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MKBHD criticized YouTube's plan to A/B test full video edits

Marques Brownlee asked on X whether comment timestamps would still line up when two people saw different cuts.

Marques Brownlee criticized YouTube's plan to let creators A/B test full video edits, writing on September 23, 2026 that basic questions about the viewer experience remain unanswered.

YouTube is widening Studio experiments beyond titles and thumbnails so uploaders can route different cuts to audience segments and compare performance.

Brownlee wrote that the more he thought about the feature since its announcement, the less he liked it, citing what he called many unanswered questions.

He asked whether someone watching a video would know it was part of a test and whether comment threads could stay coherent when viewers saw different versions of the same upload.

"If someone's comment has timestamps, do they break if I'm seeing the other version of the video?" he wrote.

Brownlee also asked how long tests could keep running after a video went live and how far apart the alternate versions would be allowed to diverge.

He said he did not want to block change simply because it was new, but that testing the video itself went a step beyond the Studio tools he already uses.

"I hate to be the 'old school' creator who never wants anything to change, but I fear A/B testing THE VIDEO ITSELF is just 1 step further than what I can fully grasp," he said.

In August, Brownlee had said rotating titles and thumbnails made videos harder to recognize when viewers returned to YouTube.