This week’s update from the Creator Insider team focuses on refining the viewer experience for Shopping and providing new efficiency tools for community management.

🛒 Shopping Product Timestamp Improvements

YouTube is updating the interface for product timestamps on mobile, specifically for portrait mode. Previously, product banners could sometimes obstruct the video content, making it harder for viewers to watch.

To fix this, YouTube is replacing the overlay banners with a shelf that expands below the video.

• Less Obstruction: The video remains clear of shopping overlays.
• Continuous Context: The shelf will remain open even during gaps between specific product timestamps. It will continue to display the most recently featured product until the next timestamp is reached.

This follows updates from July that gave creators better drag-and-drop controls for managing these timestamps.

💬 AI-Enhanced Comment Reply Suggestions

After experimenting with this feature last year, YouTube is now expanding AI-enhanced comment replies to a wider group of creators.

• Where to find it: The feature is rolling out across YouTube Studio Mobile, the main YouTube mobile app, and Studio Web.
• How it works: The AI suggests replies based on the comment, attempting to match your specific tone and style.
• Control: These are just suggestions. You can tap to edit them completely before posting, or ignore them.
• Language Support: The feature supports over 100 languages.

For the full rundown from the team, you can watch the original video here: