Techniques for intelligently biasing video thumbnail selection to popular segments of the video file are provided. In one aspect, a method of selecting video thumbnails used to represent a video file is provided. The method includes the steps of: (a) acquiring trending data from viewers related to the video file; (b) using the trending data to identify one or more segments of the video file that are popular among the viewers; and (c) adapting a selection of the video thumbnails used to represent the video file to the segments identified in step (b).