12 ms·

This is probably true! However YouTube also knows how many times I personally have clicked on a video I have already watched. Which is zero, barring the possibi

• danShumway 5y ago
  I think this comment sums up my complaints in a lot of ways. Google's entire business model is based around customizing content to an individual level. Youtube's whole deal is that it theoretically understands what I want to watch. But it doesn't. And it's really weird to me to even have a discussion about what the average user might or might not want out of a recommendation engine. I feel like that misses the point -- with all of the data Youtube collects on users down to what portions of every video they watch, why is it so hard for individuals to tell Youtube what kinds of videos we want recommended? Why is it showing repeat recommendations to people who don't want them? Google's entire business from Youtube to advertising to its calendar features, it's all built around knowing what individuals want, and this is an instance where even when people are consciously trying to signal to Youtube that they don't want something, they can't, and the site just kind of ignores it. It's a failed outcome no matter how you look at it; the average person's recommendation tastes for repeat videos don't matter because Youtube isn't just the "trending videos" page, it has a section called "your recommendations". Those recommendations should reflect the preferences of the individual using the site, that was the entire promise behind all of this invasive user tracking.