YouTube News

YouTube expanded Custom Feeds to eight prompt-based slots

U.S. testers can pin text-defined recommendation rows to the homepage, with views still counting toward creator watch time.

YouTube widened its Custom Feed experiment so signed-in viewers can maintain up to eight homepage feeds built from written prompts, Dexerto reported Monday. The platform had tested an early version in November 2025 and rolled a fuller U.S. trial in May.

Testers describe what they want in plain language, such as guided meditation clips under ten minutes, and YouTube generates a dedicated row pinned above the usual recommendations. They can revise prompts anytime; feeds they stop using eventually expire.

On phones, Custom Feeds replace YouTube's topic chips for people in the experiment. Desktop still shows the older category chips. The test requires a U.S. account, English as the device language, watch history turned on, and works on Android, iOS, and the web.

Videos opened from a Custom Feed still land in regular watch history and can shape what the main homepage suggests next. Views still count toward creator watch time and monetization.

The prompts go further than marking a video "Not interested," blocking a channel, or wiping watch history. PewDiePie had previously built an AI-powered browser extension that stripped Shorts and homepage recommendations from his viewing experience.

YouTube has not said when the feature might ship outside the U.S.