New YouTube homepage launches to all users

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

You may have noticed we've been experimenting with a new YouTube homepage. After countless user studies and community surveys, one thing came in loud and clear: the homepage in its current form doesn’t mean much to most of you, and could be more personally relevant. So the goal of this experiment was to put more of an emphasis on "videos for you.”

To pave the way for this experiment, we removed some of the less-used modules such as "Videos Being Watched Now.” Then we moved modules like "Spotlight" and "Featured Videos" over to the right side. All of these changes were to make room for a combined list of personally relevant videos made up of recommendations for you, your subscriptions activity, and videos being shared by your friends.

Recently we opened up the experimental homepage to anyone who wanted to try it out. Millions of users opted in and now have this new version set as their homepage. Many of the people who tried the experimental homepage filled out our feedback form. While not everyone loved it, most people thought the new homepage was better than the old homepage.

Here are some of the enhancements offered by the new homepage (logged in users only):

• Increased focus on videos that matter to you (subscriptions, friend's sharing, recommendations)
• You can easily filter your homepage to show only the latest uploads from your subscriptions
• Don't miss anything; if a channel uploads four videos in a day, you’ll see all four - instead of just the latest video
• Quick access to the inbox when you have new messages or comments
• Knows what you have seen (videos you've watched are grayed out)
• Remove any video (hover and click the "x" button)

Although some of you might miss some features, we think this latest version is a step in the right direction. It’s simpler, more personal, and it makes it easier to follow and watch the videos that are meaningful to you. So today we're rolling out this new homepage for all logged in users worldwide.

We're dedicated to making YouTube the best place for you to discover and share great videos. Please send us your feedback in a video, in the forums, on this blog or on Twitter. As always, we’ll be listening and taking your feedback very seriously.

Posted by the YouTube team.

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