Google Launches Ask YouTube Conversational Search Feature, Supporting Natural Language Queries and Follow-ups

At the 2026 Google I/O Developer Conference, Google CEO Sundar Pichai announced the launch of the Ask YouTube feature, upgrading traditional keyword search to conversational search. Users no longer need to input short phrases; they can directly describe their needs with full sentences and ask complex, specific questions. The system will return results closer to real needs based on intent understanding.

The feature supports follow-up questions—users can add conditions after the first round of answers to narrow down results, and it organizes relevant content from the entire platform's video catalog (including long and short videos). Currently, Ask YouTube is available to US users aged 18+ with YouTube Premium, accessible at youtube.com/new, and will expand to all YouTube users later.