In search, YouTube is now using automatically generated chapters as a source of metadata. Previously, when ranking search results, only manually defined chapters were used.
This is an important update for YouTube SEO practitioners because it has the potential to affect how your videos are ranked.
Here’s more information about the YouTube search metadata update, why it matters, and whether you should take any action in response.
What’s New in YouTube Search?
YouTube will begin returning content in search results based on information from automatically generated video chapters.
This update is currently being rolled out to the YouTube mobile app.
Previously, the search algorithm on YouTube only used metadata from manually created chapters.
When a channel does not have its own chapters, YouTube will now look at what its systems identify as significant moments in a video.
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How Does This Affect My Videos?
Marketers and video creators should be aware of this change because it may affect how videos appear in YouTube’s search results.
The addition of auto chapter metadata as a ranking signal is meant to be a helpful update, but machine learning isn’t perfect.
YouTube may get it wrong and misinterpret what a section of a video is about.
The misinterpreted chapter may then influence which queries a video appears for.
To avoid problems like this, you should keep a close eye on the chapters YouTube generates for your videos.
YouTube enabled auto-generated chapters for all videos in July, and channels automatically opt-in.
If making your own chapters is a regular part of your upload process, this update is unimportant. YouTube’s automatic chapters are overridden by manual chapters.
Those who do not define chapters for their videos by adding timestamps to the description area should look at what YouTube has generated.
Any incorrectly generated chapters can be fixed by creating your own.
If you don’t want to bother with chapters at all, you can always skip them.
Related: 10 Steps to Optimizing Videos for Search and Discovery with Video SEO
Choosing Not to Use YouTube’s Automatic Chapters
YouTube allows creators to disable auto chapters for individual videos or for the entire channel.
You can disable auto chapters for a specific video during the upload process.
To disable auto chapters for an entire channel, go to the settings panel in YouTube Studio.
When you’re there, go to Upload Defaults, then Advanced Settings.
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