Users of streaming platforms sometimes face a big dilemma. These have so much content to offer that users don’t know what to watch. On the internet, we can even come across the joke that, on Netflix, we sometimes spend more time looking for a film or series than watching. And sometimes we can have the same problem when we open the YouTube application.
Aware of this, Google is now testing a new button on its mobile application to allow users to avoid this waste of time. In any case, this is what our colleagues at 9to5Google indicate. The site mentions a new floating button with the text “Play something” which appears on the application. When pressed, a video would play on the YouTube Shorts player. However, the functionality would not be reserved for the Short format, since it can also launch classic videos on this player.
At the moment, we do not know when this button will be made official and we do not have all the details. However, it is likely that YouTube does not choose which videos to play randomly, but takes user preferences into account.
YouTube, one of Google’s flagship products
In any case, it is normal that Google is constantly looking for new ways to improve the YouTube user experience. Today, it is one of Google’s main sources of revenue. In the third quarter of 2024, YouTube generated $8.9 billion in advertising revenue, compared to $7.9 billion in the same period in 2023.
Furthermore, if YouTube was, at one time, threatened by the arrival of TikTok, Google was able to react by deploying a similar format: YouTube Shorts.
- Streaming platforms offer so much content that users are sometimes indecisive, unable to choose a video to watch
- To remedy this, Google would test a “Play something” or “Read something” button
- This would be a floating button that would appear on the mobile app
- But at the moment, we don’t have all the details on how this button works.
- However, it is most likely that the feature does not randomly choose which videos to play, but rather relies on the user’s preferences by taking into account their viewing history
