YouTube Shorts Videos Are Getting Google Lens Search Capabilities

Users watching the TikTok-like Shorts videos on YouTube will soon be able to use Google Lens to search for what they’re seeing. The new feature is just starting to roll out in beta on the YouTube mobile app, and it lets users search objects or places in a video to get more information about them. The Google Lens integration can also be used to translate text in YouTube Shorts videos.

“In the coming weeks you’ll be able to use Lens to search what you see while watching Shorts. For example, if you’re watching a Short filmed in a location that you want to visit, you can select a landmark to identify it, and learn more about the destination’s culture and history,” Google explained on a community post.

To try the new feature, YouTube users on mobile will need to pause a Short video by tapping on the screen, select “Lens” in the top menu, and then draw, highlight, or tap on anything on the screen to search it with Google Lens. Visual matches and search results will appear as an overlay on top of the video, and Google noted that AI overviews may also appear in some cases.

At the moment, ads won’t appear in search results, and Lens search will not be available on Shorts that have YouTube Shopping affiliate tags. In a separate support page, Google also explained that Lens search doesn’t use biometric facial recognition to identify people in videos, even though search results may still recognize public figures.

Even though Google ripped off its Shorts vertical video format from TikTok, this new Google Lens integration may become a distinctive feature. According to Google, YouTube Shorts now generates over 70 billion daily views since the launch of the format in 2021. YouTube sees Shorts as a way to encourage more users to post videos without the pressure of matching the quality and length of the content people usually watch on YouTube.