NotebookLM’s Video Overview feature just got its first update, but it’s probably not what you think

By Mahnoor Faisal

9 hours ago

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After months of keeping users waiting, Google finally launched NotebookLM’s most anticipated feature toward the end of July: Video Overviews. The feature is essentially an extension of what made NotebookLM go viral in the first place: Audio Overviews. Both Audio and Video Overviews are designed to give users a quick, digestible summary of their notes, making it easier to review key points without having to read through everything line by line.

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Though I've always been a huge fan of the Audio Overviews feature and generate at least one podcast-style discussion per day, I've been completely obsessed with the Video Overviews feature. Google just dropped the feature's first update since it rolled out, but it’s likely not the kind of upgrade most users were hoping for.

Though NotebookLM has probably gotten smaller background updates here and there, this is the first notable change Google has officially announced since launch.

Google has also improved Audio Overviews

As announced via a post on Google's The Keyword, Google Labs revealed that NotebookLM's Audio Overviews will now be available in 80 languages. For context, when Google finally launched the feature, you could only generate video summaries in English, which many found to be a roadblock since Audio Overviews were already available in multiple languages.

Though you can find a complete list of the supported languages for NotebookLM's Video Overviews on this Google Support article, it includes Chinese, French, Hebrew, Korean, Japanese, Hindi, Spanish, and, well, pretty much all the major ones you’d expect.

The reason I say this update is probably far from what most users were expecting is because many assumed NotebookLM would prioritize rolling out the additional Video Overviews formats Google had promised. If you aren't familiar with what I'm talking about, when Google finally dropped Video Overviews in August, it just announced the "first format," which takes the form of narrated slides.

At the time, Google made it clear that more formats would follow. That said, the company also clearly stated that support for more languages was coming soon, which was a pretty obvious indication that this would be one of the first updates we’d see. So while it’s not the flashy new format many users had their hopes up for, it’s still a meaningful step that makes Video Overviews more accessible to a global audience.

Additionally, Google announced a neat upgrade for Audio Overviews too. If you’ve ever generated Audio Overviews in languages other than English, you might’ve noticed they weren’t as comprehensive as the English ones. NotebookLM’s team has finally addressed this, confirming that all non-English Audio Overviews will now be just as detailed and in-depth as their English counterparts.

Though the above might not be the news you've been waiting for, I'm still glad to see NotebookLM work on its shortcomings and keep improving the tool. Both updates are available starting today, and Google states that the entire rollout is expected to complete within the week.