Since YouTube belongs to Google and this is the best search engine on the web, it's obvious that the video sharing service must have pretty advanced search functions, most of them coming from the parent company. Although no one inside Googleplex announced such an update, blogger Ionut Alex Chitu has discovered that the international versions of YouTube now provide search suggestions for the search function of the main page.

The search suggestions "are obtained from the other YouTube users," Ionut Alex Chitu wrote so in case you're looking for a popular video, the chances to type the matching search query are quite big.

As you know, the search suggestions have been tested by the Mountain View-based company for some time now but it always remained a testing function and never migrated to the main Google Search page.

"Our algorithms use a wide range of information to predict the queries users are most likely to want to see. For example, Google Suggest uses data about the overall popularity of various searches to help rank the refinements it offers," Google explains in a FAQ published on the Google Suggest page. "By suggesting more refined searches up front, Google Suggest can make your searches more convenient and efficient by keeping you from having to reformulate your query. Google Suggest might offer suggestions that you will find novel or intriguing."

As far as I can see, YouTube's search suggest feature works pretty fine and provides quite relevant queries. In case you can't see it, don't forget you have to load an international version of YouTube, no matter if you choose YouTube UK, YouTube France, YouTube Italy or YouTube Germany. Clicking on the Settings link placed near the search button on the main page lets you disable and enable the suggestions.