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Youtube has become garbage and it was only a matter of time before Google's lack of identity infected it as well, you can now search for a video and only get sh

Youtube has become garbage and it was only a matter of time before Google's lack of identity infected it as well, you can now search for a video and only get shorts and other algo suggestions completely unrelated to your search. My guess is they're going to quickly back down on that... I tried the iphone for a year before going back to android and I just stopped using youtube there, you quickly realize how unnecessary you find it, because there is no way in hell any same person is going to endure a 30 second ad for the garbage content you find there now.

passion__desire 3y ago
Do you actively use "Not Interested"? It helps a lot. Another hack that I have is if I like a particular topic, I click on as many related videos as possible in the bottom suggestion list in order to "guide" the algorithm, even if I won't get back to all of them. Not sure if this has any effect but it has worked out quite well for me.
- chaosbolt 3y ago
  I have the history and suggested content features off, I used to only rely on searching for what I wanted to watch, now it stopped working, both google search and youtube search now are trash, and search is their original product.
- MaxikCZ 3y ago
  Not parent comentter but I even asked HN on my issue with Youtube started to ignore my "Not interested" and suggest me the videos over and over. Currently the only way to get rid of it is "Dont reccomend channel", but as soon as youtube forces ads trough adblock I just stop using it, just as I did on mobile.
- johnnyworker 3y ago
  I know got one of two (always one or the other) execution clips (as in, a human kneeling in front of someone with a weapon, at least according to the thumb, never watched it) when scrolling to far totally benign searches (namely remixes of songs that have a lot, trying to find some I like). I did click "not interested", and after a few months it popped back again. up Couldn't find it right now, so maybe it got reported often enough, but my guess would be the "algorithm" "realized" that this video got a lot of clicks regardless of search, so why not sprinkle it into all searches, right? And that's silly, and I claim it would be even with perfectly good intentions. It's just wasting huge amounts of energy on something that is worse, and cannot ever be good (that is, the whole algorithms second guessing people stuff). Give me "dumb" search that returns things that contain the terms in the title or description, or that are linked in the descriptions of videos that contain them. Or even find an open way (i.e. not restricted to Google, and not "the way Google likes it", but decent and simple and clean) to show videos on web pages that contain them. Page rank is not perfect and can be gamed, but it's actually feasible to make that good -- it used to be stellar compared to what we have now, now imagine what we could do with all that was learned and invented in the meantime. Crafting searches to make pinpoint landings on what you are looking for, if it exists, is a delightful art. Remember http://www.fravia.net/ http://www.fravia.net/ ? It's like remembering having and being able to use a screwdriver, instead of there being this fairy that you can ask for help, which sometimes shows up instantly and fastens the screw, and sometimes shows up pretending to not know what a screw is while reaching in your pocket... which is at best as good as having and being able to use a screw driver, and potentially infinitely worse. So on average, it's infinitely worse. Logic :D And when it comes to clicking "not interested", I know that in the long run my wishes aren't respected anyway, and I've gotten so cynical about this stuff that I basically just view it as a further signal to a bad actor (if not abuser) that yes, I saw this thing, didn't just scroll by it, noticed it enough to strongly dislike it, and am now offering a futile plea to please not show me that again. I'd rather close the tab altogether. This rant wasn't directed at you or your suggestion, not at all! But I just had to get it out, I hope you understand. I'm so over the whole web as a worse version of TV, where the middlemen get the vast majority of profits plus information on how to better poison you, and you get the poison. Teach people digital literacy instead of giving them "free" assistants that very well might one day become their captors or worse, to the degree they aren't already.
- jaskhfj 3y ago
  I'm conservative in using "not interested" because I'm not sure what is being de-prioritized and hidden from myself. Am I hiding all videos from Mr Beast himself? Am I hiding all videos with Mr Beast style thumbnails? Am I hiding all videos with charity drive messages from popular influencers? Am I hiding all video who take sponsor breaks at the 2-3 minute mark? Am I hiding all videos who don't provide my typical type of content when compared to all my other subscriptions? Am I hiding all videos which were liked by 13-21 year olds? And multiplied in every possible dimension across every possible video category....
  - passion__desire 3y ago
    It's not a binary thing. It's just a signal to algo. I think in the background it maps over what that signal means, whether you are disliking whole top-level category or a sub-category towards the leaf. I used to get NFL videos, I disliked few times, still received those videos, I disliked them again, now its gone altogether. Also the algo might have exponentially decaying memory. So your signal is not permanent. You can always watch a Mr. Beast video again and it will come back to your feed.
softg 3y ago
Google's efforts to make more money will probably ruin Youtube at some point, but so far this is not my experience. Youtube is really good at suggesting new content that is in line with what you watch. I am subscribed to more than 300 channels and interesting new channels pop up regularly on my homepage still.
- HDThoreaun 3y ago
  My YouTube recommendations are awful so it’s really interesting to hear that yours are good. Wonder what the difference between us is?
johnnyworker 3y ago
I too feel like I'm at the point in my life where YT needs me more than I need it. Most of the people who "talk about stuff" on it are getting more and more demented (or super long winded while unlearning English) and I'm starting to think if it can't be put in writing, my life is probably improved if I don't hear about it in the first place.

passion__desire 3y ago

Do you actively use "Not Interested"? It helps a lot. Another hack that I have is if I like a particular topic, I click on as many related videos as possible in the bottom suggestion list in order to "guide" the algorithm, even if I won't get back to all of them. Not sure if this has any effect but it has worked out quite well for me.

chaosbolt 3y ago
I have the history and suggested content features off, I used to only rely on searching for what I wanted to watch, now it stopped working, both google search and youtube search now are trash, and search is their original product.
MaxikCZ 3y ago
Not parent comentter but I even asked HN on my issue with Youtube started to ignore my "Not interested" and suggest me the videos over and over. Currently the only way to get rid of it is "Dont reccomend channel", but as soon as youtube forces ads trough adblock I just stop using it, just as I did on mobile.
johnnyworker 3y ago
I know got one of two (always one or the other) execution clips (as in, a human kneeling in front of someone with a weapon, at least according to the thumb, never watched it) when scrolling to far totally benign searches (namely remixes of songs that have a lot, trying to find some I like). I did click "not interested", and after a few months it popped back again. up Couldn't find it right now, so maybe it got reported often enough, but my guess would be the "algorithm" "realized" that this video got a lot of clicks regardless of search, so why not sprinkle it into all searches, right? And that's silly, and I claim it would be even with perfectly good intentions. It's just wasting huge amounts of energy on something that is worse, and cannot ever be good (that is, the whole algorithms second guessing people stuff). Give me "dumb" search that returns things that contain the terms in the title or description, or that are linked in the descriptions of videos that contain them. Or even find an open way (i.e. not restricted to Google, and not "the way Google likes it", but decent and simple and clean) to show videos on web pages that contain them. Page rank is not perfect and can be gamed, but it's actually feasible to make that good -- it used to be stellar compared to what we have now, now imagine what we could do with all that was learned and invented in the meantime. Crafting searches to make pinpoint landings on what you are looking for, if it exists, is a delightful art. Remember http://www.fravia.net/ http://www.fravia.net/ ? It's like remembering having and being able to use a screwdriver, instead of there being this fairy that you can ask for help, which sometimes shows up instantly and fastens the screw, and sometimes shows up pretending to not know what a screw is while reaching in your pocket... which is at best as good as having and being able to use a screw driver, and potentially infinitely worse. So on average, it's infinitely worse. Logic :D And when it comes to clicking "not interested", I know that in the long run my wishes aren't respected anyway, and I've gotten so cynical about this stuff that I basically just view it as a further signal to a bad actor (if not abuser) that yes, I saw this thing, didn't just scroll by it, noticed it enough to strongly dislike it, and am now offering a futile plea to please not show me that again. I'd rather close the tab altogether. This rant wasn't directed at you or your suggestion, not at all! But I just had to get it out, I hope you understand. I'm so over the whole web as a worse version of TV, where the middlemen get the vast majority of profits plus information on how to better poison you, and you get the poison. Teach people digital literacy instead of giving them "free" assistants that very well might one day become their captors or worse, to the degree they aren't already.
jaskhfj 3y ago
I'm conservative in using "not interested" because I'm not sure what is being de-prioritized and hidden from myself. Am I hiding all videos from Mr Beast himself? Am I hiding all videos with Mr Beast style thumbnails? Am I hiding all videos with charity drive messages from popular influencers? Am I hiding all video who take sponsor breaks at the 2-3 minute mark? Am I hiding all videos who don't provide my typical type of content when compared to all my other subscriptions? Am I hiding all videos which were liked by 13-21 year olds? And multiplied in every possible dimension across every possible video category....
- passion__desire 3y ago
  It's not a binary thing. It's just a signal to algo. I think in the background it maps over what that signal means, whether you are disliking whole top-level category or a sub-category towards the leaf. I used to get NFL videos, I disliked few times, still received those videos, I disliked them again, now its gone altogether. Also the algo might have exponentially decaying memory. So your signal is not permanent. You can always watch a Mr. Beast video again and it will come back to your feed.

softg 3y ago

Google's efforts to make more money will probably ruin Youtube at some point, but so far this is not my experience. Youtube is really good at suggesting new content that is in line with what you watch. I am subscribed to more than 300 channels and interesting new channels pop up regularly on my homepage still.

HDThoreaun 3y ago
My YouTube recommendations are awful so it’s really interesting to hear that yours are good. Wonder what the difference between us is?

johnnyworker 3y ago

I too feel like I'm at the point in my life where YT needs me more than I need it. Most of the people who "talk about stuff" on it are getting more and more demented (or super long winded while unlearning English) and I'm starting to think if it can't be put in writing, my life is probably improved if I don't hear about it in the first place.