YouTube rolled out new filters for its advanced search tools today, making it easier to find the right videos. The biggest update adds Shorts as a separate content type, which lets users remove any video that runs three minutes or less from search results. As a result, people can now focus on longer clips without getting buried under short-form posts.
For many viewers, this change solves a common problem. Users often look for a deep explainer but instead face dozens of ten-second videos. That issue grew last year after more AI-generated content appeared through the Google Veo 3 engine. Now, the option to hide Shorts should help users reach useful videos faster.
At the same time, YouTube also refreshed some parts of its search menu. The “Sort By” label has changed to “Prioritize,” which better reflects how results are ranked. In addition, the “View Count” filter is now called “Popularity,” allowing the system to consider watch time along with views. This helps YouTube show videos that people actually keep watching.
However, a few older options have gone away. Users will no longer see “Upload Date – Last Hour” in the filters. The “Sort by Rating” choice has also been removed. Even so, YouTube believes the new tools will give better results by focusing on how much people truly engage with a video.
