Streaming website YouTube is testing an “Explore” tab that will help users easily find new channels and videos on the platform while browsing on mobile. The Explore tab can be accessed from the bottom of the app’s home screen on iOS users.
“Explore is designed to help you be exposed to different kinds of topics, videos, or channels that you might not otherwise encounter,” said Tom Leung, Director, Product Management and Host of the Creator Insider channel, YouTube.
The new Explore tab will be similar to the Instagram’s Explore tab which apart from the personalised “for you” channel, also offers up feeds dedicated to science, sports, art, and more for users to scroll through.
Google recently announced a $25 million investment as part of $300 million commitment towards Google News Initiative to expand its work supporting the news ecosystem’s long-term success in online video, with a special focus on YouTube. YouTube will soon begin to show relevant articles next to developing news stories and highlight more local news stories.
The Google News Initiative (GNI) was launched with three goals in mind – to elevate and strengthen quality journalism, evolve business models to drive sustainable growth and empower news organisations through technological innovation.
Through several programs, the GNI will help news organisations achieve success online.
Here is how it will work.
First, the GNI will form a working group with news organisations from around the world to collaborate on developing online video product features and to improve the news experience on YouTube. News organisations including Vox Media, Jovem Pan and India Today are early members of the working group.
Second, the GNI/YouTube innovation fund will provide operational and capacity building grants in 20 global markets to support sustainable video operations, enhance production facilities and develop formats optimised for online video. The grants will be provided on an application basis to news organisations of all types that will enable partners to build key capabilities, train staff on video best practices, enhance production facilities and develop formats optimised for online video.
‘Finally, we’re significantly expanding a team at YouTube focused on supporting news publishers. Based around the world, new team members will be tasked with supporting our partners with training, audience development, day-to-day platform operations and sophisticated technical integrations.’
In the US, YouTube will start providing short snippets of news articles in search results on YouTube, which will be linked to full articles during the initial hours of a major news event, along with a reminder that breaking and developing news can rapidly change.
To make it easy for readers and viewers to find quality news, YouTube’s Top News shelf prominently highlights videos from news sources in search results (see the picture below on the left).
The Top News and Breaking News features have been launched in 17 countries, including the US, UK, France, Italy, Japan, India, Mexico, Brazil, South Africa, Nigeria and more. And the company is aiming to double that number in coming months.
