YouTube search filters update: what it means for creators

You know that weird moment when you search your own niche on YouTube and the results look like a toddler dumped out a bucket of Shorts? Yeah. That wasn't just in your head.

YouTube quietly tweaked search in a way that can change who finds your stuff - especially if you're playing the "Shorts for reach, long-form for trust (and money)" game.

What happened

YouTube updated its search filters so people can more cleanly separate Shorts from regular videos.

The big change: in the search "Type" filter, there's now a dedicated option for Shorts alongside the usual "Videos," "Channels," "Playlists," etc. In other words: viewers can explicitly tell YouTube, "show me Shorts only," or (just as importantly) avoid them.

They also nudged the runtime filters. The mid-range bucket now starts at 3 minutes (not 4). That's not random - Shorts can now be up to 3 minutes, a shift YouTube rolled out after years of the 60-second cap. The system is basically drawing a clearer line between "Shorts-land" and "video-land," even as the lengths started to overlap.

One more subtle tweak: sorting by view count got re-labeled as "prioritize" views, and YouTube is blending in other signals instead of treating views like the one sacred truth. So if you were relying on "sort by views" to surface the obvious winners... that just got fuzzier.

Why creators should care

Search is one of the last places on YouTube where intent still matters. Home feed is vibes. Shorts feed is chaos. Search is: "I want a thing." When YouTube gives users a "Shorts-only" switch, it's acknowledging that a lot of people don't want a mixed bag.

For long-form creators, this is sneaky-good news. If someone filters out Shorts, your 8-20 minute video has a better chance to actually be seen in a results page that isn't clogged with vertical thumbnails and three-second dopamine hits.

For Shorts-first creators, it cuts both ways. Yes, a Shorts-only filter can send you more qualified viewers (people who actively chose Shorts). But it also means you can get boxed into the Shorts lane harder. If your goal is to use Shorts as the top of funnel for long-form, you'll have to be more intentional about how you hand people off.

And the "prioritize views" change? That's YouTube admitting what we already knew: raw view counts aren't a perfect proxy for "best." Translation: the platform is giving itself more freedom to rank based on satisfaction signals, freshness, watch history fit, and all the stuff you can't screenshot in a brag tweet.

Creators love "rules." Platforms love "signals." This update is YouTube choosing signals. Again.

What to do next

Split your search strategy by format. Don't assume your Shorts title/keyword style should match your long-form. Shorts win with punchy, obvious intent ("X in 30 seconds"). Long-form wins with clarity plus depth ("X explained," "X tutorial," "X mistakes"). Treat them like different shelves in the same store.
Make the handoff from Shorts to long-form painfully easy. If a viewer finds you through a Shorts-only search, they may never naturally bump into your long videos. Use pinned comments, related video links, and "watch next" language that feels human - not robotic.
Audit your videos around the 3-minute border. If you've got 2:30-3:00 content, decide what it is: a Short with a tight point, or a "real video" that deserves a proper thumbnail/title structure. Don't sit in the mushy middle by accident.
Stop worshipping view-count sorting. If you've been picking topics by searching and filtering for "most viewed," expect messier results. Start building your own topic radar: comments, community posts, Reddit threads, competitor playlists, and what your audience keeps asking twice.