Summary
- YouTube continues to innovate with Google Lens search feature, allowing users to search for videos by pointing their camera at a subject.
- This new feature is currently in testing for a small percentage of Android users, providing both video and regular search results.
- YouTube is also adding AI elements to the app, such as AI-generated green screens and improved comment sorting, in addition to recent content restrictions.
YouTube has been one of the largest video streaming platforms for many years. And while the content is still the main reason why it’s managed to stay on top, which would make it easy for the company to rest on its laurels, it hasn’t, and still manages to introduce interesting ways to keep both viewers and content creators engaged.
Google Lens: What it is and how to use it
Search, shop, translate, and more with Google Lens
While search has pretty much stayed the same since the inception of the platform, with users just typing what they want to see into the search bar, it appears that something new is now in the works, with the brand experimenting with a new way to search for videos using Google Lens.
Some users can now point their camera and search for content
While there isn’t a way to opt in from the app, those that are in the experiment will now see a Google Lens button in the search bar of the YouTube app for Android. Tapping on this icon will open up the camera and will allow users to search just by pointing the camera at a subject. The results of this search will then populate as YouTube search results, which will hopefully make for a more seamless interaction when trying to search for a video on your subject.
Although this sounds great on paper, there’s just so much content on YouTube that it’s hard to imagine this being particularly useful. Of course, this really remains to be seen and is most likely the reason why this is currently just part of a test rolling out to some users. What’s cool about this feature is, not only will you be able to get video results on the subject, but you’ll also still be able to get standard results too.
The Google Lens search option will not only pull in video results, but there will also be an option to pull up regular Google search results as well using the “Search on Google” selection. As stated before, since this is a test, it isn’t currently available to all users. Google states that the test is only rolling out to a “small percentage” of YouTube users on Android devices. So if you aren’t seeing it, don’t be worried, that’s normal.
In addition to the above, YouTube has also been experimenting by adding more AI elements into its app, like AI-generated green screens, along with more efficient comment sorting using AI. In addition to additional features, YouTube has also made some big changes in the last month, with tightened restrictions on firearm content, along with a new watch page. Check out the changes by heading to the web or downloading the app.
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