YouTube Is Testing Custom Feeds That Let You Describe Exactly What You Want on Your Homepage

For the longest time, the YouTube homepage experience has been designed based on users' watch history data, bringing relevant and suggested content. Now, the platform is experimenting with a new Custom Feeds feature, giving users control over the exact type of content they wish to see on YouTube's homepage.

Custom Feeds on YouTube Aim to Fine-Tune the Homepage Experience for Every User

Google is rolling out Custom Feeds as one of YouTube's experimental features. Users who have gotten access to Custom Feeds can create a feed by entering a text prompt describing exactly the kind of content they want to see on their homepage.

Image Credit: YouTube

Image Credit: YouTube

Once created, the feeds get pinned to the top of the homepage and users can pin up to 8 custom feeds simultaneously. Users can create new feeds and swap any of the existing ones at any time. Moreover, unused Custom Feeds will expire after a certain period. YouTube has not specified exactly when.

The experimental feature carries the example of "guided meditation videos under 10 minutes", suggesting that prompts can be based on very specific topics and will not need to depend on exact categories. The prompt window will be powered by Google Gemini.

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Custom Feeds Will Affect YouTube's Watch History Algorithm

Moving on, while Custom Feeds are designed to create multiple YouTube homepage variants, all videos watched via Custom Feeds add to the cumulative YouTube Watch History. This is because YouTube's history and recommendation algorithm uses the Google Account data to suggest new topics and videos.

This means that even though Custom Feeds will separate user preferences, they will still continue to influence recommendations on the primary homepage. For creators, views generated through Custom Feeds count toward watch time and monetisation as normal.

That said, the Custom Feeds test is currently limited to signed-in users in the USA with English set as their device language and watch history turned on. The feature is available across Android, iOS and desktop, but YouTube has not said when or whether it will expand to other markets like India. So, stay tuned for more updates.