Here is a secret that’s not really a secret. If you’re a YouTube Premium subscriber you can head to this URL and participate in tests of experimental new features.

These tests can be useful such as allowing downloads on desktop or being able to enable picture-in-picture so that you can continue browsing YouTube while looking for your next video.

However, at the weekend we were presented with a new test we could participate in that is being tested until 7th January 2021 called the “Find interesting moments in a video while seeking” test. It really rolls off of the tongue we’re sure you’ll agree.

This test has been on the go since October and it will allow you to see the most viewed portion of a video on the timeline.

In the image above you can see that views peak right at the beginning of the video before tailing off just after the 30 second mark. The video itself gets to the point in those 30 seconds and as such it makes sense why folks stopped watching. That’s a shame because the video is packed with incredible information, even if it’s about a stamp.

The problem we have with this feature is that it provides us, the viewer, with far too much information. Why is this problematic? In a word, sponsorship.

While AdSense helps many YouTube creators earn a living, many more creators rely on sponsorships to pay the bills. This is why you see so many live reads for Raid: Shadow Legends, or Raycon earbuds in videos. Could this feature lead to more people skipping videos? Perhaps, but viewers already skip ad-reads in videos where possible and it’s not like YouTube is point adverts out to users.

What we are concerned about is people just skipping through the video to see where most people found enjoyment and then clicking away.

This may not hurt established creators but for newer creators it’s problematic because this feature discourages you from watching for a long length of time. In order to become part of the YouTube Partner Program and benefit from AdSense, creators need at least 4 000 hours of watch time as one of the requirements.

But this is why YouTube tests these features before rolling them out to a wider audience, so that instances such as the one we’ve outlined above can be noticed, if it’s even a problem at all.

Aside from that concern this is a feature we’d file as nifty though not especially useful for us. As mentioned however, keep an eye on the YouTube Labs website as there are always new tests being introduced.

Sadly these tests can take a while to reach South Africa such as this one and the download to desktop feature so be sure to keep an eye out for them.