This past week has been full of new Twitch announcements. Stats have become more informative with the addition of things such as location data. Bits got a major update with the ability to purchase via mobile and a wider range of payment options. There was even a new acquisition announced by Twitch!

ClipMine Acquisition

Twitch announced in a blog post last Thursday their acquisition of ClipMine. Founded in 2014 with the mission to radically improve how viewers discover and consume video content, ClipMine managed to secure $2.6 Million in total equity funding. Zia Syed, ClipMine’s Founder, currently works as the Director of Engineering at Twitch.

Along with the acquisition comes a whole host of awesome new features related to video metadata, classification, and discovery. The first of these updates hit the Hearthstone and Overwatch directories. Viewers can now filter by a specific Hero class or Game Mode for Hearthstone or a hero in Overwatch.

What makes this all amazing, is that these details aren’t being provided by the broadcaster. There’s no need to link up your account or fill in new data fields. This is achieved in (almost) real-time through computer vision and machine learning. Essentially ClipMine’s indexing platform allows for automatic classification of video streams into specific metadata. This a huge improvement for discoverability and allows for an overall better viewing experience when looking for specific content.

Buy Bits via Mobile, Using Euros, with Direct Debit!

On Friday, Twitch also announced, you can buy Bits via mobile. Users can purchase bits using their mobile devices simply by visiting https://twitch.amazon.com/bits. This does, however, feel like a temporary solution as we are still unable to purchase bits directly from the mobile app.

In addition, Bits are now available to purchase in Euros! Twitch has also added local payment methods including direct debit in several countries. You can also check out everything there is to know about cheering via Twitch’s Guide to Cheering.

Stats Update

The stats page on your Twitch dashboard now has even more detailed analytics. Broadcasters can see where their audience is viewing from, how they found their page, and what platform users are using to watch the cast.

This is some really useful information as far as metrics go. For example, often time sponsors want to know if your viewer base matches with their key demographics. Knowing what platform your viewers are watching from can help you make informed decisions about using higher bitrates (R.I.P. mobile data) or deciding on how you engage your viewers.