A/B test

[ey-bee test]

noun

1. Digital Technology.,  a comparison of two or more versions of a web page or app in simultaneous use to assess which is the optimized version for achieving a specified design goal or performance metric.

2. an experiment that compares two or more versions of a product or strategy to determine empirically which version is superior.

   The A/B test showed a more positive customer response to email marketing with short subject lines.

verb (used with object)

1. to subject (a website, app, product, or strategy) to a comparison of two or more versions in simultaneous use to assess which is the optimized version for achieving a specified design goal or performance metric.

Word History and Origins

Origin of A/B test¹

First recorded in 1980–85, from the use of A ³ ( def. ) and B ³ ( def. ) to indicate the first and second elements in a series

Example Sentences

In a way, he’s set up a nice A/B test in the field of persuasion science—an experimental trial, if you will, to compare against the Shor-influenced control group in which his party’s senior figures usually place themselves.

From Slate

Filmed and edited in 2020 — amid the ructions of the covid pandemic, the Trump administration and the outrage over the murder of George Floyd — “Everything Everywhere All at Once” uncannily captured and expressed the chaos of its era, and its embrace of dislocation and contingency resonated especially poignantly with young viewers, whose lives now resemble a confounding A/B test that will result in either promising or disastrous futures.

From Washington Post

Fast-food restaurants A/B test hamburgers, for example showing some eaters a version of a digital menu that puts Big Mac combo meals smack in the middle of the screen and others a version that promotes Quarter Pounders without the soda and fries.

From Washington Post

That explains why a 2012 Facebook A/B test unveiled in 2014 inspired ire similar to today’s — but greater: The platform had served some users more positive posts and some more negative posts to ascertain whether the change altered their moods — which, spoiler alert, it did.

From Washington Post

My guess is that Google is running an A / B test with this feature to see how people react.

From The Verge