In March, the streaming platform YouTube teased users with a new feature that mutes channels you don't watch. Now, the Google-owned app is testing a new AI-powered video carousel that might fundamentally change the way people engage with video content on the platform.
The feature, being tested, leverages artificial intelligence to curate and show short video clips automatically within the search results. It could potentially cut down on the requirement for users to click through and view entire videos.
YouTube AI Overviews
In an official announcement, YouTube confirmed that this carousel, powered by AI, is intended to showcase the most appropriate snippets for a search query by a user.
As opposed to Google's AI Overviews in standard search, this feature does not really summarize videos but rather extracts short, significant passages to play in the search interface.
Its mission is to provide the most helpful clip immediately, making users' lives easier and minimizing the search time. But, for creators, this test has the potential to raise eyebrows on viewer retention and watch time when fewer viewers make it to the full video from clicking through.
Read more: Google AI Makes Up Fake Sayings and Claims They're Real: Here's What That Means for Search Accuracy
Limited Testing with Premium Users For Now
At this point, the AI video carousel is only visible to a limited audience of YouTube Premium users. It is also restricted to English-language searches, targeting mainly discovery-driven content such as product suggestions or city attractions.
For example, search examples such as "best noise canceling headphones" or "San Francisco museums to see," according to MacRumors, will most likely induce this new feature. YouTube did not indicate how the AI selects which clips to present, making it unclear for creators of videos what to aim to optimize.
Will it Kill the Clicks for Creators?
One of the biggest fears among creators is that this integration of AI will cut down on video watch time, much like Google's AI Overviews have affected website traffic. By revealing answers early, viewers might be less inclined to dive into complete content, harming key YouTube metrics such as click-through rates and average view duration.
Nevertheless, YouTube indicates the feature is intended to increase discoverability. If properly implemented, the previews might motivate viewers to watch more, not less. The effect probably rests on how well the AI identifies clips and how engaging those cuts are to audience members.
YouTube has not provided a timeline for a wider rollout or given more insight into the algorithm's thought process. But if this AI clip carousel grows, it would represent a big shift in YouTube SEO and search behavior.
Last month, YouTube introduced ad-free video sharing. However, you can only view the link 10 times before it goes invalid.
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