YouTube adds shopping companion to its AI search feature
What's the story
YouTube has announced its plan to enhance the "Ask YouTube" feature with a shopping companion. The AI-powered tool, which began as an experimental conversational search feature, is now a larger part of the platform. It allows users to conduct searches using natural language queries, even more complex than traditional search terms. The results can include both Shorts and long-form videos on various topics like travel plans or skill learning guides.
Enhanced functionality
Making informed shopping decisions
YouTube is now expanding the capabilities of "Ask YouTube" to help users make informed shopping decisions.
For instance, if you search for a specific product, the feature may provide organized recommendations such as comparison tables highlighting different product features or categories according to your preferences.
This way, users can get more detailed information about products directly from videos they are watching.
User adoption
Explosive growth of 'Ask YouTube'
YouTube has seen a massive increase in the use of "Ask YouTube," with over 140 million users engaging with it in June alone.
This is a whopping more than 500% increase since December last year.
The feature uses a custom Gemini model that matches complex viewer questions to specific moments in videos, creating an instant connection between viewers and creators.
Creator toolkit
New features for creators
Along with the shopping companion update, YouTube has also announced a bunch of new features for its creator-focused toolkit.
These updates are meant to support the entire video-making process from idea generation and editing footage to managing comments and protecting creators' identities.
The platform is bringing shopping-focused functionality into its "Ask YouTube" conversational search feature, while also introducing a new series format for Shorts.
Studio updates
Research and editing tools
YouTube is also adding new tools in YouTube Studio to help creators with research, editing, and channel management.
The platform's new Insights and Research destinations can help creators understand past video performance and identify outlier videos that could inspire future content.
For those working on drafts, YouTube Studio will provide personalized feedback on pacing, structure, and storytelling.
Testing tools
A/B testing and Gemini integration
YouTube has also introduced a video A/B testing feature that lets creators test up to three different cuts to see which opening performs best.
The platform is bringing Gemini into a conversational editing assistant for Shorts and the YouTube Create app.
This way, creators can start with suggested prompts or their own instructions, then use a chat interface to reorder frames, trim clips and synchronize music before switching back to manual timeline editing.