In a move that implicitly hints at Google efforts to make its YouTube site increasingly suitable for feature length films, the Internet search biggie has ‘quietly’ rolled out a new minimalist redesign for the video-player pages of the most popular video-sharing site in the world.

Google’s somewhat discreet redesigning of YouTube will apparently be more suitable for an array of content as it will ‘mute’ the “voice” of the old YouTube design, thereby lending the requisite prominence to the videos on the site.

The suble yet significant move by Google marks the creation of a ‘unified’ tone on the YouTube site. Users, who wish to switch over to the redesigned YouTube version, need to click the special “updated” link on the site to initiate the change, which can be reversed by switching a link on the upper right side of the page.

The redesigned YouTube version allows search results, playlists or suggested videos to ‘follow’ viewers around the site; thereby making it possible for them to instantly look into some of the search results, without having to use their browser’s “back” button. This will reduce friction and, hence, increase viewing time on YouTube.

The strategic reason behind the YouTube redesign is that Google is attempting to make YouTube more attractive to video producers, including professional filmmakers and maybe even Hollywood studios, to boost its new video rental service.