YouTube users will soon have more control over the videos recommended to them on their Home page and in Up Next panels under videos.
In the coming weeks, YouTube will roll out Topics, a feature that’s been available on its Android app since last June, to its iOS app and browser site. As you can see below in a GIF from Team YouTube, Topics will appear as a row of small buttons on a user’s Home page, just below the masthead ad.
Rolling out in the coming weeks: Topics give you more control over the videos that show on Home & Up Next, by matching your suggested videos to whichever topic you tap.
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You’ll soon see topics on Home & Up Next on Android, iOS, & Desktop in English, French, Spanish, & Portuguese. pic.twitter.com/8uJNFzDqs8
— TeamYouTube at 🏠 (@TeamYouTube) April 30, 2020
Some example Topics YouTube offers include popular categories like cooking, TED Talks, science, and smartphones. When it first introduced the Android version of Topics, YouTube said categories are customized for each user, and that they’re “based on your existing personalized suggestions.”
“That could be videos related to the one you’re watching, videos published by the channel you’re watching, or other topics which may be of interest to you,” the platform added.
When Topics first appears, the very first option, ‘All Recommendations,’ will be automatically selected. That’s YouTube’s default recommendation process. Users can then manually choose which Topics they’d like to see. It appears the Topics shown will update as users watch more content, so they’ll be able to select new Topics, deselect current ones, and at any time can return to default All Recs.
YouTube is also expanding Topics to French, Spanish, and Portoguese across Android, iOS, and browser. The feature was previously only available in English.
According to 9to5Google, YouTube is planning more content-surfacing features for later this year, including personalized sections that’ll recommend new creators as well as content from the YouTube Music, Gaming, and Learning verticals.
