heise online

YouTube Offers Creators Exclusive Deals to Block Netflix

YouTube is reportedly offering select creators direct payments and exclusive-deal contracts intended to keep their videos off Netflix. According to Bloomberg and Business Insider, negotiations are underway for multimillion-dollar exclusivity deals that would make new videos available only on YouTube for a set period. YouTube has also warned that creators who do not sign exclusive agreements could lose marketing support or access to certain brand partnerships. Netflix meanwhile has been signing creators and expanding video podcasts and short web videos, escalating platform competition over highly sought creator content and early-release windows.

TikTok explores P2P payments via DMs

Code discovered in TikTok’s U.S. iPhone app indicates the company is developing a peer-to-peer payments feature enabling users to send and accept money inside Direct Messages, with options for recipients to tap to accept and senders to attach messages. Bloomberg and TechCrunch reported the findings; ByteDance/TikTok has not confirmed the plans and Bloomberg says it is not being tested, suggesting early development. The feature would likely leverage TikTok Pay — already used for TikTok Shop purchases in Southeast Asia — and follows ByteDance’s recent regulatory moves, including a 2026 application in Brazil for payment and lending permissions. If launched, in-app transfers would broaden TikTok’s commerce stack and position it as a competitor to wallets and P2P services such as Venmo, Zelle and X Money, especially in emerging markets.

Heise Subsidiary Launches Children's Comic Magazine

Maker Media, a subsidiary of Heise Medien, will publish a trial issue of a new 32-page children's comic and puzzle magazine called "Makey & Friends" in September 2026. The magazine targets children aged about 5–10, will cost €6.99, and the first print run is 30,000 copies. Each issue will combine comics, puzzles, hands-on pages, short tech facts and a collectible figure; illustrator Sandra Schörning designed the logo, characters and content without using artificial intelligence, according to Heise. If the launch succeeds, the title is planned to appear every two months and may later be offered by subscription; the publisher will present the magazine at Maker Faire Hannover on 15–16 August before retail launch.