Google has always had a love for automatic detection, from self-writing subtitles to copyrighted content detection. Now, the company is working on new tech that will allow it to identify products listed in a YouTube video automatically.
Google’s Plans for Product Identification on YouTube
The news of this feature broke on the YouTube Help website. The website hosts a dedicated page informing the public what experimental features are coming to the video-sharing platform.
The latest update to this page details a very curious feature:
[March 22, 2021] Testing automated list of products detected in videos: We are experimenting with a new feature that displays a list of products detected in some videos, as well as related products. The feature will appear in between the recommended videos, to viewers scrolling below the video player. The goal is to help people explore more videos and information about those products on YouTube. This feature will be visible to people watching videos in the US.
Unfortunately, Google doesn’t go into further detail on how it will detect products. However, it’s an interesting step for the tech giant to make, and we’ll have to wait and see how this new technology works.
Product Identification: The New Advertisements?
So, why is Google working so hard to give you a purchase link for the bag of chips your favorite YouTuber ate on camera? The answer may lie in the company’s efforts to move away from advertising.
Nobody likes an advert shoved in their face when they’re trying to watch a video. Google knows this, to the point where you’ll sometimes get a YouTube Premium ad telling you how much it sucks to see an ad before recommending the paid ad-free option.
However, people have their own ad-free option that comes completely free of charge; ad blockers. Once installed, people can watch YouTube videos without those pesky ads, making it awkward for Google to make money with YouTube.
It appears this automatic product linking tool is a way to generate some more revenue. However, instead of throwing a random ad at the viewer and hoping it sticks, the tool will look at what the uploader mentioned or showed off in their video and generate a link for it.
As such, this tool will likely capitalize on when a YouTube personality uses a specific product or mentions how they really enjoyed a specific game or movie. Such comments often pique the viewer’s interest, at which point Google swoops in with an ad for said product.
A Smarter Revenue Maker for YouTube
While Google hasn’t disclosed much about the product detector and how it works, there’s an excellent chance that the tech giant wants to use it as a new source of revenue. We’ll have to wait and see how well this technology works and if it becomes the new way to advertise on the popular video platform.
This development is likely good news for content creators, who have fought for every cent they earn through YouTube advertising. This includes when YouTube showed ads on people’s videos, even if the uploader didn’t qualify to earn any revenue from said ads.
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