YouTube is giving users more control over what they see on the platform, with its new AI-powered Custom Feeds allowing viewers to create personalised recommendation environments — a shift that could have implications for how advertisers find, target and reach audiences.
Announced at YouTube’s Made On YouTube event this week, the experimental feature allows users to describe the type of content they want to see using conversational prompts, with AI then building a dedicated feed around those instructions.
Users can create multiple feeds around specific interests, moods or routines, with YouTube citing prompts including “evening wind down with long documentaries” and “new DIY creators”. The feeds will automatically refresh with new recommendations and appear as dedicated tabs on the YouTube homepage.
For now, Custom Feeds are being tested with users in the US across web, mobile and TV. YouTube has not yet announced when the feature will expand to Australia and New Zealand.
The move puts more control over discovery in the hands of users — and raises questions for advertisers about what happens when audiences can increasingly shape the content environments they enter.’
How will this change things for advertisers?
Nunn Media managing director Sydney Chris Walton told B&T the shift could fundamentally change how marketers think about audiences.
“The interesting shift here is that we’re moving from platforms trying to work out what people want, to people having a much more active say in what they want to see,” Walton said.
He said that could make the concept of an audience more fluid, with advertisers potentially needing to think beyond who someone is or what they have previously done, and instead consider what they are interested in at a particular moment.
“The opportunity is greater relevance, but the risk is becoming very good at finding people who already look like our target audience, and less good at finding the people who might become our target audience,” he said.
That distinction could be particularly important for brands looking to build demand, rather than simply capture existing demand.
“If someone has deliberately created a feed around travel, fitness, gaming or cooking, the content they’re consuming is a pretty strong signal of what they’re interested in at that moment,” Walton said.
“This potentially makes contextual targeting more important, not less.”
Walton said the development did not necessarily mean audience targeting would become less important, but that the two approaches would need to work together.
“The bigger challenge is balancing relevance with discovery,” he said.
“If algorithms increasingly give us exactly what we ask for, brands may find it harder to reach people outside their existing interests.”
‘You don’t need to ask for car content to become a car buyer’
Bench Media’s Ori Gold said it was still “early days” for the feature, but believed the development could ultimately be positive for advertisers.
“For media planning, there’s a useful difference between someone who regularly watches travel videos and someone asking for ideas for their next family holiday,” Gold said.
“That gives us a clearer starting point for relevance, although YouTube hasn’t announced how advertisers could use those signals.”
Gold said Custom Feeds could also increase the value of context, particularly where advertisers are trying to understand a consumer’s mindset.
“It could make context more valuable, particularly for matching creative to someone’s mindset and understanding where they are in the buyer journey,” he said.
“But we shouldn’t confuse a viewing preference with purchase intent.”
For Gold, the bigger consideration is whether increased control over recommendations could narrow the pool of consumers brands are able to reach.
“The risk is taking targeting too far,” he said.“If every brand chases only people explicitly interested in its category, we’re limiting our opportunity to build demand and brand.”
“Someone doesn’t need to ask for car content to become a car buyer.”
The development comes as the role of algorithms in shaping what Australians see online faces increased scrutiny.
Earlier this month, the Albanese Government proposed new rules that would require social media platforms to give Australians greater choice over their default feeds, including the option to opt out of personalised algorithmic recommendations and instead see content from accounts they have chosen to follow.
The proposed ‘My Feed, My Way’ system forms part of the Government’s broader Digital Duty of Care framework.
YouTube’s Custom Feeds take a different approach. Rather than simply switching recommendations off, the feature allows users to actively direct the algorithm towards the types of content they want to discover.
Gold said the next test would be whether users actually adopt the feature at scale.
“I’ll be watching whether people actually keep using these feeds when they reach Australia, since this is what will determine their value at scale,” he said.
B&T has approached Google for comment.
