YouTube tests 'Ask YouTube' search
- YouTube has started testing “Ask YouTube,” a conversational search tool for eligible Premium users in the United States who opt in on desktop. - The feature places an Ask YouTube button beside the search bar and returns blended answers using long-form videos, Shorts, text, and clips. - It extends YouTube’s earlier in-video AI assistant into search and adds another discovery path for creators. (support.google.com)
YouTube is testing “Ask YouTube,” a conversational search feature for eligible YouTube Premium users in the United States who opt in on desktop. (support.google.com) The feature adds an Ask YouTube button next to the search bar after a user joins the experiment through youtube.com/new. YouTube says the test is available in English in the United States for eligible Premium users. (support.google.com 1) (support.google.com 2) Instead of only returning a list of videos, Ask YouTube answers complex questions with a mix of long-form videos, Shorts, text, and relevant clips. Users can refine the first answer with follow-up questions inside the same search flow. (support.google.com) YouTube says the system draws on real-time information from the web and YouTube content to help people explore topics more deeply on the platform. The clips in the response include the video title and channel details so viewers can jump into a source video. (support.google.com) The test pushes YouTube’s generative artificial intelligence tools beyond the video player and into discovery. Until now, YouTube’s main conversational AI product was the assistant that appears on select videos while someone is already watching. (support.google.com) That in-video tool lets viewers ask questions about the video they are watching and request related recommendations without leaving playback. YouTube says that tool now appears in multiple languages in select regions and is also expanding to iOS. (support.google.com) (blog.youtube) For creators, YouTube says Ask YouTube could become “an additional path” for viewers to discover content. That language suggests YouTube wants AI answers to send users into videos, not replace them with text alone. (support.google.com) The company is framing the feature as an experiment, not a full rollout. YouTube says experiments on youtube.com/new can be limited by time, territory, device, or available spots, and some never launch widely. (support.google.com) For now, Ask YouTube is a small Premium test on computers in the United States. The next signal will be whether YouTube expands it the way it expanded its earlier conversational AI tool. (support.google.com) (blog.youtube)
