YouTube will show chapters separately in search results

YouTube will show chapters of videos separately in the search results, the video platform announced on Tuesday. If a video contains chapters and the entered search terms match a chapter, users will see the chapter separately in the results.

By showing chapters in search results YouTube let users choose more precisely what is most relevant to them at that moment. Until now, only single videos with a thumbnail were shown. In the new way of searching, YouTube shows the separate chapters below the video in the results.

The chapters in videos were added to the platform in May 2020 and let the creator cut up and tag a video. Viewers can then skip certain parts or directly click on the chapter they want to see. YouTube has slowly expanded the functionality of the chapters. For example, Android users were given the option to share chapters via a link last June.

In addition to showing video chapters, YouTube will also show previews in the mobile app. On desktop you could already see a short preview of a video, but on mobile only a static thumbnail was shown.

Finally, YouTube also announced that it would be experimenting with showing relevant search results outside of YouTube. As an example, YouTube mentions links to results from Google. The video platform gives few details about when these links will be shown. The experiment is currently running for mobile users in Indonesia and India. Depending on user feedback, the experiment will be expanded to other countries.