YouTube has exciting news for all creators with access to advanced features – the Thumbnail Test & Compare functionality is now rolling out! If you haven’t seen it in your YouTube Studio yet, don’t worry, the deployment will continue over the next few weeks.

What does this new feature do? Well, as the name suggests, it allows YouTube creators to upload up to three video thumbnails to test with viewers and determine a winner. Here’s how it works:

– Upload three different thumbnails for your video
– YouTube will show them evenly to viewers
– The winning thumbnail is selected based on which one generates the most watch time share

Keep in mind that it may take a few days or up to two weeks to get finalized results from the uploaded thumbnails. Factors like impressions and thumbnail differences can affect this timeline.

Once the test is complete, creators will see a “Winner” label if one thumbnail clearly outperformed the others. If there’s no clear winner, the first thumbnail will be selected and shown to the audience.

It’s important to note that this feature is optional. Regardless of test results, creators can always manually select the video thumbnail they prefer, even if it wasn’t the winning option.

Unfortunately, this feature is currently only available on YouTube Studio on a computer. However, YouTube is looking into bringing it to mobile devices in the future. Also, keep in mind that you can only test thumbnails on public long-form videos, live stream archives saved as videos, or podcast episodes. Thumbnails cannot be tested on videos set as “Made for Kids,” videos for mature audiences, or private videos.

To check if you’re eligible for this feature, go to the “Feature eligibility” section in your channel settings in Studio and look for “Enabled” next to “Advanced features.”

Exciting times ahead for YouTube creators with this new Thumbnail Test & Compare functionality!