YouTube's new experiment could be a nightmare for clickbait

When scrolling through YouTube, it can sometimes be difficult to tell what a video is about. And it certainly doesn’t help when the title and thumbnail for a video are misleading. It appears YouTube is attempting to address this issue with a new experiment.

On YouTube’s support page, the company announced that it has started running an experiment. The test is rolling out on mobile to a small percentage of users on the Android app. This experiment introduces a new feature called “Discover videos with Previews.”

According to YouTube, users who are selected to be a part of this experiment will see an “entry card” on the homepage. Clicking on this entry card will show you selected highlights from recommended videos, which range from five to 10 previews. You’ll then be able to watch the full video, add it to your Watch later list, and so on. The goal of the feature appears to be to inform you what a video is about before you open it.

YouTube has long had a problem with misleading thumbnails and titles. The company doesn’t say what it’s trying to address with Discover videos with Previews, but it seems to be an attempt at combating clickbait. Such a feature could help viewers avoid wasting time on content they aren’t interested in.