New YouTube Layout

By Matt Ballek, Supervisor, Natural Search
Originally Appeared on VidiSEO.com

The folks at YouTube must have set some insane new years resolutions. January isn't even over yet and they've already unleashed subscription enhancements, HTML5 support, video rentals, and a slick music feature called Disco. Well, YouTube is keeping the productivity train rolling and busting out a complete redesign of the watch page and search functionality. Check it out :

The Old Watch Page

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The NEW Watch Page

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What's New ?

Overall Cleaner Look And Feel

Almost all unnecessary text has been removed keeping the focus on the video itself. The video description has been moved underneath the video, comments and video responses are listed below that, and related videos run along the right rail.

Look Ma, No Stars

YouTube has been talking about the effectiveness of the 5 star rating system for some time now, and it looks like it didn't make the cut. Instead you get the option to either 'like' a video or give it a 'thumbs down'. Works for me!

HD You Can Understand

No more guessing what the quality of your video playback is. YouTube now allows you to select what type of p-ness you'd like to watch your video in :)

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Smart Related Videos

The related videos on the right side of the watch page now change based on context. For example, if you come to a video through the search function, you will see additional search results on the right hand side for you to watch afterwards.

Find All Videos Uploaded by a User

I like this new feature a lot. The video uploader's user name (located directly above the video) now has an expand button to show all videos uploaded:

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Watch While You Search

Perhaps the coolest new feature is the ability to search for new videos to watch without interrupting the video you are currently watching. When you hit search, the video you are currently watching will shrink into the upper left hand corner of the screen making room for the search results:

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Want to Try it Out?

Click here to try out the NEW YouTube layout and be sure to let me know what you think !