YouTube doubles down on video shopping with AI-powered ‘Ask YouTube’ feature

“Ask YouTube,” the video site’s newer AI-powered conversational search feature, will become a shopping companion, the company announced on Wednesday at its Made On YouTube event.

Ask YouTube began as an experiment in conversational search, before becoming a larger part of the YouTube experience. The feature allows anyone to search YouTube using natural language requests, including with queries that are more complex and detailed than in traditional search. YouTube will then compile a set of results that may include both Shorts and long-form videos, guiding you through topics like step-by-step travel plans, guides to learning a new skill, or a series of recommendations around particular topics.

Now, the company says Ask YouTube will gain more features that will help users as they make shopping decisions. For instance, if you search for a particular product, you might receive organized recommendations that include things like a comparison table showing various product attributes or categories, based on your preferences.

You’ll also be able to ask follow-up questions directly on that video’s watch page.

YouTube says the changes are based on trends it’s already seeing in user behavior, as they learn from creators about different products, trusting their opinions and recommendations. Already, over 140 million people have used Ask YouTube to dive in deeper to videos during the month of June, the company noted — a jump of more than 500% since last December.

“Behind that growth is a custom Gemini model that maps the viewer’s most complex questions to the exact second that the video provides the answer, turning a passive search into an instant, meaningful connection with the video and with the creator,” explained Emily Moxley, VP of Product Management for Viewer AI at YouTube, in a briefing with reporters ahead of today’s event.

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