YouTube app experiment adds Google Search results to YouTube searches

[harlan4096]

Do you use Google's YouTube application on your device (if available) to browse YouTube and watch videos? If you do, you may have noticed the insertion of Google Search results when you run searches on YouTube.

A Reddit user was the first to spot the change. A search for "open beer with knife" returned four YouTube videos for the query and placed a Google Search result (Result from the web) below that.

The web search result, courtesy of Google Search, is the first organic search result for the query when the search is made on Google Search. The item on YouTube is an exact replica of the item on Google Search; it includes the page title, site name, publication date, and the meta description. The result includes a link to run a "full" search for the search term on Google Search.

The YouTube application on my Google Pixel 3a device did not include Google Search results when I ran search queries regardless of sign-in status.

It is possible that the injection of Google Search results on YouTube search results pages is an experiment that is controlled remotely. Another possibility is that it is being rolled out gradually to monitor user reactions.

Feedback on Reddit is negative for the most part; users dislike the injection of Google Search results for several reasons including that they expect only video search results on a video site, that the inclusion is not all that helpful as a search is just a tap away on most devices, and that Google's motivation may have been fueled by its own interests rather than what is best for the user.

Closing Words

I dislike the inclusion of Google Search results on YouTube, especially in the way it is done right now since it is injected in the "middle" rather than placed at the end.

My expectation is to get video results when I run searches on YouTube, and that is regardless of whether I use the YouTube application, a browser, or YouTube app on a smart TV or elsewhere. The injection of search results breaks my expectation and search flow.

It is Google's app on the other hand and it is their decision; some users may find the inclusion useful, others may switch to using YouTube in a browser instead if the results are not injected there as well at one point in the future.

Now You: What is your take on this? Useful or not?
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