YouTube’s Big Announcement Might Change How Everyone Shops

If you’re a fan of the YouTube rabbit hole, managing your screen time might get a little harder. At the Made on YouTube event this past week, the platform made several announcements for features that will change the experience of browsing videos and perhaps the way many products are evaluated and purchased too:

“Soon, you can design your own unique homepage feeds using conversational prompts like “Witty podcasts for my daily 30-minute commute,” “Evening wind down with long documentaries,” or “Help me discover new DIY creators,” tailored to whatever mood or interest you like. You can save multiple custom feeds to your home screen that update automatically with fresh recommendations. We’re also expanding Ask YouTube to be your product recommendation guide, and introducing new ways to explore your favorite artist or discover new podcasts for your commute.”

As part of this announcement, the product recommendation guide aspect could become a game changer in many ways. For me, every time I’m making a more considered purchase such as a 4K camera for my home office or a full function espresso machine - I already turn to YouTube videos. Creators there help compare various products, do extensive reviews and offer their expertise on demand. Usually, the process involves creating my own playlist and saving or sharing multiple videos to compare. Now YouTube is making that process more seamless, and it could transform the relative importance of influencer marketing as a key element of how certain products are discovered and sold.

In addition, the idea that custom homepages can be generated by mood or topic means that videos uploaded to YouTube will need to be extensively optimized to ensure they show up on these user-generated, curated homepages. If you’re a big YouTube user, do you like these changes and will you use them?