YouTube gets a striking new button: this is what you can do with it

Tired of choice or don’t feel like endlessly scrolling through your feed? YouTube will soon offer a simple solution for these situations: a button that randomly plays a video. Perfect for a moment on the toilet, waiting for the bus or as a distraction from your dentist appointment. So it seems to be a useful tool mainly for people who are not that picky and just want to watch something quickly.

In any case, the function is somewhat reminiscent of old-fashioned zapping. And for those who still know that: nothing is as fun as discovering something new by chance. YouTube is also making more changes; The app would also receive improvements in the interface, including one to adjust the playback speed.

Floating button is prominently displayed

Although the feature is not yet available to all users, some report already a black, floating button in the bottom right corner of their YouTube app. As soon as you select the button, a video immediately starts playing, presumably based on your viewing behavior. Usually they are Shorts, but longer videos in normal format can also appear.

Whatever video it is, you can then rate it with a few buttons. In this way, YouTube gets to know your preferences better and better. It is still unclear whether you can also review advertisements via this function, but in our opinion that would be an added value. After all, nothing is more annoying than having to watch the same commercial over and over again, even though you’ve already skipped it countless times. Below you can see an example of the button.

Google and Netflix

The new function is reminiscent of the well-known ‘I’m feeling lucky’ button of Google’s search engine. This takes you directly to the first search result, without having to view the entire list. Netflix also had a similar button for streaming a random film or series episode for years. That button was also first called ‘Play something’, and was later renamed ‘Surprise me’. Last year Netflix stopped it again.

Although YouTube’s button gives you little control over the content, it does offer an opportunity to discover new content. Maybe even content that you would otherwise never have clicked on based on the title or thumbnail. This could therefore have a positive effect on the discovery of new YouTubers and could possibly help to break the well-known ‘echo chamber’ effect.

Strategic tool

At the same time, you may wonder what YouTube’s underlying intentions are. Which videos are selected? And are certain videos paid for promotion? In any case, it could be an additional source of income for YouTube to subtly give paid content extra visibility.

Alternatively, the feature helps YouTubers test videos on a wide audience before officially sharing them with their followers. But in the end, the rule that applies is that the sooner you start watching, the more viewing figures YouTube will ultimately get. And the better your time is used, the more Google ultimately yields.

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