A lot of YouTube users have been complaining about YouTube recommendation algorithm explaining that it is promoting conspiracy theories, fake news-type content, and too many similar recommendations. And this caused YouTube to be on a hot seat at some point.
As known, Google keeps on improving its service to meet all fans’ expectations, which is why YouTube has lately announced the change in YouTube recommendations algorithm which aims to improve the quality of the recommended videos and satisfying his fans.
As known, Google keeps on improving its service to meet all fans’ expectations, which is why YouTube has lately announced the change in recommendation algorithm which aims to improve the quality of the recommended videos and satisfying his fans.
But here is the real thing, nobody knows what exactly goes into the YouTube algorithm for suggesting recommendations. Well, nobody except the people behind YouTube of course!
However, it is safe to say that two things have a very strong impact on what YouTube ends up recommending: search history and watch history. If you reset both of these, you can pretty much reset your recommendations back to a blank slate.
To ensure YouTube fans’ satisfaction, the new system update will focus more on likes, dislikes and time spent on watching the videos instead of just the views which will result eventually on recommending more clickable videos to the users.
“We’ll begin reducing recommendations of borderline content and content that could misinform users in harmful ways – such as videos promoting a phony miracle cure for a serious illness, claiming the earth is flat or making blatantly false claims about historic events like 9/11” YouTube said.
Great so what are the new updates?!
1- Now you will be able to choose the topic you are interested in from the recommendation list.
YouTube is testing a new format that will allow users to use blue bubbles to suggest keywords, creators, and related topics to help browse through videos the format will appear underneath the video and is aimed to give users more control over their recommendations.
2- You will have the option to remove selected channels from your recommendations.
Though these recommendations are useful to some, it can eventually go unsteady, suggesting odd videos that have nothing to do with your interests. When that happens, you can now remove unwanted recommended content from your Home to improve your recommendations and see more videos that are relevant to your interests. However, you can only do this if you are signed to your account. However, even though YouTube gives users more control over their recommended feed, this stops repeating channels from consistently popping up.
3- New information Marker on the videos recommended to you.
YouTube has come up with a way of showing you why it has recommended the specific video. They will now be adding an information marker which is based on what other viewers with similar tastes have watched in the past. Or this could also be because of a YouTuber you follow is also a fan of a video. This is the same as how Facebook and Twitter promote videos and tweets from people you do not follow based on your viewing habits.
One thing to note though, resetting your recommendations is one way to go about it. But removing recommendations entirely would be another way to rectify the problem. This would be a great option for those who never really look at the recommendations, a good choice for those who simply prefer more screen estate while browsing YouTube feeds and those who have never found any good recommendations.
Although most users tend to get confused with their concerned contents, it is advised that Marketers take note of these changes. If used correctly, it could lead to a more active, unique and niche audience as it displays content that your audience already has an interest in. These changes, however, are hoped to personalize the viewer’s experience. And when it comes to YouTube algorithm, YouTube has mentioned,
“Instead of worrying about what the algorithm ‘likes’, it is better to focus on what your audience likes instead. If you do that and people watch, the algorithm will follow”.
Ironically, YouTube came up with the idea of recommending video feed for its viewers due to this backslash from the users themselves, hence, the announcement of the Topic Tags found under your recommended listings. This will help us find more specific recommendations instead of YouTube promoting just popular videos on site. Now the question is, are Tags really that important if you are already upset in what you are seeing on your feed? So to speak, it is not imperative. However, it helps YouTube grasp your video’s content and context. This way, YouTube can understand your video’s topic and category, and associate it with similar content, which can amplify your video’s reach. For sure, YouTube’s work isn’t over yet as it continuously is working on improving the recommendations and development of its system. Gladly, the throwing of words against them and the backslashes never fall off deaf ears and have used viewers’ negative comments to positively think of rational rectifications. Thank you, YouTube, for listening to us
