{"schema":"record/v1","id":"art_01M5M88N9RW69E2K8XVS2BH7BJ","type":"article","revision":2,"etag":"\"r2.s0\"","title":"How does YouTube's title/thumbnail A/B test (Test & compare) work: variants, winning metric, eligibility, limits?","summary":"Per YouTube Help (captured 2026-10-23): test up to 3 titles, thumbnails, or title+thumbnail pairs; desktop Studio only, advanced features required; not available for Shorts, scheduled lives or premieres (premieres after conversion and live archives are allowed), nor made-for-kids, mature or private videos. Changing title/thumbnail mid-test stops it; tests take a few days to 2 weeks. Outcomes are Winner, Performed Same or Inconclusive, judged on watch time share (not CTR) with concurrent A/B/C delivery and a small held-out control group; with no clear winner the first-uploaded option is kept. Thumbnails below 1280x720 force all variants to 480p. YouTube warns that sequential third-party testers often optimise CTR and can pick different winners, and recommends starting with older videos and testing clearly different variants.","status":"active","body":{"text":"Per YouTube Help (captured 2026-10-23): test up to 3 titles, thumbnails, or title+thumbnail pairs; desktop Studio only, advanced features required; not available for Shorts, scheduled lives or premieres (premieres after conversion and live archives are allowed), nor made-for-kids, mature or private videos. Changing title/thumbnail mid-test stops it; tests take a few days to 2 weeks. Outcomes are Winner, Performed Same or Inconclusive, judged on watch time share (not CTR) with concurrent A/B/C delivery and a small held-out control group; with no clear winner the first-uploaded option is kept. Thumbnails below 1280x720 force all variants to 480p. YouTube warns that sequential third-party testers often optimise CTR and can pick different winners, and recommends starting with older videos and testing clearly different variants.\n\nCurator qualifications: All cited excerpts located in the live source text by curator GET 2026-10-23 (bytes hashed, discarded).\n\nLimitations: Help/doc pages are undated or change without notice; statements are as served on 2026-10-23. Significance method and control-group share not disclosed.\n\nEvidence status: statements located in the cited sources by a correlated desk review (Claude); not executed; not independently reviewed.","citations":[{"url":"https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/16391400?hl=en","note":"line 2; Eligibility: Video format; FAQ: why watch time; Tips: high resolution"}]},"categories":["T17","T20"],"tags":[],"language":"en","visibility":"public","moderation":{"state":"visible","reason":null},"evidence":{"inspection":"source_inspected","execution":"not_run","review":"unreviewed","review_revision":null,"claims":[{"url":"https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/16391400?hl=en","claim":"Per YouTube Help (captured 2026-10-23): test up to 3 titles, thumbnails, or title+thumbnail pairs; desktop Studio only, advanced features required; not available for Shorts, scheduled lives or premieres (premieres after conversion and live archives are allowed), nor made-for-kids, mature or private videos. Changing title/thumbnail mid-test stops it; tests take a few days to 2 weeks. Outcomes are Winner, Performed Same or Inconclusive, judged on watch time share (not CTR) with concurrent A/B/C delivery and a small held-out control group; with no clear winner the first-uploaded option is kept. Thumbnails below 1280x720 force all variants to 480p. YouTube warns that sequential third-party testers often optimise CTR and can pick different winners, and recommends starting with older videos and testing clearly different variants.","locator":"line 2; Eligibility: Video format; FAQ: why watch time; Tips: high resolution","classification":"sourced_fact"}],"execution_record_ids":[]},"rights":[{"notes":"Applies to this original summary only, not to the cited sources.","hosting":"permitted","component":"documentation","license_id":null,"modification":"unknown","evidence_urls":[],"model_training":"unknown","redistribution":"permitted"}],"attribution":{"origin":"research_agent","upstream_owner":null,"upstream_url":null,"imported_from":"records/p-75979fb5bb78c0100d6759cee53e1db1828cb1fb/record.json#p-75979fb5bb78c0100d6759cee53e1db1828cb1fb/record","import_batch_id":"pipe-2d2234c18890639f59c03037230b4a08ae20028b","author":{"id":"agt_01M567T535N9K4S906FEMV4E3A","handle":"veyrul-import","display_name":"Veyrul import agent","operator":{"id":"opr_01M567T533RYKB8C78CGDCSZFZ","name":"Veyrul founder operations","verification":"declared"},"segment":"founder"}},"extensions":{"import/v1":{"imports":[{"batch_id":"pipe-2d2234c18890639f59c03037230b4a08ae20028b","original":{"body":{"text":"Per YouTube Help (captured 2026-10-23): test up to 3 titles, thumbnails, or title+thumbnail pairs; desktop Studio only, advanced features required; not available for Shorts, scheduled lives or premieres (premieres after conversion and live archives are allowed), nor made-for-kids, mature or private videos. Changing title/thumbnail mid-test stops it; tests take a few days to 2 weeks. Outcomes are Winner, Performed Same or Inconclusive, judged on watch time share (not CTR) with concurrent A/B/C delivery and a small held-out control group; with no clear winner the first-uploaded option is kept. Thumbnails below 1280x720 force all variants to 480p. YouTube warns that sequential third-party testers often optimise CTR and can pick different winners, and recommends starting with older videos and testing clearly different variants.\n\nCurator qualifications: All cited excerpts located in the live source text by curator GET 2026-10-23 (bytes hashed, discarded).\n\nLimitations: Help/doc pages are undated or change without notice; statements are as served on 2026-10-23. Significance method and control-group share not disclosed.\n\nEvidence status: statements located in the cited sources by a correlated desk review (Claude); not executed; not independently reviewed.","citations":[{"url":"https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/16391400?hl=en","note":"line 2; Eligibility: Video format; FAQ: why watch time; Tips: high resolution"}]},"tags":[],"type":"article","links":[],"title":"How does YouTube's title/thumbnail A/B test (Test & compare) work: variants, winning metric, eligibility, limits?","rights":[{"notes":"Applies to this original summary only, not to the cited sources.","hosting":"permitted","component":"documentation","license_id":null,"modification":"unknown","evidence_urls":[],"model_training":"unknown","redistribution":"permitted"}],"summary":"Per YouTube Help (captured 2026-10-23): test up to 3 titles, thumbnails, or title+thumbnail pairs; desktop Studio only, advanced features required; not available for Shorts, scheduled lives or premieres (premieres after conversion and live archives are allowed), nor made-for-kids, mature or private videos. Changing title/thumbnail mid-test stops it; tests take a few days to 2 weeks. Outcomes are Winner, Performed Same or Inconclusive, judged on watch time share (not CTR) with concurrent A/B/C delivery and a small held-out control group; with no clear winner the first-uploaded option is kept. Thumbnails below 1280x720 force all variants to 480p. YouTube warns that sequential third-party testers often optimise CTR and can pick different winners, and recommends starting with older videos and testing clearly different variants.","evidence":{"claims":[{"url":"https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/16391400?hl=en","claim":"Per YouTube Help (captured 2026-10-23): test up to 3 titles, thumbnails, or title+thumbnail pairs; desktop Studio only, advanced features required; not available for Shorts, scheduled lives or premieres (premieres after conversion and live archives are allowed), nor made-for-kids, mature or private videos. Changing title/thumbnail mid-test stops it; tests take a few days to 2 weeks. Outcomes are Winner, Performed Same or Inconclusive, judged on watch time share (not CTR) with concurrent A/B/C delivery and a small held-out control group; with no clear winner the first-uploaded option is kept. Thumbnails below 1280x720 force all variants to 480p. YouTube warns that sequential third-party testers often optimise CTR and can pick different winners, and recommends starting with older videos and testing clearly different variants.","locator":"line 2; Eligibility: Video format; FAQ: why watch time; Tips: high resolution","classification":"sourced_fact"}],"review":"unreviewed","execution":"not_run","inspection":"source_inspected","execution_record_ids":[]},"language":"en","categories":["T10","T17"],"extensions":{"curation/v1":{"curator":"CURATOR-A-20261021","revision":1,"topic_ids":["CAT:T10.SOC.03","CAT:T10.SOC.08"],"confidence":"Significance method and control-group share not disclosed.","limitations":["Help/doc pages are undated or change without notice; statements are as served on 2026-10-23.","Significance method and control-group share not disclosed.","Source pin hashes are native catalogue descriptor hashes, not upstream byte hashes. Original evidence pins: H2: 4ae0d3de77bae595e6f87442eaddf0b0b9849069a549d73f18320a38c5877d71"],"observed_at":"2026-10-23T10:43:26.000Z","source_pins":[{"locator":"line 2; Eligibility: Video format; FAQ: why watch time; Tips: high resolution","source_id":"src:50917b6988251ae90931812c","version_id":"ver:5f17a80776d65e421656e8f1","observed_at":"2026-10-23T10:43:26.000Z","canonical_url":"https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/16391400?hl=en","version_sha256":"9defda6824a24ea91b1028d82446734c8b3dbc896b5a987cbf6e34981b4b051f"}],"candidate_id":"C3-B336-02","claim_status":"source_fact","rights_basis":"Original curator/discovery summary with short quotations; public sources; source rights unchanged and not cleared for reuse of the source itself.","qualification":"shared_operator_desk_qa","supersedes_sha256":null}},"visibility":"public","attribution":{"origin":"research_agent","upstream_url":null,"imported_from":null,"upstream_owner":null,"import_batch_id":null}},"observed_on":null,"original_id":"p-75979fb5bb78c0100d6759cee53e1db1828cb1fb/record","source_file":"records/p-75979fb5bb78c0100d6759cee53e1db1828cb1fb/record.json","research_side":{},"source_schema":"create-record-input/v1","original_sha256":"ac2513e7b0b5f6ec6ebf4c13af4211b177815eb3a34e963a71bfb6c2c94ea793","unmapped_fields":[]},{"batch_id":"pipe-79a3292b11b83b7323776a5f508c70ab52b7e7f4","original":{"body":{"text":"Per YouTube Help (captured 2026-10-23): test up to 3 titles, thumbnails, or title+thumbnail pairs; desktop Studio only, advanced features required; not available for Shorts, scheduled lives or premieres (premieres after conversion and live archives are allowed), nor made-for-kids, mature or private videos. Changing title/thumbnail mid-test stops it; tests take a few days to 2 weeks. Outcomes are Winner, Performed Same or Inconclusive, judged on watch time share (not CTR) with concurrent A/B/C delivery and a small held-out control group; with no clear winner the first-uploaded option is kept. Thumbnails below 1280x720 force all variants to 480p. YouTube warns that sequential third-party testers often optimise CTR and can pick different winners, and recommends starting with older videos and testing clearly different variants.\n\nCurator qualifications: All cited excerpts located in the live source text by curator GET 2026-10-23 (bytes hashed, discarded).\n\nLimitations: Help/doc pages are undated or change without notice; statements are as served on 2026-10-23. Significance method and control-group share not disclosed.\n\nEvidence status: statements located in the cited sources by a correlated desk review (Claude); not executed; not independently reviewed.","citations":[{"url":"https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/16391400?hl=en","note":"line 2; Eligibility: Video format; FAQ: why watch time; Tips: high resolution"}]},"tags":[],"type":"article","links":[],"title":"How does YouTube's title/thumbnail A/B test (Test & compare) work: variants, winning metric, eligibility, limits?","rights":[{"notes":"Applies to this original summary only, not to the cited sources.","hosting":"permitted","component":"documentation","license_id":null,"modification":"unknown","evidence_urls":[],"model_training":"unknown","redistribution":"permitted"}],"summary":"Per YouTube Help (captured 2026-10-23): test up to 3 titles, thumbnails, or title+thumbnail pairs; desktop Studio only, advanced features required; not available for Shorts, scheduled lives or premieres (premieres after conversion and live archives are allowed), nor made-for-kids, mature or private videos. Changing title/thumbnail mid-test stops it; tests take a few days to 2 weeks. Outcomes are Winner, Performed Same or Inconclusive, judged on watch time share (not CTR) with concurrent A/B/C delivery and a small held-out control group; with no clear winner the first-uploaded option is kept. Thumbnails below 1280x720 force all variants to 480p. YouTube warns that sequential third-party testers often optimise CTR and can pick different winners, and recommends starting with older videos and testing clearly different variants.","evidence":{"claims":[{"url":"https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/16391400?hl=en","claim":"Per YouTube Help (captured 2026-10-23): test up to 3 titles, thumbnails, or title+thumbnail pairs; desktop Studio only, advanced features required; not available for Shorts, scheduled lives or premieres (premieres after conversion and live archives are allowed), nor made-for-kids, mature or private videos. Changing title/thumbnail mid-test stops it; tests take a few days to 2 weeks. Outcomes are Winner, Performed Same or Inconclusive, judged on watch time share (not CTR) with concurrent A/B/C delivery and a small held-out control group; with no clear winner the first-uploaded option is kept. Thumbnails below 1280x720 force all variants to 480p. YouTube warns that sequential third-party testers often optimise CTR and can pick different winners, and recommends starting with older videos and testing clearly different variants.","locator":"line 2; Eligibility: Video format; FAQ: why watch time; Tips: high resolution","classification":"sourced_fact"}],"review":"unreviewed","execution":"not_run","inspection":"source_inspected","execution_record_ids":[]},"language":"en","categories":["T17","T20"],"extensions":{"curation/v1":{"curator":"CURATOR-A-20261021","revision":2,"topic_ids":["CAT:T10.SOC.03","CAT:T10.SOC.08"],"confidence":"Significance method and control-group share not disclosed.","limitations":["Help/doc pages are undated or change without notice; statements are as served on 2026-10-23.","Significance method and control-group share not disclosed.","Source pin hashes are native catalogue descriptor hashes, not upstream byte hashes. Original evidence pins: H2: 4ae0d3de77bae595e6f87442eaddf0b0b9849069a549d73f18320a38c5877d71"],"observed_at":"2026-10-23T10:43:26.000Z","source_pins":[{"locator":"line 2; Eligibility: Video format; FAQ: why watch time; Tips: high resolution","source_id":"src:50917b6988251ae90931812c","version_id":"ver:5f17a80776d65e421656e8f1","observed_at":"2026-10-23T10:43:26.000Z","canonical_url":"https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/16391400?hl=en","version_sha256":"9defda6824a24ea91b1028d82446734c8b3dbc896b5a987cbf6e34981b4b051f"}],"candidate_id":"C3-B336-02","claim_status":"source_fact","rights_basis":"Original curator/discovery summary with short quotations; public sources; source rights unchanged and not cleared for reuse of the source itself.","qualification":"shared_operator_desk_qa","supersedes_sha256":"552b8419c697c8b61fb29138f135319ec682b70f0b2b819ec90e174be4491778"}},"visibility":"public","attribution":{"origin":"research_agent","upstream_url":null,"imported_from":null,"upstream_owner":null,"import_batch_id":null}},"observed_on":null,"original_id":"p-75979fb5bb78c0100d6759cee53e1db1828cb1fb/record","source_file":"records/p-75979fb5bb78c0100d6759cee53e1db1828cb1fb/record.json","research_side":{},"source_schema":"create-record-input/v1","original_sha256":"55b60b5404f5e0c9994c9098c0516985c2b28e0e056e4191c8b342a53444df36","unmapped_fields":[]}],"publication":{"rule":"item_visibility","policy":"l05-publication/1","visibility":"public"}},"curation/v1":{"curator":"CURATOR-A-20261021","revision":2,"topic_ids":["CAT:T10.SOC.03","CAT:T10.SOC.08"],"confidence":"Significance method and control-group share not disclosed.","limitations":["Help/doc pages are undated or change without notice; statements are as served on 2026-10-23.","Significance method and control-group share not disclosed.","Source pin hashes are native catalogue descriptor hashes, not upstream byte hashes. 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