\n<\/p>\n
The process of picking that all-important thumbnail for your latest YouTube video might be getting a lot easier soon. YouTube says it\u2019s conducting early testing of a feature it\u2019s calling \u201cTest & Compare,\u201d which lets creators upload up to three thumbnails for a single video and let YouTube experiment behind the scenes to see which one performs the best.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
In a video announcement<\/a>, YouTube says it\u2019s currently testing the feature with \u201ca few hundred creators,\u201d but plans to roll out a beta version in the coming months to thousands more ahead of a broader launch next year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n YouTube says the functionality, which is often known as A\/B testing, has been a \u201ctop requested feature\u201d by its users. A video\u2019s thumbnail plays a vital role in drawing in viewers, meaning there\u2019s pressure to make it as appealing as possible. A screenshot of the in-development YouTube feature shows how its Test & Compare feature will report back each thumbnail\u2019s \u201cwatch time\u201d as a percentage once it completes an A\/B test.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Over the years third-party tools<\/a> have popped up that advertise letting users A\/B test YouTube thumbnails and I\u2019ve also seen creators polling their Twitter followers<\/a> to try and work out which image might perform better. \u201cThumbnail science to please The Algorithm is scarily important, and I need all the help and advice and dos\/don\u2019ts as I can get,\u201d YouTuber Jay Foreman wrote alongside one such poll<\/a> last year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n