People find a 24/7 live mostly through search and suggestions, so the title and thumbnail matter. Type the title you use in YouTube Studio into the stream check (on the stream's Overview) and choose your thumbnail from your library: we check them there. We only read them in AFK Live; nothing changes on YouTube.
Titles
- Start with the words people type. “Lofi beats to study and relax”, “Hanuman Chalisa 24/7”, “Rain sounds for sleep”. Words like live, stream, 24/7 or new don't say what's on.
- Don't say LIVE over a replay. A 🔴 or “LIVE now” on videos you uploaded can read as misleading, and YouTube's spam policy covers misleading titles. “24/7 replay” is honest. If you are really there live, keep your title.
- Up to 100 characters, but the first 40 or so are what shows on phones.
Thumbnails
- 1280x720 (16:9). YouTube needs at least 640 pixels wide; other shapes get cut off or get bars.
- Readable at phone size. In search and up next, a thumbnail is about the size of a stamp. We shrink yours to that size and measure how much stands out from the background. If it's nearly one flat colour, text and faces on it won't be seen. Use a few big words and strong contrast.
- We can't read the words on your thumbnail, so we don't judge what it says.
Change them on YouTube
Set the title and thumbnail in YouTube Studio's live dashboard (the pencil next to the title). A stream key alone can't change them from AFK Live.