6 ms·

I would love to be able to hide Shorts for good instead of having to do it every 30 days. I wonder what technical issue is preventing them to accomplish such ta

I would love to be able to hide Shorts for good instead of having to do it every 30 days. I wonder what technical issue is preventing them to accomplish such task.

dec0dedab0de 3y ago
There is no technical issue, they realized that shorts make them more money, so they are pushing that.
- Fatnino 3y ago
  How do shorts make money? I thought shorts is just a way for YouTube to make sure everyone knows tiktok exists. They all end with an ad for tiktok
ehnto 3y ago
I wrote a personal browser extension that hides them. They are obnoxious.
jamespullar 3y ago
I doubt it's a technical issue. The current YouTube CEO, Neal Mohan, has made a big push for Shorts. This is almost certainly a business decision.
- jeron 3y ago
  it's a business decision that makes sense. Short form entertainment is a huge market that TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat have been cashing in on. It may be annoying to users but to those that adopt, YouTube stands to gain a lot from it
chii 3y ago
there's a ublock list that specifically hides shorts : https://github.com/gijsdev/ublock-hide-yt-shorts https://github.com/gijsdev/ublock-hide-yt-shorts
bongobingo1 3y ago
To the far more experienced HN audience, is there a viable technical reason for this to not stick past 30 days? I would cynically assume it's a solely dark pattern, but I have never built at such a scale as youtube.
- charcircuit 3y ago
  Shorts is a growing format on YouTube. The inventory of videos is increasing over time. If someone clicks the X button indicating the recommended shorts are not relevant after 30 days there will be many more new videos. Potentially some of these new videos will now be relevant enough to show the user. Additionally the X button is not labelled unless you o haver over it after which it says "Not interested." If it were permanent people may accidently click this button and then they will never be recommended shorts even if they enjoy them. People's opinions about shorts way change over time. After a month they may actually want to engage with the format. Having to go search through some menu buried somewhere to enable shorts on the home page again is not user friendly. Being able to do exploration is an important part of recommendation systems. Allowing a user to do just exploitation is going to lead to a worse experience in them long term.
  - shultays 3y ago
    How many times users has to click "don't recommend shorts" before youtube decides it is not for them? By that logic, no user setting should be permanent. Growing format Hard for it not to considering youtube tries its best to mark videos as short. Some of my older videos are now shorts and I can't convert them
- briga 3y ago
  Tiktok makes big money and is a direct competitor to YouTube, so YouTube is pushing the format to capture that audience back. It’s a far more engaging pattern that what existed before. Remember when YouTube forced autoplay on everyone? Doesn’t make for a better experience, but if users are more engaged that’s all that counts for execs at YouTube
  - 3y ago
JKCalhoun 3y ago
I'm not sure, I mean I'm no Dennis Ritchie, but I feel like if I got into the code I might be able to push it out to 45 days. Waddaya say, Google?
throwaway0223 3y ago
If you use Chrome, YouTube Shorts Block [1] is a good extension for that, and removes (mostly) Shorts videos. Not perfect, still leaves some traces (e.g. empty spaces, channel titles in subscriptions), but it helps to declutter your user experience. And while we're talking about extensions to customize your YT experience, here's three more that I really enjoy: - Clickbait Remover [2], to remove the usually clickbait-ish video thumbnails - Unhook [3], to remove the recommended videos entirely. This extension helped me reduce the time spent on YT. I now browse recommendations on my phone much more quickly, add what I want to check out to Watch Later queue, so on desktop I only search, check subscriptions, or consume my WL queue - Video Speed Controller [4]. This one is super popular, so probably you already have it installed. [1] https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/youtube-shorts-block/jiaopdjbehhjgokpphdfgmapkobbnmjp https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/youtube-shorts-blo... [2] https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/clickbait-remover-for-you/omoinegiohhgbikclijaniebjpkeopip https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/clickbait-remover-... [3] https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/unhook-remove-youtube-rec/khncfooichmfjbepaaaebmommgaepoid https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/unhook-remove-yout... [4] https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/video-speed-controller/nffaoalbilbmmfgbnbgppjihopabppdk https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/video-speed-contro...
- abnercoimbre 3y ago
  Do we have equivalents for Firefox as well? I'm struggling to find them.
  - RGamma 3y ago
    I use Enhancer for Youtube (https://addons.mozilla.org/en/firefox/addon/enhancer-for-youtube/ https://addons.mozilla.org/en/firefox/addon/enhancer-for-you...) Allows hiding(*) and converting to normal video. (*) "Firefox 103+ and layout.css.has-selector.enabled set to True - Experimental CSS feature not fully working on Firefox, some rendering issues may occur"
  - stefantalpalaru 3y ago
    [dead]
seanhunter 3y ago
Yup. Hate shorts. Hate the "mix" things that appear in the middle of my feed also. There are a couple of blocker addons for firefox (eg youtube-shorts-block) which I'm going to try out.
GeorgeMD 3y ago
I doubt it's a technical issue. You will never watch shorts if you hide them for good. But if every 30 days you see shorts maybe one day you'll stop hiding them.
- whateveracct 3y ago
  classic PM rejection sensitive nonsense imo
whateveracct 3y ago
None lmao - a PM who wants shorts metrics to go up is vetoing that suggestion.
ygouzerh 3y ago
Definitely... I built a mobile app for android to block me to go to Shorts and waste hours of doom-scrolling... I will release it on the Play Store if someone need it as well.
iNerdier 3y ago
Assuming this is a serious question: it’s a marketing decision not a technical limitation. They want you to watch shorts, hence every month they reappear.
ringer 3y ago
In addition, it would be nice to create a separate RSS feed for the shorts and of course remove them from the original. In the early days it was easy to filter out because of the #short tag, but nowadays it's not mandatory in the title.
sebastialonso 3y ago
In my experience with big tech, there's almost never technical issues with this kind of preferences. It's a business decision.
qzx_pierri 3y ago
I created this uBlock Origin rule that will remove all Shorts without any cosmetic remnants. Seems simpler and more secure than installing an addon. youtube.com##:xpath(//ytd-thumbnail-overlay-time-status-renderer[@overlay-style='SHORTS']//ancestor::ytd-grid-video-renderer)

I would love to be able to hide Shorts for good instead of having to do it every 30 days. I wonder what technical issue is preventing them to accomplish such task.

dec0dedab0de 3y ago

There is no technical issue, they realized that shorts make them more money, so they are pushing that.

Fatnino 3y ago
How do shorts make money? I thought shorts is just a way for YouTube to make sure everyone knows tiktok exists. They all end with an ad for tiktok

ehnto 3y ago

I wrote a personal browser extension that hides them. They are obnoxious.

jamespullar 3y ago

I doubt it's a technical issue. The current YouTube CEO, Neal Mohan, has made a big push for Shorts. This is almost certainly a business decision.

jeron 3y ago
it's a business decision that makes sense. Short form entertainment is a huge market that TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat have been cashing in on. It may be annoying to users but to those that adopt, YouTube stands to gain a lot from it

chii 3y ago

there's a ublock list that specifically hides shorts : https://github.com/gijsdev/ublock-hide-yt-shorts https://github.com/gijsdev/ublock-hide-yt-shorts

bongobingo1 3y ago

To the far more experienced HN audience, is there a viable technical reason for this to not stick past 30 days? I would cynically assume it's a solely dark pattern, but I have never built at such a scale as youtube.

charcircuit 3y ago
Shorts is a growing format on YouTube. The inventory of videos is increasing over time. If someone clicks the X button indicating the recommended shorts are not relevant after 30 days there will be many more new videos. Potentially some of these new videos will now be relevant enough to show the user. Additionally the X button is not labelled unless you o haver over it after which it says "Not interested." If it were permanent people may accidently click this button and then they will never be recommended shorts even if they enjoy them. People's opinions about shorts way change over time. After a month they may actually want to engage with the format. Having to go search through some menu buried somewhere to enable shorts on the home page again is not user friendly. Being able to do exploration is an important part of recommendation systems. Allowing a user to do just exploitation is going to lead to a worse experience in them long term.
- shultays 3y ago
  How many times users has to click "don't recommend shorts" before youtube decides it is not for them? By that logic, no user setting should be permanent. Growing format Hard for it not to considering youtube tries its best to mark videos as short. Some of my older videos are now shorts and I can't convert them
briga 3y ago
Tiktok makes big money and is a direct competitor to YouTube, so YouTube is pushing the format to capture that audience back. It’s a far more engaging pattern that what existed before. Remember when YouTube forced autoplay on everyone? Doesn’t make for a better experience, but if users are more engaged that’s all that counts for execs at YouTube
- 3y ago

JKCalhoun 3y ago

I'm not sure, I mean I'm no Dennis Ritchie, but I feel like if I got into the code I might be able to push it out to 45 days. Waddaya say, Google?

throwaway0223 3y ago

If you use Chrome, YouTube Shorts Block [1] is a good extension for that, and removes (mostly) Shorts videos. Not perfect, still leaves some traces (e.g. empty spaces, channel titles in subscriptions), but it helps to declutter your user experience. And while we're talking about extensions to customize your YT experience, here's three more that I really enjoy: - Clickbait Remover [2], to remove the usually clickbait-ish video thumbnails - Unhook [3], to remove the recommended videos entirely. This extension helped me reduce the time spent on YT. I now browse recommendations on my phone much more quickly, add what I want to check out to Watch Later queue, so on desktop I only search, check subscriptions, or consume my WL queue - Video Speed Controller [4]. This one is super popular, so probably you already have it installed. [1] https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/youtube-shorts-block/jiaopdjbehhjgokpphdfgmapkobbnmjp https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/youtube-shorts-blo... [2] https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/clickbait-remover-for-you/omoinegiohhgbikclijaniebjpkeopip https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/clickbait-remover-... [3] https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/unhook-remove-youtube-rec/khncfooichmfjbepaaaebmommgaepoid https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/unhook-remove-yout... [4] https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/video-speed-controller/nffaoalbilbmmfgbnbgppjihopabppdk https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/video-speed-contro...

abnercoimbre 3y ago
Do we have equivalents for Firefox as well? I'm struggling to find them.
- RGamma 3y ago
  I use Enhancer for Youtube (https://addons.mozilla.org/en/firefox/addon/enhancer-for-youtube/ https://addons.mozilla.org/en/firefox/addon/enhancer-for-you...) Allows hiding(*) and converting to normal video. (*) "Firefox 103+ and layout.css.has-selector.enabled set to True - Experimental CSS feature not fully working on Firefox, some rendering issues may occur"
- stefantalpalaru 3y ago
  [dead]

seanhunter 3y ago

Yup. Hate shorts. Hate the "mix" things that appear in the middle of my feed also. There are a couple of blocker addons for firefox (eg youtube-shorts-block) which I'm going to try out.

GeorgeMD 3y ago

I doubt it's a technical issue. You will never watch shorts if you hide them for good. But if every 30 days you see shorts maybe one day you'll stop hiding them.

whateveracct 3y ago
classic PM rejection sensitive nonsense imo

whateveracct 3y ago

None lmao - a PM who wants shorts metrics to go up is vetoing that suggestion.

ygouzerh 3y ago

Definitely... I built a mobile app for android to block me to go to Shorts and waste hours of doom-scrolling... I will release it on the Play Store if someone need it as well.

iNerdier 3y ago

Assuming this is a serious question: it’s a marketing decision not a technical limitation. They want you to watch shorts, hence every month they reappear.

ringer 3y ago

In addition, it would be nice to create a separate RSS feed for the shorts and of course remove them from the original. In the early days it was easy to filter out because of the #short tag, but nowadays it's not mandatory in the title.

sebastialonso 3y ago

In my experience with big tech, there's almost never technical issues with this kind of preferences. It's a business decision.

qzx_pierri 3y ago

I created this uBlock Origin rule that will remove all Shorts without any cosmetic remnants. Seems simpler and more secure than installing an addon. youtube.com##:xpath(//ytd-thumbnail-overlay-time-status-renderer[@overlay-style='SHORTS']//ancestor::ytd-grid-video-renderer)