YouTube test features and experiments

[June 27, 2024] Testing mentions in comments on mobile: We’re experimenting with the ability to mention YouTube channels in comments. If you’re in the experiment group, typing the “@” symbol on an Android or iOS device followed by letters or characters of a channel name / handle in a comment will trigger a recommended list of channels to choose from. From there, select the channel you want to mention > leave your comment > and the handle will appear as the clickable linked mention! While we gather feedback in the experiment phase, only a small group of creators can post comments that include mentions BUT all viewers and creators can engage with these comments 🫶

We’re beginning to test a new multiplayer feature for a few select games on YouTube Playables. Multiplayer on Playables lets you play games in real-time with other users. We’re starting our tests with two games: Ludo Club and Magic Tiles 3 on desktop and mobile devices. We're just getting started testing out new features for YouTube Playables with more to come in the future 👥!

[December 16, 2024] Testing voice replies to comments: We’re experimenting with a feature that enables creators to reply to comments with their voice. If you’re a creator in the test group (only on iOS) and want to try it out: Navigate to one of your videos via the YouTube app > Find a comment you want to respond to > Tap 'Reply' > Tap the sound wave icon > Record a voice reply > Post it as a comment. While we gather feedback in the experiment phase, voice replies can only be left by creators in the test group on your own channels, but all viewers and creators can engage with these comments. We hope that the voice reply experiment enables more meaningful relationships between creators and their audiences 🔊!

[March 26, 2025] Testing improved notifications experiences: We’re running a small experiment that will impact viewers who are subscribed to a channel and have set the notifications to “All” for the channel. Here’s what we’re testing:

Viewers often opt in to receive "All" notifications from many channels. When they feel overwhelmed or are no longer interested in a specific channel, instead of updating their subscription and notifications to better reflect their preferences, they simply turn off all notifications from the YouTube app entirely. It’s common for users to have turned on All notifications for a channel, only to have turned off app-level notifications [Creators can see how this impacts their channel in the Audience tab]. 

When viewers turn off all notifications from YouTube, all creators are unable to reach even their most engaged viewers outside the app. The goal of this experiment is to help us find ways to reduce this problem.

[April 23, 2025] Testing New AI Overviews in Search Results: We’re experimenting with a new video results carousel that appears after entering certain search queries. This new feature will use AI to highlight clips from videos that will be most helpful for your search query, providing another way to discover content when searching on YouTube as well as discover topics and information related to your search query. This is most likely to show when you search for more information about products you’re shopping for (such as “best noise cancelling headphones”), or when you search for more information about locations or things to do in those locations (such as “museums to visit in San Francisco”).

We're rolling this test out to a small number of YouTube Premium members in the US for some English search queries. If you see it, check it out and send us your feedback by tapping the 3-dot menu and selecting either a thumbs up or thumbs down!

[May 30, 2025] Testing a new leaderboard for live streams: We're starting to test a new way to celebrate the most engaged viewers on a creator’s live streams by showing a leaderboard. Viewers earn points for engaging with streams and will see a crown icon at the top of the chat with the points they’ve earned from engaging on the creator’s live streams. When they click on the crown icon, they’ll be taken to the leaderboard to see the top 50 most engaged viewers on that channel. The top three viewers on the leaderboard will earn a badge, which appears next to their name on live streams. Viewers in this experiment will have the option to opt-out of appearing in the leaderboard in their YouTube Settings on desktop & mobile by selecting “Turn off leaderboard participation”. We're starting this experiment with a small group of viewers but will keep you posted on our plans to expand further.