In August, Google Discover started presenting “Short Videos” to join web pages, regular videos and, later, AMP-based web stories. Before the beta hits the U.S. next month, Google is testing YouTube Shorts and other short-form content on Discover.
The cards feature the YouTube play logo in the upper left corner, while the video title and “YouTube” appear below. Tapping immediately opens the YouTube app and a new full-screen player where you can like / dislike, see comments, share and see “More” – Description, Report or Send feedback. There is no search bar with the only control being play / pause. You can swipe up to jump to a new shortcut and down to go back.
When we first saw the “Short Videos” carousel at Discover last year, it brought up clips from Indian competitor TikTok Trell and the Google Area 120 Tangi project, which focuses on 60-second DIY “quick videos”.
Back in Discover, you have the option to “Don’t show this again” in the floating menu, while this carousel is shown next to the one for AMP “Stories”.
The carousel displays 10 videos, although there are some nuances to the content that appears here. YouTube Shorts are up to 15 seconds long and are created using a “Shorts camera” that is currently only available in India. Accessed from the Create menu on the bottom bar of the YouTube application, this new “short format video creation tool” allows you to select music, adjust the speed and set a hands-free countdown timer while recording.
However, YouTube is encouraging all creators to upload short vertical videos of up to 60 seconds, marked with #Shorts in the title or description. These videos are also shown in the special player UI described above, several carousels in the YouTube app and – now – Discover.
Google Discover today already features regular YouTube content as full cards, and the current addition of Shorts is a natural extension that will help boost the beta format. Announcing that the Shorts camera and beta will be launched in the United States, the company Google said that “the YouTube Shorts player is now receiving more than 3.5 billion daily views worldwide.”
The Google Discover short video carousel with YouTube is still in testing and has not yet been widely implemented.
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