Skip to main content

Google hits us with yet another YouTube redesign

new youtube designFor the better part of the last year, Google has been hard at work turning YouTube into more than a home for funny animals and baby videos. The makeover has been in large part to supply its various outlets with more quality content as well as to find a platform from which it could compete with the likes of Netflix and Hulu.

While YouTube still remains user-friendly for the masses, it’s definitely transitioning into something that could challenge these more product-oriented services—or least that’s Google’s goal.

Now it appears that YouTube is getting the Google+ treatment, and an overhaul that will integrate the video service into the budding (and struggling) social network is on the horizon. This morning, The Next Web noticed some screenshots detailing the coming changes, most of which further personalize the site for its users.

Users will now see a dash similar to other social networking sites, meaning it’s positioned in a bar on the left-hand side of your screen. From there you can navigate the channels you subscribe to as well as showing off what’s trending, interesting, or currently popular on the site. We’ll also be treated to larger previews, and a new feature that shows you what videos people in your G+ Circles are sharing or broadcasting.

Given the fact the Google+ is an all-encompassing take on social networking, it will be interesting to see how people choose to share videos. Now that businesses can have Google+ Pages (and we’d assume Google will make good and provide the option for anonymous or alias-using accounts), it’s possible YouTube will become the home of fewer uploads. If that’s the case, sponsored and celebrity-branded channels will comprise most of YouTube and the non-professionals out there will defer to Google+.

Of course, that’s assuming the social network can get off the ground. YouTube is one of the most trafficked sites in the world, and G+ has been plagued by impressions that it is yet another Facebook clone. This might just be another way Google is trying to tie the Google+ ship to its other successful Web properties in hopes of better user numbers. 

new youtube design
Image used with permission by copyright holder
new youtube design
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Editors' Recommendations

Molly McHugh
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Before coming to Digital Trends, Molly worked as a freelance writer, occasional photographer, and general technical lackey…
10 longest videos on YouTube
YouTube logo on top-left corner of home screen

YouTube is a platform where you can watch millions of videos from around the world. Whether these videos are podcasts, reviews, or even reactions, YouTube has something for everyone. However, some content creators take it a step further and make their videos extra long. If you're looking for videos that last for over several hours, then you're in luck, because we've assembled ten of the longest videos currently on YouTube. Note that these may not be the absolute longest videos on YouTube, but we tried to limit the scope to entrees that have entertainment value. Somehow we suspect a clock countdown for 70 hours one second at a time wouldn't be very enjoyable.
10. The longest 5 seconds on YouTube.

If you ever wanted to see a five-second-long excerpt stretched out into a 19-hour thrill ride, check out this video from The Slow Mo Guys. As their chosen name suggests, these two men like to film in slow motion some crazy activities such as jumping on a water balloon, getting hit in the face with a soccer ball, and shooting a newton's cradle. "The longest 5 seconds on YouTube," which was released in 2016, stretches out a clip from their "Glass Explosion at 343,000 fps!" where they heat up a glass measuring cup and make its handle explode with only a squirt of water. Even though the build-up to this explosion is quite long, it's worth watching for the shattering effect alone.
9. I Counted To 100,000!

Read more
YouTube to overhaul channel names with @ handles for all
Youtube video on mobile. Credits: YouTube official.

YouTube is launching “handles” to make it easier for viewers to find and engage with creators on the video-sharing platform.

The change means that soon, every channel will have a unique handle denoted by an "@" mark, "making it easier for fans to discover content and interact with creators they love," the Google-owned company said in a post announcing the change.

Read more
Searches for health topics on YouTube now highlights personal stories
The red and white YouTube logo on a phone screen. The phone is on a white background.

Google and TikTok aren't the only places people look for information on health issues. YouTube is another resource people look to for educating themselves on health-related topics. Now, YouTube has launched a new feature in an attempt to further support those queries in a different way.

On Wednesday, the video-sharing website announced its latest feature via a blog post. Known as a Personal Stories shelf, the new search-related feature will yield a "shelf" of personal story videos about the health topics users search for. Essentially, if you search for a health topic, a Personal Stories shelf may appear in your search results and it will be populated with YouTube videos that feature personal stories about people who have experienced the health issue you searched for.

Read more