YouTube's Latest Experiments Presenting Long Videos On Feed Shorts

YouTube is testing a new experiment that brings up a long video in the Shorts feed (photo: x @TeamYouTube)

JAKARTA - YouTube is testing a new experiment that brings up a long video on the Shorts feed, a move that may change the way users interact with content on the platform. The experiment aims to enhance the discovery of long videos by displaying them in more places across the platform. However, there is uncertainty whether these changes will be widely accepted or halted in the future.

According to the latest Google support document, the experiment is part of an effort to help users find content across channels, formats, and durations on YouTube. Users selected for this experiment will likely see a mix of video formats, including a long video where they usually find Shorts, such as in the Shorts feed itself.

While these changes may enhance the long video display for content creators, this has the potential to reduce the user experience on the Shorts feed. Feed Shorts is designed to provide short and light content that is easy to scroll through, so the addition of long videos can disrupt the viewing flow and requires extra action from users to bypass it.

YouTube has been providing a way for users to find long videos through the main YouTube page. Users who are interested in long content can easily visit the tab. Insulating horizontally recorded videos in vertical video players is certainly not reasonable, and this experiment may be discontinued if it has a negative impact on the company's analytics.

In addition to displaying long videos on the Shorts feed, YouTube is also conducting other experiments on its platform. Last week, YouTube announced image-in-picture support for mid-roll live ads, allowing eligible creators to insert ads in their streams without disrupting the viewing experience significantly.