The
YouTube Awards or
YouTube Video Awards are awards given out as formalized recognition of the best
YouTube videos of the preceding year, such as favorite music or comedy genres, as voted by the
YouTube community. The awards were organized in 2007 to "call out some of the most popular videos and let the users choose which ones deserve some additional recognition". The awards are the first time that videos would receive any formal recognition; previously, high-ranking videos were only recognized by dynamic lists of most-viewed videos. The winners received a
trophy, which was a stand with a large glass "play" button. In addition, they received an invitation to an event to occur "later this year". YouTube does Awards every year, but does not always do a formalized recognition.