SEO – Google Search is showing YouTube Music links on album queries

Google Search is now surfacing links to listen to albums on YouTube Music, Reddit user Bing_Me posted on Friday. In mobile search results, the link appears in the “Listen” carousel of streaming music services, and on desktop search results, it appears within a list of streaming services in the album’s knowledge panel.

Why we care

Google Search has included links to Google Play in music results since 2014. This marks the first time it’s begun featuring YouTube Music as well. The YouTube Music service is supposed to take over Google Play Music, but the transition has been slow. This marks a step in that direction, however.

Note, that YouTube Music not does not always appear as the first option within the streaming carousel. The option to listen via YouTube Music currently only appears when users search for a specific album, not when the user searches for an artist or a particular song. The inclusion in the Search carousel comes on the heels of a redesign for the app on Android.

More on the news

• Selecting the YouTube Music link takes the user to the YouTube Music site or mobile app.
• YouTube Music was launched in November 2015.
• YouTube Music will take on all of Play Music’s key features, Google confirmed to The Verge in 2018. The company plans to transition Play Music subscribers over to YouTube Music, The Verge also reported.