Okay, I’m not sure how significant this is, but YouTube seems to think that this is a pretty big deal, and for at least some creators, it probably is.
Today, YouTube has announced some changes to its search filter options, which aim to clarify the purpose of each element, and could help you drill down to more relevant results.
YouTube has made a range of changes here, including:
- Adding a Shorts filter to the Type menu, which will make it easier to hone in on Shorts specifically
- The “Sort by” menu has been renamed “Prioritize.” This is apparently clearer as to what you’re filtering for (?)
- Within the new Prioritize menu, the “View Count” option has been renamed “Popularity,” and YouTube will take into account broader signals when populating this list (including watch time)
In addition to these tweaks, YouTube is also simplifying and reorganizing the filter menu “to make it more intuitive and improve the overall search experience.”
“This includes removing some options that were not working as expected and had contributed to user complaints. The two filters we’re removing are ‘Upload Date – Last Hour’ and ‘Sort by Rating.’ However, you can still find the most recent search results in one of our ‘Upload Date’ filters, and explore popular, highly-viewed videos using the new ‘Popularity’ filter option.”
Is this a big deal?
Well, I don’t know, a lot of these changes seem fairly pedantic, and I don’t really see how changing “Sort” to “Prioritize” makes things any clearer for users.
But clearly, YouTube thinks this is a relevant improvement, which will improve the user experience in the app.
I doubt that it’s going to be a significant update, but it’s worth noting either way, as it could help you understand what people are seeing as they go searching for videos in-stream.
