YouTube is testing out a new ‘Products in this Video’ tool, which will provide more context on the specific products that are featured within a YouTube clip.

As explained by YouTube’s Tom Leung:

“We are running a small experiment in the US that shows some viewers of specific videos which products are discussed in those videos. For example, on a video about smartphones, you might see a list of phones being discussed. We’re testing to see how viewers engage with these new features. The test will be running for a limited time.”

The test has also been noted on the YouTube “Features and Experiments” page:

“​To help viewers discover products, we’re running a small experiment that will show to some viewers which products are mentioned in the video with new visual elements (overlayed on the video and below the video). For example, in a ‘top 10 smartphones in 2020’ video, some viewers will see an icon on the video, along with more information below, listing the phone models included in the video.”

That sounds a bit like YouTube’s TrueView for shopping ads, which list products related to a video below the frame.

This new experiment sounds a little more in-depth, providing more specific product matches, though YouTube hasn’t provided much more insight into how it works at this stage.

The team from 9 to 5 Google have suggested that the process could use a form of automated identification to highlight specific products:

“The “Products in this Video” feature will analyze the video for mentions of specific products. When it detects those products, new visual elements will be overlaid on the video or shown underneath the video to offer viewers easy shopping links to those products.”

It could be another consideration for YouTube marketers, or SMBs looking to use YouTube to showcase specific products. We’ve asked YouTube for more information on the experiment, but keep an eye out for them ‘in the wild’.