Ps. I'm also pretty blind so that thumbnail on the notification menu might aswell be an actual blur)

So I think there's also a difference between the notification system and the main page stuff.


I love how team fabulous 2 is in the video and when i look at my reccomended i see team fabulous 2 is there.


Ive decided to just start taking pictures of my poop as thumbnails

ɢօʀɛʄɨɛʟɖ - օքɦɨʊƈɦʊֆ ȶʀǟռֆʄօʀʍǟȶɨօռ


looks like they made yet another change to the like dislike button. looks like you were right


4:33 paint memes look like ass though, there's no way to have text border in paint, if you caption a meme in paint it'll stick out like a sore thumb on whatever you uploaded that meme to.


shrek has swag is the peak of thumbnail culture


lol you should do a full video on nine inch nails downward spiral for april fools or something


Throwing shade on Dan Gheesling for being unrecognizeable lol


Was this video copyright claimed? Album covers do that, i heard.


2:03
God I still miss Rick May even to this day. :,(


I keep seeing that Red Herring thumbnail and every time I think it's Arin Hanson.


Kitty0706, a content creator ahead of our time.


changing the thumbnail really boosts the views, I got 10x the existing views in a matter of weeks on a video


way to call me out like that, I'm just trying to keep history alive


Everyone talking about thumbnails and here I am just thinking, "Is that the music from Gran Turismo 4? Nice"


I always put a lot of effort into em and no one clicks


Nerrel's Majora's Mask thumbnail is the BEST.


3:17, would that image not be considered, you know, that thing.


Not gonna lie your thumbnail definitely worked lamo


Mario Paint theme music......... WHAT A LEGEND lol


You’re telling me that THE Dan Gheesling, winner of Big Brother has a meaningless face??


I just pick one the the youtube generated ones from the video.  Thumbnail will always represent the video if the thumbnail is the video.


Damn, showcased AsumSaus...

Can die happy now


i gave a 7 second video on my channel from a couple years ago that had like 13 views a thumbnail and it got 50 views in a week


EmpLemon, your favourite youtuber’s favourite youtuber😋


See the negative space option doesn't work for those of us who use dark theme


weird how u watch the biggest and smallest youtubers including Nerrel, Jerma, and Dan Gheesling


80% of the reason I clicked onthos video was the thumbnail.


To the whole changing thumbnail thing, I clicked on a Radio TTS video because it had a new thumbnail several times, not that I didn't know it was the old ivd


I almost spit out my Captain Crunch  4:40


9:50 you better give Dan “Winner of Big Brother” his proper respect, egghead >:[


the wingdings translates to DOWNWARD SPIRAL


Well the changing thumbnail thing is real. I speak as a viewer though but I've noticed in the past, I see a video on my feed, don't clic it cuz I'm not that interested then time goes by and see the same video again with different thumbnail and I do notice the video more, increases the chances of me clicking it


I clicked on this video
75% because of the title
25% because of the thumbnail.


I love the ghostbuster in the background lmao


9:52
MY BOI DANIEL GHEEZLING
Does that mean emp is a vod boy too?


Isn't the downward spiral an hour long album tho lol<br>Edit:googled it says the album runtime is 65 minutes an some change

Isn't the downward spiral an hour long album tho lol
Edit:googled it says the album runtime is 65 minutes an some change


Seeing that kitty0706 video brings back good memories. I really miss that guy.


I know Im just a small YTP maker but I recently changed the thumbnail for my Mr Bean one and it's views doubled in a month.

I love Minimme's thumbnails

Oh wow you showed TheRumChum's Monsters on Acid too, he is my favourite Pooper!


I'm so sorry Emp I will be right back after I watch "My first time Jizzing"


Hi first video of yours I ever watch. I think it was suggested to me because of the Bob Ross in the thumbnail. Also didn't care for the green Simpsons, but stayed for the Gran Turismo soundtrack.


Was Majora's mask 3d a BAD REMAKE? (N64 comparison and review)


Sadly enough, I can't customize my own because I nEeD a CoMpUtEr To Do ThAt!


last time i was this early monetization wasnt even the main point of youtube

@Egg T Oh please don't remind me of Geriatric, kid me still has feels over his channel

Last time I was this early people commented about the actual video and didn't make mediocre jokes.


Wondering how long you're going to sneak in references to your AsumSauce channel lol


Was that America's sweetheart, Dan Gheesling? Everyone knows his dad-tier face.


8:25, yes, it does boost your views, i'll click on the same video even if i watched it, just to confirm that its not a dejavuu and that in fact something really changed and its not my mind playing games with me

*_8:25_**_, yes, it does boost your views, i'll click on the same video even if i watched it, just to confirm that its not a dejavuu and that in fact something really changed and its not my mind playing games with me_*

@DawnPraiser I don't know about you but it always pops up for me whether I watched the video fully or just partially. There was one exception when they added a feature that allowed you to Premier videos. Any premiered video wasn't tagged with bar whether you watched it during premiere or after. They mostly fixed it though there still might be some problematic premiered videos.

@MrManiac3
sounds like a design oversight for youtube to not tag video i've already watched fully but watched prematurely. sure it's easily fixable, but the point here is that the user needs to make the conscience choice for "tagging" watched videos rather than a seamless design option that's toggled with a switch.

@MrManiac3
sounds like a design oversight for youtube to _not_ tag video i've already watched fully but watched prematurely. sure it's easily fixable, but the point here is that the user needs to make the conscience choice for "tagging" watched videos rather than a seamless design option that's toggled with a switch.

@DawnPraiser easy, just don't watch until the end

@Luis-Raul Diaz-Rios<br>it doesn't always popup, especially if you watched the video until the end.

@Luis-Raul Diaz-Rios
it doesn't always popup, especially if you watched the video until the end.

Kinda annoying <br>But the red bar at the bottom helps

Kinda annoying
But the red bar at the bottom helps


i'm very surprised that there was an uberhaxornova thumbnail thrown in


85% YouTube algorithm 10% thumbnail 5% search relevance


Here's an idea for a thumbnail to get a video going viral.

Just put up a picture of Hitler.


Guess the algorithm didn’t like this upload much great video tho


0:03 i miss that thumbnail. I can’t believe youtube made flashgitz change it

Racist mario is one of the most embarrasing videos.


Are you trying to revive Meme Review with that outro?


7:41 i was playing Persona 5 while listening to this video and i got confused by the music xd


Thumbnail that mentions affirmative action


In this episode: emp rags on Daniel gheesling

宇宙からショーン was on big brother, does streaming on twitch, and is part of the NLSS crew.


I find it amusing that I didn't even see this videos thumbnail cause I clicked it on accident...


Perfect meme thumbnail 1. Something to do with the video 2.over sexualized anime girl


You may not have noticed it...

But your brain did.


Thumbnails as an AFTERTHOUGHT LOL<br>Most Youtuber's I know think of their Thumbnail + Title before they even start making the video

Thumbnails as an AFTERTHOUGHT LOL
Most Youtuber's I know think of their Thumbnail + Title before they even start making the video


I can't wait until you drop the raycon sponsorship and I dont have to just dislike like every fuckin video I see.


How dare you teach younger Millennials composition!


Funny - I totally read the title before looking at the thumbnail


Why do the worst products pay the most money to advertising?

Raycon's one of the worst overpriced piece of trash in the history of electronics


Frederik Knudson literally uploaded a new rabbithole a few hours after you postis this one where you praised him, when his last upload was 4 months ago.

Talk about coincidence?


All those album covers in that one section and I didn't see The Downward Spiral by Nine Inch Nails. I'm disappointed.


I thought the thumbnail was a reference to Hunt for Red October (the movie poster)


The reverse clickbait of Adam Neely's videos is worth mentioning here


I remember the peach thumbnail when I was little


When that Gran Turismo 4 music kicks in🙌


Rip kitty0706, i only found out around a week ago. I waited for the next vid for six years and now its still making me sad.


me listening to the Raycon ad with airpods...


cant lie i liked because of the raycon segue that made me scream


Sick RLM reference, bruh, quote it myself all the time.


I'm just going to leave a comment here appreciating the use of Gran Turismo 4 music in this video.


Yo that ad placement was on another level.


My first time jizzing might be the best thumbnail on the site lmao


I wasnt expecting to see a dan gheesling video here LET'S GOOOO


Dude like your vids but I feel like your a bit wrong mostly when you say  YouTubers don’t care about there thumbnails and I understand this video is about 1 year old but most of the popular youtubers focus on there thumbnails more then there content and I feel like that was still true when you made this video


EmpLemon, I am seriously concerned for your mental health... Please get help.


1:10 tbh I would click a video if this was the thumbnail


I heard Matt Watson  at 14:22 and thought he was talking about SuperMega lol


For the never ever series, I think you should do there will never be an advertiser like billy mayes, never ever a golf player like tiger woods, and there will never ever be a boxer like mike tyson.

Why do I keep seeing that profile pic everywere.


Fredrick
-dry
-straight

Internet Historian
-moist
-gay


0:13 Challenge
Find some thumbnail which you been click bait you


I thought, Hunt for Red October when I saw the Operation Red Herring video's thumbnail.


Team fabulous 2 is probably my favorite video on YouTube


The thumbnail at the end loocks better than any modern movie poster for non-indie film.


I should absolutely judge a Youtuber by their thumbnails? Okay then. I've never watched Mr. Beast before, and their thumbnails look like shit.


Dude Dan Gheesling was like the worst example you could have picked. He's well known outside of youtube for Big Brother so much so that people would only watch that video if they knew that he was the guy playing the game.


Nice thumbnail :v i see what you did there


Never thought I'd here Spanky's Quest in the background.


Game grumps totally ruined their thumbnails


I like Knudsen far far more than internet historian


10:05 “Your face is just a waste of space”

Yeah, I know, no need to rub it in :(


I hate to tell you but Raycon's buds are lacking in a few areas they boast about and have fairly poor build quality. It pains me to see you advertise for them, even if you're making decent money from it....but I get it.


when he says smaller films and then puts the parasite poster up ahahahahahhahaha


Just a lil 12 year old who really loves your content.


8:24 it’s also possible that since YouTube likes to recommend videos you’ve already watched quite often, viewers might think it’s a new unwatched video and be more willing to click on it.


@EmpLemon Brew's channel is proof, he changes thumb and titles, and it boosts views


Well i think this thumbnail may be working


4:22 has anyone been able to find Waldo ? I've been staring at my phone for about a half hour now

yup i did, i thik at least, he is on the left side of the red/white striped tent on the right, hes standing almost behind this blue striped cover. u welcome


When seeing the George Lucas poetry clip and the "... but your brain did" image, it reminded me of the Mr. Plinkett reviews from RedLetterMedia. I assume it was intentional of you. xD


2:26 wrong, colour doesn't create contrast, the value does


a reference to my favorite movie and two to my favorite game


You and the random additions of Gran Turismo music. Its great.


thanks for uploading this on my birthday, very considerate


Your face is just a waste of space<br>-EmpLemon 2020

Your face is just a waste of space
-EmpLemon 2020


8:30, I noticed AVGN’s been doing this and he appears I’m my recommended way more often then he used to so I think you might be right

Yeah, and we all know that Youtubers usually have 100-400k per year, so it is obvious that Youtubers tend to make videos in order to increase future beneficial goal, since the views is what it matters, this is pretty much the reason why clickbait or nursery videos exist, since both will track more views.

I prefer when youtubers retain some old-school sensibilities, and was kinda disappointed that some of his classic videos had their organic thumbnails which for me grew up to be pretty recognizable replaced with this modernized style. If this somehow is bringing him more exposure, good for him I guess.


I saw AsumSaus in there. You’ve got good taste


You know what funny I only clicked on the video because of the thumbnail


I clicked the like button when u got into the raycon ad 😂😂😂


9:52 yall saying we dont know the face of big brother season 10 winner Daniel Gheesling???


Grate video dude you just got another sub


this kinda makes me feel bad for people making videos now. :(


I watched Team Fabulous 2 right after watching this.


What no Queen, News of the World? Had a hard time not looking at that cover back in the day.<br>Also Bat out of Hell.

What no Queen, News of the World? Had a hard time not looking at that cover back in the day.
Also Bat out of Hell.


Did anybody else get seriously disoriented at 4:12?


Emplemon videos like these are just higher quality shitposts


The wingdings(The symbols at 4:06) spell: DOWNWARD SPIRAL

Funny how a lot of them are thumbs down, skull with crossbones, among other “bad” things


We got an AsumSaus shoutout on how to do a thumbnail?? That’s so hype let’s goooo


you brought up team fabulous 2 so much the algorithm recommended it to me right next to the vid lol


YOU DID NOT JUST CALL MY MAN DAN GHEESLING'S FACE TOTALLY MEANINGLESS! BRUH!


when you said raycon E25 i got world of tanks ptsd!


pretty sure those wingdings say downward spiral


I just realized you passive aggressively took a jab Internet Historian for mentioning one of your old YTPs.


Weirdly enough the image featured in the thumbnail, is Flash Gitzs' "Racist Mario". Which is the opposite of a clickbait cause it actually shows what's in the thumbnail. But I imagine that's the point


YouTube meta game: you don’t play it you lose...


Are we not going to talk about the center of this videos thumbnail?


4:25 Waldo is next to a couple of people on the left of the red stripe tent.


im very happy to see the nerrel thumbnail


10:45 that nevermind cover had me cackling ngl


1:58-2:00 lasted an eternity

DO NOT USE HEADPHONES


6:19 could anyone tell me what this music is called ?  I am searching for this track for 5 years now :/

@satanicdude1 Well, I'm glad I was able to help you. Anything for a fellow king ;)

@Ian Malxoln You can not imagine how quenched my ocds are rn. Thank you, thank you so very very much ! :D (btw I dunno why I only now got the notification)

Beware the Forest's Mushrooms - Super Mario RPG


>implying shrek has swag has a poor thumbnail


Talking about changing your old videos thumbnails to boost performance, CGP Grey just changed almost all of his old videos, and the views spiked for all the affected videos


"you really need a woman g" "what's a woman?"

Some people are very confused about that nowadays for some reason.


To be honest; I didn't like the thumbnail of the other video and didn't click on it.


Ironic this video reached me through Autoplay


how tf did i spot waldo (4:26) in the first 3 seconds; damn


Greetings from Finland! I will edit my  tumbnails tomorrow but its so hard


What do you think of my thumbnails Emp? (I'm German so it's not self promotion)


Thank you, I needed reminder of that old joke from XKCD


Really, Math is what runs the human mind. The biggest bands in history are usually 2 & 3 syllables.
e.g.
The Beatles,
Led Zeppelin,
The Eagles,
Nirvana,
Soundgarden,
Pink Floyd.

These are just a few. Think about it


YouTube thumbnails are like beautiful paintings that were displayed at the art museum but they were tragically replaced or stolen. Meanwhile, those "clickbait" thumbnails were so terrible that even a drawing made by a 10-year-old looked way better than that.


Too many flashy thumbnails hurt my eyes.


EmpLemon make a video about how YouTube ruined the comments section and how put the comment section back to normal.


16:21 actually never noticed that, i just clicked it because I didn't have anything to watch lol


3:03 caught Phobia in the top left; nice

3:03 caught Phobia in the top left; *nice*


Am I in the Twilight Zone, or is there a baby weenis on that Nirvana cover?


Good to see the one and only AsumSaus here :)


there will never ever be another voice actor like rick may.

There are and they will, but R.I.P regardless


What was the video that one Duck Dodgers thumbnail was a part of?


We just got rickrolled in the first 3 second


9:52 Dont be talking trash about my man Dan Gheesling. he won big brother season 10 dont ya know


"I'm done with league of legends" is still the most relatable thumbnail ever


Just make it a meme collage of memes relevant the topic


10:46 the now grown up does not like this album cover.


Omg you were so right i got 5 billion subs because you’re teachings  🙏🏻😎


Meanwhile, Muta's thumbnails are <i>all</i> his face but stretched a little.

Meanwhile, Muta's thumbnails are _all_ his face but stretched a little.


Kitty0706 😭 R.I.P King you were a God of your time


1:46 i keep seeing that guy. Ive actually interacted with him as in like he's replied to one of my comments. A while ago i saw one of his videos and left a comment, innocent enough, about how i might want to be a furry despite the stigma, and he really wanted me to join in. I didn't end up joining in but it was like to a weird degree he wants more people to be furries.

1:46 i keep seeing that guy. Ive actually interacted with him as in like he's replied to one of my comments. A while ago i saw one of his videos and left a comment, innocent enough, about how i *might* want to be a furry despite the stigma, and he *really* wanted me to join in. I didn't end up joining in but it was like to a weird degree he wants more people to be furries.

There might be some shitty furries out there, but the only reason you'd be a furry is to be part of the community. I've met some truly awesome folks, and some truly awful ones. Kothism, I guess when he decided to not be a furry, still weirds me out as a person, and comes off as kinda a creep.

And by harassment I literally mean every other hour asking me if I had started on his piece *while I was at work*.

@MeowTheRainbowX I had a "friend" that "left" the fandom after making a huge dissertation to me about how I was his only friend after he harassed me and made me rush a piece of art for him, and that was leaving the fandom because of that. Later that day I found his art channel and he was posting a bunch of porn pieces of his character and acting like a little duechebag. Not saying it was for dramatic exits and guilt tripping folks, but it was for dramatic exits and guilt tripping folks.

That must have been before he announced he was leaving the furry community.  He went through his grievances with furries in a long video.  I remember him saying that he felt guilty whenever one of his fans told him that he had helped them become a furry.

He is really way WAY too passionate about the fandom. As a furry myself... Uh... It's a hobby. Just a hobby. I really don't like people that are so obsessed with the fandom that their personality just becomes "f u r r y." Kothism is really toxic imo lol I can't stand to watch furry YouTubers, even as a furry myself, because I've never found one that doesn't have a personality any farther than "I'm a furry and owo and expensive art and stuff." The cringe is real.

i guess he's just passionate about his fandom? i dunno, maybe it's like seeing someone mention your favorite book series and also saying "i might want to read it." not that i'm like, trying to force you to become a furry as well, nor am i a furry, i just think this comment is interesting.


Disclaimer: Raycons are shite don't buy them.


Oh god... I remember Vore World... And I absolutely hate it.


I suck at thumbnails. So i just draw a shitty one in ms paint and call it a day.


The only Youtuber thumbnails I like is Blazinskrubz tbh


Emplemon: "No, you can't just use image from video as thumbnail"<br>2020 LeafyIsHere: "Ha, ha still pic make view"

Emplemon: "No, you can't just use image from video as thumbnail"
2020 LeafyIsHere: "Ha, ha still pic make view"

He used all his viewer attention points on his titles


0:01 what's that little moon thing with the face from


Is that the song from Spanky's Quest I hear?


Watched a video review on raycon e25, all I gotta say is that it’s similar to RAID SHADOW LEGENDS


Can you do frying dory for crying out loud I wanna watch it


red borders make me carry on browsing, they just look like I've already watched the video....

And they look like cheap Brazil soap opera.

It happened to me

HOW THE HAY DID I ALREADY WATCH IT IF IT CAME OUT TWO HOURS AGO?!?!?  I just got here!


Holy fuck I haven't heard the Gran Turismo 4  music in 17 years.


I'll get raycons however ill contuinue wearing my clown makup. @EmpLemon @raycons link in the description


You put that Gran Turismo music down, you filthy Raycon selling caveman

You put that *_Gran Turismo music_* down, you filthy *_Raycon_* selling caveman


ayy u plugged asumsaus. he has some of my absolute fave thumbnails good shit


Today on national geographic:
What Is A Woman?

Today on national geographic:
*What Is A Woman?*


Accusing Dan Gheesling of being a smaller channel is heresy


1. put ur face doing a funny o face in thumb nail
2. arrows and emojis which draws in the normies
3. question in thumbnail or just question marks
4. haha goofy meme of the week reference

There you go.


I personally cannot stand arrows pointing to nothing in particular, circles circling nothing in particular, or just circles or arrows altogether. I cannot stand shots of the host with faux expression - like shock, fear, anger, etc - that practice has to be the one I detest most. Those faux facial expressions actually turn me off watching the videos and I’m likely to skip them.


7:36 Surreal seeing HollyLP in this video


<b>Generic tumbnaill of a youtuber face pasted on something cover</b> activated

*Generic tumbnaill of a youtuber face pasted on something cover* activated


EmpLemon, I would like to translate your videos for free obviously using my voice in order for you to get more public, I could translate them to Spanish because I think you deserve way more views, the quality of your content is amazing and it would be awesome for people who doesn't speak English to be able of seeing your amazing content! Also I could make subtitles if you want!


“shrek kissed my son not clickbaited pls watch end omg luigi and mario kil me!!!????”


Shout out to my boy Zane over at Wrestling With Wregret lol


1:40 Who tf needs over 7 Minutes to explain what a woman is?

"What's a woman?"- Geoffrey, The Fesh Pince of Blair (2013)


The newsprint filter isn't very visible scaled down on my PC monitor


When I see a horrible thumbnail, I dislike the video. Then, I wait to see if the video is good. If it is, I take away the dislike; don't like the video because the thumbnail is trash!


I was watching [Adult Swim] Star Wars robot chicken and I found out that your profile picture is on the cereal commercial


You know, theres a guy called daily dose of internet, he has thumbnails that arnt clickbait like his channle

@hiding in your closet 👁 not only that, but it's almost always the first thing.

It's actually true. DDI always eventually gets to what's in the thumbnail. It's neat and honest.

Its true! Look up his channle, theres literally no clickbait!


Don’t do big brother winner and runner up Dan gheesling dirty like that


0:01- How is Cool Life Hacks, clickbaity?


explain how cr1tical is so successful, he never makes thumbnails

He mainly has a large pre-established audience that will watch his videos regardless of the thumbnail.

Watch time from that audience increases the video's search-and-discovery. So the video gets recommended even more.

And because the video will already have a large amount of views(from his audience), that acts as a sort of incentive for newcomers to click on his video.

Or something around those lines. I'm not completely sure about the YouTube algorithm.
Then again, I don't think anyone is lmao


1:38 kitty0706, the creator of team fabulous 2, died not too many years ago.
Rip kitty0706


4:54 is that the man of Jon Bois Bob Fitzsimmons


I clicked this video cus of the thumbnail


I M  D O N E  W I T H  L E A G U E  O F  L E G E N D S


@8:35 yeah i see netflix do this all the time


fast readers might also take a fast look at the title before going on


congrulations for having a image of balls in your thumnbail.


Your probably gonna have to black bar the nirvana coverart.<br>(Because youtube is wierd like that)

Your probably gonna have to black bar the nirvana coverart.
(Because youtube is wierd like that)


Am i the only one that recognized h0llylp, a super iconic german youtuber in the random thumbnail examples?


There are no naked women next to mario 0/10


Technoblade changed his thumbnail for his minecraft hypixel skyblock video and I saw In the comments a bunch of people talking about how he changed the thumbnail and got more views


Add bob into the thumbnail then you get 1M+ watch


Thanks for slipping in the KITTY0706 thumbnail


Philip DeFranco is the definition of unremarkable


Mobile is a lot different. Single parts on one screen


The best part of this video is the Grand Turismo 4 Music, the video is 2nd best


haha yeah i hate seeing memes with an uncropped "made with mematic" or ifunny logo just because someone cant go on MS paint and paste some text


0:04 - 0:05 Hey, homie, what're you doing, putting UberHaxorNova's "Yup" videos in here?


I really like Vsauce, but like... There's Vsauce 2 and 3 and such niw, and he made different stuff, and it's a real pity... I can there for absurdist content about scientific stuff, D.O.N.G and L.U.T, not... Whatever it is they do now


just watch alpharad's clickbait thumbnail series


You got me. I clicked because of flashgitz


You remember back at the end of 2019 when we all thought we were goimg to get nuked in 2020 cause ww3 was gonna start?


go look at knowledgehub’s thumbnails. fucking insane.


I can’t handled the raycon style, I like AirPods because they don’t wedge themselves into my ear canals..


A frame @ 0:05 is a scene from YTP diying To lie 2.0


i lost my stupid phone so i cant us ibix paint to make my thumbnails anymore, now i use ms paint to make thumbnails when im in the mood to


I wonder how "The YouTube Title Metagame" would refer to regarding the " " Japanese Utau video...
10:02 That stings lol.


Is it weird that I know where the naked princess peach is from?


I like how no one is talking about the baby at 3:17...


Emplemon watches Wrestling with wregret confirmed 2021!??!?!


Ayyyy Nerrel's thumbnail was in this!<br>Cool

Ayyyy Nerrel's thumbnail was in this!
Cool


I only watched because your profiles face caught my attention


12:20 DID EMPLEMON JUST REFERENCE ASUM SAUS?????? CAN THIS GUY GET ANY BETTER


i first see EmpLemon and then the thumbnail


BRO HE PUT ASUMSAUCE IN THE VIDEO LETS GO


That's cool and all but who else found Waldo at 4:25


pls stop youtube pooping on your regular videos youre gonna bust my speakers and/or my ears.


Your ytp raw is steven is not avalaible at my country but these reaction videos are  ok wtf!


Is your profile pic Admiral Ackbar saying Deez Nuts?


Maybe the thumbnail should be more respectful


Hi, this is something in psychology<br>Also, mine!

Hi, this is something in psychology
Also, mine!


Unironically this video did not make me click at first


Moistcritical has asended beyond our mortal realm


So basically markiplier and sfm content

Got it


Why is shrek has swag 3 here? Its exactly what people wanted


Looks like emp bought all the toilet paper


Hey! Dan Gheesling is the famous winner of Big Brother season 2 (i think 2 anyway)


funny thing is that i clicked here cause i was interested in ur thunbnail


Hey man, Dan Gheesling is not a waste of space


15:30 That's when you realize the graphic designers of Persona 5 actually did an excellent job by connecting black and red to their visual branding. Black and red are the colours of casino roulettes and the french deck suits, elements connected to money and power: Elegant handsome men, femme fatales , the constantly explored kaitou archetype on the game which are mostly based on magicians (people which tends to perform in casinos). The visual identity as well as some aspects of the game itself are familliar with this ambience.

15:30 That's when you realize the graphic designers of Persona 5 actually did an excellent job by connecting black and red to their visual branding. Black and red are the colours of casino roulettes and the french deck suits, elements connected to money and power: Elegant handsome men, _femme fatales_ , the constantly explored _kaitou_ archetype on the game which are mostly based on magicians (people which tends to perform in casinos). The visual identity as well as some aspects of the game itself are familliar with this ambience.


this is only valid for youtube chonchen craters who make vids for a living


Lol Nerrel’s video is in the recommendations that was referenced in the video.


I have a very clickbaity thumbnail with the south park tech service guy and title  my video has 8k views for that one video id say the majority of views is because of that


My favorite thumbnail is from this video:
https://youtu.be/fTgZRVVr3_Y


I hate that mario kart video. I hate it and that stupid thumbnail. My hate for that video is infinite. Thanks emplemon.


I want you to never not put effort into a view


Uberhaxornovas wool video being here makes me happy


I might not know which tumbnails are good, but i def know which one i hate. O-face!


My guy sounds like Funke without a lisp.


Shoutout to everyone who knows the name of game the song  from at 2:51 - 3:30 ish (spoiler below)
,
,
,
,
,

Spankys quest


Here is how I do it: 👌👌👌🤣🤣😂😂😂🤣😃😂😭😭😭😰😥😓😰😱😱😱😱😱😱😳😳😳😳😳


0:02 what is that thumbnail with the majoras mask moon? I know I've seen that thumbnail before but don't know where from

It's Nerrel's video on why Majora's Mask 3D is a bad remake


I got an inSAEStional appetite for morospiks and I want More more MORE FCKIN BA


Hey! If anyone would like some thumbnails, I can do them for pretty cheap.


I check how long the video is before clicking on it


Red arrows. Its red arrows. Thats the secret.


dont u jus luv those vids where da thumbnail grabs ur attention but has nothing to do wit da vid's content itself xD


Wait... you showed dan gheesling. Are you a northernlion fan too?


You used music from Gran Turismo 2 there.


Ahha the RACIST MARIO  video.. x)<br>A Gem of the past.

Ahha the RACIST MARIO  video.. x)
A Gem of the past.


I got 1.6k views on a Minecraft video of me doing absolutely nothing lol


i have to say how do you know soo many seemingly random stuff


9:13 - I love YT Channel - Wrestling With Wregret lol.

9:13 - I love *YT Channel - Wrestling With Wregret* lol.


What video is the thumbnail in 1:20 from?


HE PUT SHREK HAS SWAG INTO THE VIDEO IN THE BEGINNING AHHHH PYRO FANS RISE


my videos are just unedited game clips or shitty flute covers so the the default thumbnails work for me


Hey, what do you think of my thumbnails?


I wanna throw a brick in your logic ....... I got here on autoplay


YO SHOUTOUT TO MY MAN DAN GHEESLING AT 9:50


Love the Persona 5 background music now that I’ve played the game 😂


ohhh, i understand now.

my videos are just shit lmao


I must have that image at 8:04 but cannot find it...


Why do I know the names of all the videos in the beginning


THE VIDEO TEAM FABULOUS WAS RECVOMENDED TO ME AS I WAS WATCHING THAT PART WHERE YOU SHOW IT AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA


Does anyonw know wjo made that ytp at the end of the video I cant find the creator or channel or "mr. Butterfingers"


I actually didn't like your jiggly puff thumbnail...


You like that insane Japanese Ronald McDonald song too? That's what's up.


Did you change the thumbnail again? video is getting recommended


EmpLimòn clackbated mi but it is ok. Me does luv her :)


not at all on topic but what is that song from at 13 minutes. I've definitely heard it, but cant think of what its from


My wife left me and my children Don’t like me


Did anybody else, NOT get notified for this video? (Yes i have notifications on)


Scripts? Making thumbnails? Seems like a lot of work and smacks of trying too hard, anyway what do I know, perhaps that's why I only have 75 subscribers, lol.


I mean, I clicked. Nobody’s business why, but I did.


Is the song at 3 minutes from Spanky's Quest?

Holy shit, it is. Such an underrated game. Soundtrack LIT AF!


AsumSaus and Emp are the same fucking person


Nice to see you still crafting vids to keep me sane during this lockdown, Goddess Bless you Emperor Lemon!


That was probably the smoothest  transition into a sponsor I've ever seen, nice.


Welyn and Stimpee, my two favorite thumbnail designers, granted, Welyn has his designed by a friend who hand draws them, but this is still more effort than most and I respect and appreciate the value of their worth.


Hey I have been watching your videos for quite a while and I just want to say how your editing is the best I've seen. The high level of production and editing is amazing and remarkable. The topics you choose are capturing and you make them fascinating to watch and I credit you so much for having such top-tier videos. The best part is how these are all free, it should be a crime. You really are a gem on this website. You have opened my eyes to see a much bigger picture of analysis and depth. Thank you, EmpLemon.


Damn this really made me think about my thumbnails from back in the day and now. A lot has changed for sure.


One of my videos has a million views. The thumbnail was definitely the most contributing factor. It was simply a screenshot containing <b>a ton</b> of modded-in Guardians from Breath of the Wild firing their lasers towards the lower-right hand corner; straight from the video itself. No text. No graphics. It was simple yet very eye-catching.

One of my videos has a million views. The thumbnail was definitely the most contributing factor. It was simply a screenshot containing *a ton* of modded-in Guardians from Breath of the Wild firing their lasers towards the lower-right hand corner; straight from the video itself. No text. No graphics. It was simple yet very eye-catching.


One thing I really appreciate about your new content is that you stick to your guns about being both a YouTube poop artist by including them in the end, and also so your research meticulously.


I am always impressed and highly entertained by your content. Keep it coming, Emp. I am in school for graphic design now, so I naturally have strong opinions about thumbnail designs. It was interesting to hear your analysis. YT thumbnails do present extremely unique design challenges.

On a personal note, I am extremely disappointed in the overall landscape of popular YT channel thumbnails. There is little viewer consideration in the designs beyond branding and cheap psychological exploits. I wish creators would get strikes of some kind for misleading or obnoxious/inappropriate thumbnails.


Actually learned something today. This is slowly becoming my favourite channel .


That transition into an ad went down smoother than a foamy root beer


I remember watching DaveDays videos back in the day, who figured out the exact millisecond to put his video thumbnail to select from the three images.  It was like a mini-jump scare in each video.


He's right about the album covers. I remember browsing YouTube and in my recommended was that unforgettable and alluring sun on Klaatu's 3:47 EST album cover. It just drew me in and a few weeks later I listened to all five of their albums


another great video. your channel really is full of quality and super intriguing videos


Skeppy broke every Youtube rule ever (thumbnails, tags, etc.)

He has 3 million subscribers now.
Legend


Emp would ever consider doing a quick vid on what you do to make an interesting hook to the start of your videos? I really like how well you open your videos and get straight to the point, and it would interesting to see how you go about your writing process.


Every new video you make is always the most amazing and best content I've ever seen!!!! I've been watching your channel for as long as I can remember being on the internet and watching YouTube poops


I have always been a big fan of informative thumbnails, where it basically ends up answering the question posed in the video title. The best example I have of this is Adam Neely's video "What's the slowest music possible", where the thumbnail literally said "It's about 33 bpm".
It really felt like he respected my time, even though it left him worse off, since I would see the thumbnail and not watch the video since I already got the answer.
I did later become curious and ended up watching it for the explanation.


Damn Blob boss, you really blew my mind, i never really see your thumbnails because i always find high interest in your content so to me, seeing you profile icon in my notifications tab is all i need, in fact more often than not i don't even read the title before i start the video, but that also come from the recognition of your icon, having been subbed for some time, and knowing that no matter what the topic is, i can find a full video of entertainment and often new information to use or ponder.


This would be a perfect video to have a compleetly blank thumbnail. It would stand out as it is very anti-meta while the amount of views on the video and the title would telegraph the quality of the video.


Feel like I've made a piece of youtube history now, thank you lol.


I find it philosophically interesting how the basic rules for quality art seem to be a constant in all forms. Youtube didn't necessarily start out as something to share or create art on, but as people began making videos with purpose it just kind of happened. And as it happened, there was a rapid evolution in the quality of videos relating to artistic standards.

For instance, thumbnails. Nothing noteworthy at first. Time goes on and there's an emphasis on branding. Then style. Then meaning. "Show don't tell" is a rule for all visual mediums, and somehow youtube creators caught on organically; telling as much about the video through visual cues and metaphors as possible while keeping a sense of style and branding. If they wanted to be like movies, they could have followed this trend from the moment Youtube videos became a financial prospect. But Youtube, with it's own specific meta in terms of gaining views, got there by itself because it objectively works.

It then brings up the question; Is artistic quality a natural progression? Through all possibilities, does art always evolve to these standards? Does good art create it's own standards? Or does it work because they follow our modern interpretation of good art, meaning all art is subject to the standards of the times?

It's also worth noting how the changing thumbnail meta mirror movie posters even more. To capture the largest audiences possible, movies can come out with several promotional posters for advertising. Each one then has it's own style and, therefore, purpose. Gathering different demographics, wider audiences, niche audiences all for a movie they might now all see otherwise with just one poster. Because of the very function of thumbnails, Youtube videos lack the ability to do this, and managed to find away around it by changing the thumbnail after specific amounts of time to capture wider audiences. It's fascinating to see how it could further evolve in the future. Who would have thought a subject I never thought twice about has so much meaning behind it.


You are so good at selecting music for your videos. I was beyond excited when I heard music from the Persona 5 OST in this vid.


As someone who pretty much only specialises in audio, I always welcome some kind of unexpected lesson in image design. Good audio can only help you so much without any good visuals when it comes to videos or movies. And it sure as hell can't attract an audience unless it's like some movie or video getting popular for having cool audio, like the binaural virtual haircut. Even with music you need to design good album art, even though I would say it is much less important now that it once was.


Ill be honest I initially took a chance on your channel because the thumbnails are all top notch. That coupled with your average video length I just assumed on sight that they were quality.


Emplemon is back with a new and useful topic ! ❤


Surprisingly, the only videos I ever made that did well have thumbnails made in MS Paint in 5 minutes, and they definitely don’t hide it either...


10/10 quality content keep up the good work


“They aren’t boring name brand products, like airpods”

Today's video is sponsored by Raid Shadow Legends, one of the biggest mobile role-playing games of 2019 and it's totally free! Currently almost 10 million users have joined Raid over the last six months, and it's one of the most impressive games in its class with detailed models, environments and smooth 60 frames per second animations!


Knocked it out of the ballpark once again, emp!


Now a days I try and make my thumbnails under one aesthetic. Bright , saturated and a hell of a lot of vaporwave And RGB effects. I make sure no one can look at my stuff and turn away.


Adam Neely's thumbnails are great. The video title asks a question and the thumbnail answers it simply. It makes you want to click to learn more about why it's the answer.

Jerry The Obnoxious Mouse. Seriously, Screw Jerry.


This dude really had me put my ear closer to the phone when I recognized him using Tokyo Daylight in his video. Love you Emp

Didn’t know so many YouTubers  used P5 music, let alone knew what Persona is.


Sadly, trying to match the background color of Youtubes main site to create a custom thumbnail shape falls apart when you cant factor in if or if not the user is using dark mode.


I've been trying to nail my thumbnails, I always thought that was super important. Good timing lmao


I didn't know anything about Matt Watson and the thumbnail really sold me. It looks familiar, but I can't think from where...which helped draw me in too.<br>You could make a really good skill share style course on this!

I didn't know anything about Matt Watson and the thumbnail really sold me. It looks familiar, but I can't think from where...which helped draw me in too.
You could make a really good skill share style course on this!


Love you showing of AsumSauses thumbnail design as it is very distinct and relates to his videos very well.


My man Daniel Gheesling, best set runner of the Youtube legends, everytime I see that man's face I'm ecstatic


Some youtubers that come to my mind when I think of people that make the best thumbnails include NateTalksToYou, ARTV, The Right Opinion, I Hate Everything, Adam Neely, Boyinaband, SteveTerreberry, and PieGuyRulz.

My process for making thumbnails is basically choose a blur image for the background from a folder I have or find something on google, take a picture of myself that I crop out so that people know I'm in the video, have 1-3 other relevant images to throw on, choose a font from my giant collection, type the title or a shortened version of it, pick a color for the text, add an outline and pick a color for it, size everything accordingly, add outlines and drop shadows for everything, export.


Once, I saw the thumbnail to Artist Problems and I straight up felt threatened in every way.


Something else that doesn't get enough recognition is the little preview that you get when you hover over the video. Sometimes I'm contemplating watching a video and decide not to because the preview is a sponsored segment or some shit


boutta level up my thumbnail game thanks emp


8:28 it's true. small creator here. i've revamped several titles and thumbnails, as well as tags .. the desc... etc.. and it definitely does spike growth in per-existing videos.


emp made one video on smash and now he sees a metagame in everything


Another good technique is if youre answering a question in the video, put the answer in the thumbnail so people will click to see how or why. e.i. Adam Neely's "what is the slowest music?" video


The thumbnail Emp has for this video right now doesn't follow most of his own advice in this video. My guess is in a weeks time he's going to change it that follows the rules more and see if the algorithm he talked about at 8:23 is true


The "video" that you put up during the "credits" segment of your video reminded me of how Fantano would end his meme reviews. Those were good times.


Changing your thumbnail often tricks viewers into thinking a new video has been uploaded, that's why it gets more views i suppose.


That Majora's Mask Moon edit thumbnail by Nerrel was the first video of his I saw and now I really like his content. I probably wouldn't have clicked it that thumbnail wasn't as drawing as it is.


Forgive me if you've heard this before, but there's one issue with the red border of your YT Geographic thumbnails and that is that it is impossible to tell if one has seen the video before at a glance. This might result in false data as people click to remember.


0:58 - Luigi gets thrown into a dumpster (if you look closely, you can see a helium tank from a balloon kit).


I am so glad you recognized AsumSaus. He makes great content too.


LOL glad I'm not the only one that is so tired by the time I get to making the thumbnail that it's the most painful part of the creating process :)


The snark tank has really good thumbnail game for a podcast


... a 1 hour loop of the downward spiral? OFCOURSE! BRILLIANT! I'M PUTTA HERE


In the TASing community, the standard is to include a screenshot from your run as the thumbnail. Rather than provide an image to the publishers, you provide a frame number, and they'll take a high quality emulator screenshot for you. I do the same thing even when uploading encodes to my own channel.

Interestingly, I still follow the same principles of thumbnail design. Is Mega Man visible here? Is it clear what's going on? Does it seem impressive, while also representing the strategies showed off?

As an aside, the TASVideos people use your selected thumbnail on their own site, but they don't bother to use it on YouTube; I think an auto-upload script is involved. I think this has negatively impacted my interest in watching certain TASes.


That photo at the end that made it full circle was a nice touch.


The grotesque vomit-inducing nature of youtube thumbnails (especially the Majora's Mask moon with the realistic eyes and flesh that I had to manually filter from my recommended after it kept showing up for weeks) disgusts me. Even at 1:16, just the expressions on their faces is so distorted and gross and unnatural and brings up so much revulsion within me. You say "capturing attention" like it's a good thing. These people should be socially ostracized and judged harshly for their thumbnails. Because I've used dark mode exclusively for 5+ years, RebelTaxi's thumbnails have always just looked garish with his bright 'family friendly' colors, bizarre indiscernible logo, and big empty white outline that doesn't achieve its result of negative space.


Can we appreciate that emp's avatar is wearing a mask?


I think going back and changing the thumbnail gives the viewer dejavu


Wait, so when you made the Red Herring thumbnail, you never noticed you were accidentally recreating the poster of The Hunt for Red October?


8:35 Say you're scrolling through one of your favourite channels and, all of a sudden you see a video of which you've never seen before. You don't have a good enough memory to remember if you've watched the video of the same name however you notice a visual change to the thumbnails, something new. You click it and realize you've already watched it however watch it again as it's from your favourite channel and you probably already really like their content and wouldn't mind watching it again. You now, possibly having more contact with people through new social media platforms share it and blah blah blah


I love trying to see how many thumbnails I can recognize


I thought Operation Red Herring's thumbnail and title were based on The Hunt for Red October
<br>They even have the same design elements.

I thought Operation Red Herring's thumbnail and title were based on The Hunt for Red October
They even have the same design elements.


Nevermind is a great example in the music industry of getting attention through a album cover and pushing over michael jackson in the billboard 200


Nerrel's creepy Majora's Mask Moon thumbnail appears in the first few frames.<br>Me: Ah. Quality content right there.

Nerrel's creepy Majora's Mask Moon thumbnail appears in the first few frames.
Me: Ah. Quality content right there.


Now I finally have the power to make thumbnails


Nice of you to give some attention to Asumsaus as he's pretty underrated


Id click on a new thumbnail even if the video ive just clicked on was already in my watch history. Id probably catch something i missed the first time.


People have been mocking Youtube thumbnails for over a decade now.


I lick lemons DAILY to keep my thumbnails fresh


Your Youtube thumbnail version of Nevermind is golden 10:45


12:21 Asumsaus is truly a man of culture.


I cried when I saw the Mordecai one at the beginning


Anthony Fantano has the best thumbnails because you already know the score of the album based on what he’s wearing


do you plan on doing something for your 10 year anniversary of the first video you ever made in may 2010?


Bought Raycons and they feel like a nickel in my ear


I thought that the thumbnail for the Matt Watson video was genius, it reminded me of the cover of The Hunt for the Red October


But... how do you make , the least appealing thumbnail ?


2:09
Graphic design? Not my passion? Unthinkable.


I love the mario kart music. A man of culture


10:46 NGL Cracked up at that Nirvana thumbnail style album cover 😂


I really like how Wilbur Soot brands his thumbnails. he just puts a red line saying 'WILBUR' in the bottom left corner


Hey someone please tell me i'm not crazy and he's changed the thumbnail of this video since he released it


Very glad you have the Eric Butts soijak in your images ready-on-hand


Corridor recently changed the name of one of their older movies to cash in on Half Life: Alyx, which brought it back to the recommended page.


my 2 favourite youtube channels are knudsen and internet historian, problem is, THEY UPLOAD EACH YEAR.


I just want to say I love you for using Gran Turismo background music <3


I remember when people would put sexy picture at the middle of the video just for the thumbnail.


Astral Throb is a clear example of this.


Its like making thumbnail political cartoons lol


Yay emplemon made a video, also monsters on acid😂


Guess im the only who got the mario paint music at 2:00 when he starts talking about graphic design.


How big is your green Simpson’s footage folder on your computer?


I DECIPHERED THE WINGDINGS! 1:49
...
👎🏳🕈☠🕈✌☼👎 💧🏱🖐☼✌☹ spells "DOWNWARD SPIRAL", alluding to the backdrop image.


I love how you use grand tourismo 4 music.


You're saying that Daniel Gheesling, BB 10 winner and BB 14 runnerup, popular twitch streamer and youtuber is meaningless?!


Racist Mario’s thumbnail is a masterpiece


Emplemon: hm, few year ago in loife video i said that maybe i do video on star_. Maybe i do some never ever later and than something else just for my soul.<br>Emplemon 12 second later: WHAT THE FUCK? IS THAT PICTURES ON YOUTUBE? WHAT IT CALLED YOU SAY? THUMBNAIL? HOLY SHIT.

Emplemon: hm, few year ago in loife video i said that maybe i do video on star_. Maybe i do some never ever later and than something else just for my soul.
Emplemon 12 second later: WHAT THE FUCK? IS THAT PICTURES ON YOUTUBE? WHAT IT CALLED YOU SAY? THUMBNAIL? HOLY SHIT.


I think I need to edit my thumbnails....


The minimme example using only Cars reviews is meta


persona 5 music in emplemon video, add him to the list


I appreciate you for using GT3 menu music


Stimpee's gayporn thumbnail captivated me the most.


Kitty0706 is the greatest YouTubed to have ever walked this earth


9:51 IS THAT BIG BROTHER SEASON 10 WINNER AND SEASON 14 RUNNER-UP DAN GHEESLING?


this mans be showin a bunch of asumsaus thumbnails AND has a similar voice<br>theory: EmpLemon=asumsaus

this mans be showin a bunch of asumsaus thumbnails AND has a similar voice
theory: EmpLemon=asumsaus


Can we get a Never Ever on TF2? I see it often in your vids


Youtube Tumbnails <br>Yes they have Nails


3:05 you missed demon days by gorrilaz my guy


Your thumbnails are cognitohazards in disguise.


The youtube thumbnail meta game : sex sells.


Shoutout to  Dan Gheesling at 9:52 Go check him out


Que vontade de comer salsicha
Que preguiça de ir na geladeira pegar uma
Comentário em português do que eu quero sem ter conexão com o que o vídeo fala. Ignorem se souberem português.


I don't know how to upload Thumbnails on my video so I just pick the three random screen image clip from the up-loader.


Wait, did the thumbnail of this video change?


If you’re too busy to watch this whole video, just slap the word fortnite on the thumbnail regardless of if it is fortnite


I don't think Dan Gheesling is worried about people not recognizing him. Maybe not the best example.


Air pods are trash, as is anything made by apple


nice touch with Max G in the thumbnail. while we're on the topic


Just because the ad had wario ware, I listened to the whole thing <br>Again pls

Just because the ad had wario ware, I listened to the whole thing
Again pls


Or you could just have a screenshot from your video with no editing at all because you are too lazy to edit.


Don't listen 1:57 with headphones/earphones.


all of a sudden i want to play persona 5


Red borders are terrible for thumbnails. You can't tell if you watched it yet or not.


emp for some reason youtube wont put you in my recomended anymore i hate that.<br>also make a video about star_

emp for some reason youtube wont put you in my recomended anymore i hate that.
also make a video about star_


i just put a random image from my reaction img folder


12:49 Don't you mean "The ends justify the MEMES."? HEHEHEHEHHEHEHEHEHHEHEHEHEHE

12:49 Don't you mean "The ends justify the MEMES."? *HEHEHEHEHHEHEHEHEHHEHEHEHEHE*


someone has been watching the plinkett reviews


By the Nine!<br>I was not subscribed! Apologies EmpLemon.

By the Nine!
I was not subscribed! Apologies EmpLemon.


Sseth makes the best thumbnails.

Or legend total war.


dan gheeslings face is not meaningless. how dare


I thought you would metion it but for me at least if a thumbnail is cringe really maters<br>Ive unsub for channels i like because of this

I thought you would metion it but for me at least if a thumbnail is cringe really maters
Ive unsub for channels i like because of this


So You been playing persona too huh no wonder this video took ages


Where the fuck was THANOS RAT

THANOS RAT


"You may not have noticed it, but your brain did."

I always hear that said in Mr. Plinkett's voice.


That's....not... what negative space means

Well, it sorta is but there's more to it than that


yes yes, face is waste of space, yes yes


Sir Emmerson lemon could you like my comment because honestly I don't have anything smart to say this is just a good video as always.


Who was that dragon guy with the "what is a woman" video


watch dankpods's video on raycons<br>raycon is a con

watch dankpods's video on raycons
raycon is a con


Actually funny. People always are bitching about how youtubers are useless and that they don't have any meaning, and have no earnings. And now, maybe it's a time to reflect on it all what you've said about the subject. Because currently, they haven't lost their jobs, not their earnings, nothing really have changed for their climate at all, so still think it's kinda funny how people takes the new generation of entertainmen so crappy. Sure, i could agree that their is no real "quality check" on so many things and yes, a lot is crap, but it actually kinda goes the same as for movies all the way back to about 2015, 2014 even, there was actual stars in the movie branch, but total abombinations aswell. So i think it's time for the world to rethink critically about smaller and bigger youtubers, because they do an hell of a job to moralize people in the world and giving them something to be happy or critical about. So much has been changed in the name of the internet only due to some person or people on the internet to a whole branch of people just from watching something or overlooking something. So personally i'd say youtubers are a true job if it's pulled of properly and those who says against it is for the most just angry about the subject like that they can earn from just being on the internet, but as far as im aware, that's where most jobs will go in the future. When things become very much more "automated." Because let's face it. Machines does a whole lot more then a human. Has so much more up-time then down-time, then don't need to eat. They can work around the clock without sleep. So ones it will be fully availabe for most companies to have them. Most humans, yes. will be replaced. And therefor i think youtube in certainly a branch which could be more future proof, then most jobs, same goes for any media, and i think the most of other jobs outside media will be done by either computer, or mechanics.


AAGGH WHY DO YOU HAPPEN TO WATCH ALL THE SAME VIDEOS AS ME


Dangerous to have Nirvanas album on YouTube nowadays


One minor comment about your thumbnails, is that I'm actually deterred a bit from clicking on the ones with the red border. iT disguises whether or not I've watched it before as a watch video will have a red line beneath the thumbnail indicating the progress through the video that I've made.


1:12 GAY ROBLOX FORTNITE MINECRAFT CONSPIRACY (EXPOSED)


Nah bro all that “design” shit is such boring tripe, I see a thingy, I clicky, if it’s cringe I don’t clicky.


EmpLemon is the best creator on the site, he’s the only one I know of that cares so deeply about its intricacies


Appreciate all the love for Nerrel, he do make some of the best thumnails in town imo.


Holy shit you really can't escape Dan Gheesling, even in an EmpLemon video


I don't look at your thumbnails. I just look at your channel name and click, you are my favorite youtuber because of the high production value and extensive research you do. Your vids can be watched normally or in the backround, allowing for me to just binge all your vids, keep up the good work my man.


Man, every time you upload I'm astounded at the amount of time, effort, and thought that went into it. Your script writing skills are second to none, and the cohesiveness of your themes and ideas blows every other commentary channel out of the water. Not only that, but the subject matter and sheer intricacy of your video always leave me intrigued. Any other youtuber covering this would have been bland and boring, but you make it work.


I was hoping to flex my knowledge on Graphic Design but you covered it. Damn how am I going to make my time in college seem meaningful now?!


Holy fucking shit, why did this YTP youtuber I’ve been subbed to for years suddenly start making some of the most thoughtful content on the platform?


Well said. This is the first time I've seen one of your videos. I've been creating on YouTube since 2013. While I'm not a juggernaut on the platform, I can see based on my own numbers that thumbnails and their relationship with the video are super important.