• by Laurie Sullivan , Staff Writer @lauriesullivan, December 15, 2021

Consumers watching videos on YouTube will now have easy access to determine the locations mentioned in the video.

YouTube on Tuesday launched a link format in the video description box that provides what the company describes as an “easy and visual” way for viewers to learn about the locations mentioned in the video.

“It would be great if we could integrate with Google maps and Google local guides,” wrote Molometer in the comments. “I've got some videos from around the world that show remote locations and will update them using the locations tool. I'm assuming we can retroactively do that?”

Places Mentioned becomes visible on the mobile app for iOS and Android for food and drinks videos where YouTube can detect places. A timeline for the rollout has not been released, nor a date to expand into other categories like travel, tourism, hotels or retail stores.

The feature is interesting because Google focuses on location in search results, so to have the location or to give YouTube the ability to detect the location of the place featured in the video provides an interesting twist for brands creating how-to, unboxed or promotional videos that highlight physical locations.

Until now, creators had to manually add TextMap links if they wanted to add places mentioned in the video.

The new feature is intended to make the experience seamless by giving viewers a way to lean about location.

Places Mentioned provides location links, permission support, and the ability to edit descriptions in Auto Chapters in the video details page.

The three updates were announced in YouTube’s Creator Insider channel on the video platform this week.

Channel permissions enables creators to designate or grant others varying degrees of access to data including channel data, tools, and features in YouTube Studio.

Channel permissions now extends to cover the Live Control Room in Studio.