Google has begun beta testing Lens on YouTube Shorts, a feature that will allow users to search for information about objects in videos with a single tap — right while watching short clips. The tool has already started rolling out to users and will be available gradually.
Google has begun beta testing Lens on YouTube Shorts, a feature that will allow users to search for information about objects in videos with a single tap — right while watching short clips. The tool has already started rolling out to users and will be available gradually.
According to Engadget, the innovative feature is already being tested within the YouTube Shorts platform and aims to improve the experience of interacting with the content being viewed. After activating Lens, viewers will be able to pause the video, select an option at the top of the screen and click or highlight an object in the frame — the system will automatically provide relevant search results.
Search results and visual matches will appear directly on top of the video, allowing you to instantly get additional information — like an item of clothing, gadget, or location in the frame. This experience is unique to YouTube short videos and is currently ad-free.
At the same time, Google notes that during testing, Lens will not work with Shorts that contain YouTube Shopping affiliate links or paid product promotions. In other words, commercial interaction is excluded at this stage — but the potential for this integration in the direction of e-commerce is clear.
Google Lens has been around for a long time in Google Photos, Search, and even Chrome. Its primary purpose is to provide users with a visual recognition tool that allows them to find similar objects, read text, identify animals, or recognize architectural landmarks in real time. Now, for the first time, the tool is being tested at scale in a video format that is consumed vertically and quickly.
The integration of Lens into YouTube Shorts is another step towards unifying visual search across the Google ecosystem.
Recall that Google recently announced a new tool, SynthID Detector, which allows you to check whether content was created using Google’s artificial intelligence tools Gemini, Imagen, Lyria, and Veo.
