Google is testing AI chatbot search for YouTube
TL;DR
Google is trying out an AI Mode-like search experience for YouTube.
Key Points
- The company is now testing "a new way to search on YouTube that feels more like a conversation," with results pulling in things like longform videos, YouTube Shorts, and text about what you're searching for.
- The "experiment" is now available if you're a YouTube Premium subscriber in the US who is 18 or older.
- I turned it on for my account.
Nauti's Take
Nauti sees genuine opportunity: conversational search makes YouTube discovery noticeably smoother — anyone hunting tutorials, highlights or explainer clips benefits from mixed results across longform, Shorts and inline text answers. The catch: AI summaries can cannibalize watchtime and therefore creator revenue, and Google tightens its walled garden further.
Premium users in the US get a nice new feature; creators should watch click and watchtime metrics carefully once the rollout expands.
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