TikTok’s endless video scrolling feature and algorithm is now coming to YouTube. Google announced that the “For You” recommendations will now be better tailored to the individual.
Channels that users enjoy will now be more heavily promoted, which will incentivize creators to build a brand like they do on TikTok. 9 To 5 Google reports:
Launching later this month, individual YouTube channels will start showing a new “For You” tab which recommends videos on a channel for viewers based on their watch history.
Announced on YouTube’s official Twitter/X account today, the “For You” row on YouTube channels will leverage the already-powerful recommendation engine of YouTube and keep the focus on individual creators rather than the platform as a whole. Content will be tailored to individual users, but pulled from only the channel itself.
TikTok continues to be the leader in engagement for young users, but Youtube has a huge institutional backing. It continues to dominate the market, without a serious competitor from any of the Big tech firms. The Verge continues:
The feature has been in testing for months; a video posted to the Creator Insider channel previewed it six months ago, and YouTube updated its test features and experiments page on August 8th discussing the test. The documentation says the feature was mandatory initially, but when it rolls out to everyone, creators can then opt out. (I was able to turn it off, so it seems as though that’s true now.)
YouTube has been sliding TikTok-like features into its platform for years now, and they’re often pretty blatant, like the entire Shorts feature and the (much later) addition of vertical video editing. But this one seems like a particularly clever adaptation of the TikTok formula. It’s a fun way to surface videos you might otherwise miss from some of the longer-running and more prolific channels — almost like having a “random” button for just one channel.
Since its purchase by Google, YouTube has been able to become the essential video app. Users can enjoy more TikTok like content on Shorts, traditional long form, movies, and music.
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