YouTube testing new search experience, Ask YouTube

Google announced they are testing a new “conversational search experience to complement how you already search on YouTube.” It is called “Ask YouTube” and it lets you “dive deeper into the topics you’re curious about in a more interactive way,” Dave from YouTube wrote.

What it looks like. Here is a GIF of it in action:

How can I try it. If you want to try it out, you can go to youtube.com/new and try to opt into it.

This experiment is currently available for YouTube Premium members 18+ in the US who opt-in. Google is working on expanding the experiment to non-Premium users in the future.

What it does. Dave from YouTube posted this example:

“If you’re in the experiment, you can try it out by selecting “Ask YouTube” in the search bar. For example, you can ask for help planning a 3-day road trip from San Francisco to Santa Barbara, and you’ll get a structured, step-by-step itinerary instead of a list of videos. The response will bring together a new mix of long-form videos, Shorts, and informative text featuring local tips and must-see stops. You can ask follow-up questions like, “where can I find good coffee?” to explore local spots along your route. We’ll surface videos and relevant video segments, accompanied by their titles and channel details, to make it easy to discover new creators and jump into the most helpful content from your search.”

Why we care. AI search is creeping into every search interface across Google’s properties. YouTube is no exception. Expect more and more AI search experiences in more Google surfaces and expect them to change and adapt over time.

You can find more coverage of this across Techmeme.

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