YouTube’s latest experiment defeats the Shorts feed’s entire purpose

Google continuously tests new changes across its products and monitors how they impact users’ experience. The latest experiment inserts long-form videos in the YouTube Shorts feed. So, if your account has been selected, you may come across two-hour YouTube documentaries while scrolling through minute-long clips.

According to an updated Google support document, YouTube is testing some new content discovery experiences. The document reads:

To try to help viewers better discover content across channels, formats, and lengths on YouTube, we’re running a few small experiments on the Watch Page and with Shorts. If you’re a viewer in the experiment, these new discovery experiences could include a mix of video formats including long-form videos where you’d usually see Shorts (example: the Shorts Feed) or new feeds of long-form videos.

While this change may boost creators’ long-form video views, it may downgrade viewers’ experience — particularly in the Shorts feed. Users visit the dedicated tab when seeking short, lightweight content to scroll through. While they could quickly swipe a long-form video away when it surfaces, it certainly breaks the viewing flow and requires extra action.

Users have long been able to discover relevant long-form videos on the main YouTube page. So, those interested in watching longer content could always visit that tab. Inserting footage shot horizontally in a vertical video player objectively makes little sense. Ultimately, this is just a limited experiment, and it will likely be killed by Google if it negatively impacts the company’s analytics.

Beyond featuring long-form videos in the Shorts feed, YouTube has been conducting other experiments on its platform. Just last week, it announced picture-in-picture support for live mid-rolls. This allows eligible creators to insert ads in their streams without significantly disrupting the viewing experience.