Starting today, YouTube is making local language content more prominently available for users in India. The platform has been updated to display tailored regional content recommendations in the Home and Trending sections. This is live on the platform right now.
Once you log in, YouTube will automatically determine your preferred language based on numerous factors such as watch history, user interface language, and location. It will then populate the platform with regional video content, which you’re more likely to watch.
YouTube will make local content available to users in Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Punjabi, Tamil and Telegu. There are, however, no strict restrictions. You have the option to manually change your preferred language if you wish to receive recommendations in any other language. This will be taken into account by YouTube and you’ll see local content in the new language — the one you’ve just set it to. But, you can stick with English if you’re better off with that video content.
Talking about the same, Marcel Gordon, Product Manager at YouTube, stated,
We are excited to help more Indians find content in their local languages, especially those who are coming online for the first time. We hope this will make their experience even more engaging and relevant. We’re equally excited to help regional content creators reach audiences in their local languages more quickly.
Recently, YouTube has been expanding the scope of its features and offerings to include India as well. It debuted the children-friendly version of its service – YouTube Kids in the country about a month ago. The tech behemoth has also acknowledged the connectivity problem in India and has, thus, announced the launch of a lightweight ‘YouTube Go’ application. It allows users to download videos for offline viewing with an option to choose the quality and file size.
