YouTube Tests Alternate Color Feeds for Premium Users

This is an interesting experiment. Probably not overly useful, but interesting nonetheless.

According to 9 to 5 Google, YouTube’s currently testing out a new way to sort videos, based on the predominant color of (seemingly) the thumbnail image.

As you can see in this example, some users are being prompted to “Create a feed of videos based off color”, which then provides a new, alternative feed of clips based on your color choice.

Users in the experiment can select either red, green, and blue, with that selection then highlighted at the top of the feed display.

Which seems like an odd way to showcase video content, which the 9 to 5 Google team found:

“Overall, these feeds are a little weird as I don’t think colors in any way correlate to the subject of a video, unless YouTube has data/testing that says otherwise. The filters feel like an experience that would be more at home in YouTube Music.”

The experiment is actually not entirely new, with users on Reddit spotting the color feed option last year, though in a slightly different format.

Would that be helpful, or beneficial, in your own YouTube experience?

I mean, the thumbnail image can be anything, and it may not correlate to the video content in any way, so I can’t really see this being an engaging option, outside of the aesthetic benefit on-screen.

Maybe that’s it. Maybe, some users just like seeing similar colored images, and that could then help to improve discovery in some contexts.

I don’t know, seems odd, but maybe there’s something to it that I’m missing.

The new option is being displayed to selected YouTube Premium users.