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YouTube is introducing new ways to help people easily search and find content on the platform.
The Google-owned video platform will let users watch through video chapters directly on the search page in an attempt to make the search page more visual to help people get a better glimpse of what’s inside a video.
“Up until now, when you browsed for a video to watch on YouTube, you’d see a thumbnail image of each video. It gave you a chance to gather a quick snapshot of the video’s content. Now, you’ll be able to make even more informed decisions about what you’re going to watch through video chapters directly in the search page,” YouTube said in a blog post.
When available, these will have time-stamped images detailing the different topics covered in videos. Users can also jump directly to the section most relevant to their specific interest.
It is also expanding the snippets feature to mobile. Currently, users can see a snippet of each video on the desktop by scrolling over a video on the search page. The platform is now rolling out a version of this to mobile to help users preview different videos.
Improving content searches
The platform is also adding new features to improve content searches across the globe on YouTube.
It will begin to show search results from other languages with automatically translated captions, titles and descriptions when relevant content in the local language isn’t available.
“This means that someone in Thailand can learn about quantum physics from a professor at MIT or viewers in Brazil can explore the Grand Canyon from home, with captions in their local language,” it explained.
It will start supplementing search results with English videos and is planning to expand to more languages.
“Our hope is that all global content will become more accessible through translated captions and help creators reach a more global audience,” it said.
Separately, in order to provide surface relevant information for users, it has recently started experimenting with a new feature to complement search results with website links and other formats from Google Search.
It’s currently available on mobile devices in India and Indonesia. YouTube will consider expanding to additional countries based on user feedback, it said.
Neal Mohan, Chief Product Officer said, “YouTube’s enormous library of content has always set us apart as a platform. No matter what you’re looking for, there’s a good chance we have it on YouTube. But we know viewers need to easily find the videos they’re looking for, and quickly access the information they need.”
“Our teams have invested significantly in improving that search experience over the years, and in today’s installment of our Innovation Series, we’re excited to share the latest technology to help you find what you’re looking for, from how-tos to DIYs. This complements the work we’re doing to raise videos from authoritative sources when people come to YouTube looking for news and health information,” added Mohan.
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