YouTube Testing AI Overviews in Search Results With Video Carousel Format

YouTube announced on Wednesday that it is testing a version of Google Search's AI Overviews on its platform. The video streaming giant is experimenting an implementation of the artificial intelligence (AI) feature to show users clips from videos in a carousel which could be relevant to the user's query. The new feature also expands the use case of AI Overviews, as the Gemini-powered tool will surface video clips instead of text-based responses on YouTube. While the functionality is in testing, it will only support queries on specific topics, according to the company.

YouTube's AI Overviews Feature Will Display Video Clips

In its support page, Google detailed the new feature and how it will be tested on YouTube. Currently, it is only available to a subset of YouTube Premium subscribers in the US. Once eligible users get access to AI Overviews, they can type a query on YouTube's search bar and see the AI-generated snapshot-style summaries on top of the results page. The feature currently only supports English language queries on certain topics.

Users will see a video carousel on top of the search results page on YouTube. The carousel will contain clips from YouTube videos that address the query searched by the user. Google said, AI Overviews will provide "another way to discover content" when using the search function on YouTube and "discover topics and information" related with the search query, according to the Alphabet-owned firm.

A similar feature has been available on Google Search for quite some time. When searching for a topic that can be better explained in a video, the search giant often surfaces time-stamped YouTube videos that start at the exact moment where the information is provided. 

For example, if a user is looking for a do-it-yourself (DIY) guide to repair a chair with a broken leg, they would not have to watch the introduction or the part where another part of a broken chair is being fixed.

Recently, Google has also added “key moments” underneath videos on the Google Search results page, where users can see multiple clips with a brief description and time stamp to make it easier for users to navigate through the video. While YouTube has not shared details about how its AI Overviews results would work, it is likely to function in a similar manner.

However, the company has highlighted that AI Overviews will not be shown for every query. Currently, YouTube is limiting the feature to when users look up products for shopping, seek information about locations, or seek recommendations in said locations.