YouTube Adds AI Product Comparisons and Shopping Questions to Video Search

A YouTube search for a product may soon return more than a list of review videos. Ask YouTube could organize those videos into a comparison shaped by what the viewer wants, then keep answering product questions on the video’s watch page. YouTube introduced the shopping capabilities at its Made on YouTube event, moving its AI search feature closer to the decisions people make while watching creator reviews.

A comparison before the click

For a search about a specific product, Ask YouTube may show organized video recommendations. YouTube’s shopping update describes a possible comparison table with product attributes and categories based on the viewer’s preferences. The distinction matters: YouTube is describing a way to compare and select videos about products, not saying the table will appear for every search.

After opening a video, a viewer will be able to ask further questions about the product without leaving its watch page. YouTube also describes follow-up questions and voice commands while watching on TV. Together, those steps make shopping research a conversation that can continue after a viewer chooses a creator’s video, rather than ending at the search results.

The search tool underneath

Ask YouTube was already a conversational search feature. People can describe what they want in ordinary language, including requests more detailed than a traditional search query. It can gather Shorts and longer videos around a topic. The new announcement gives that existing way of finding videos a more specific job: helping someone weigh product-review videos against their preferences.

Emily Moxley, YouTube’s vice president of product management for Viewer AI, told reporters that a custom Gemini model matches complex viewer questions to the moment in a video that answers them. That describes how Ask YouTube helps viewers find answers within videos; YouTube has not explained whether the same process determines which product-review videos appear in a comparison.

More than 140 millionAsk YouTube users in June

YouTube said more than 140 million people used Ask YouTube to explore videos in June. The figure covers use of the existing feature, not the newly announced shopping capabilities.

Why product reviews are the target

YouTube points to viewers seeking creator opinions on phones, skincare and shopping hauls as the behavior behind the update. Its AI layer will sit between a product query and the creator video a viewer selects. That could make a large set of reviews easier to navigate, while putting more weight on which videos Ask YouTube chooses to surface.

The audience figure gives YouTube a reason to build on Ask YouTube, but it does not measure demand for shopping comparisons. YouTube said June use was up more than 500% from the previous December; that increase, too, predates the new shopping experience. Whether viewers find the proposed comparisons useful will depend on the recommendations they receive and the questions they can resolve while watching.