I watch videos I'd like to get recommended while logged-in. I watch videos I'm not sure about in incognito/private browsing not to influence the recommendations in my account. If I find myself consuming that kind of content more often and would like it to be recommended to me, I promote it to the logged-in session. If I want to see less of it, I gradually demote it, including deleting YouTube history of videos of a certain type, and this acts as an indicator that I'm consuming more than I should.
Unhook: Hide YouTube Recommendations
61–70 of 127 posts
Re: Unhook: Hide YouTube Recommendations
#62Earlier quoted context omitted.
I was looking to buy a leather belt about 6 months ago. I found the belt and bought it (am very happy, thank you). Now it appears for the rest of my life I will be getting leather belt advertisements. On Facebook, Youtube, Google, everywhere. The whole reason why I wanted a quality belt was so that it would last me the rest of my life if cared for properly. I intend to never buy another. And what's worse is that it's…
For what its worth, this is more because none of those advertisers (except maybe the one whose belt you actually bought) know you actually finished and bought a belt! Everyone who wants people to buy their leather belts advertises to people who have searched or previously looked for "leather belts" and that is you... In a perverse way, it's actually good for you to keep getting belt ads. If you just stopped getting t…
the incognito mode in chrome and inprivate in edge have become my "normal" browsing mode. i keep a regular window for a handful of web sites & apps like gmail, youtube, github, etc.
i instinctively open everything else in incognito now. i have noticed less tracking, less ads, and a more pleasant browsing experience.
Re: Unhook: Hide YouTube Recommendations
#63I honestly just wish the recommendations were better . I watched an interview that Curtis Yarvin gave on Tucker Carlson (about an hour long...interesting at least). Now youtube is sending me all these conservative "talk show" people that I have absolutely 0 interest in. Same thing: I think I watched some video about guns a while ago. I think guns are neat, but I absolutely do not care about watching dozens of videos…
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Re: Unhook: Hide YouTube Recommendations
#64I've tried Unhook and DF YouTube, but I replaced them both with Undistracted [0]. It's more versatile - it has better configuration, supports more sites (Reddit, Facebook, etc) and allows an arbitrary block list.
The internet would be a better place with the ability to hide recommended feeds [1]. They can be useful sometimes, but mostly they're used to distract you from your goal. It's the digital equivalent of placing milk in the back of the grocery store. The ideal home page of a service to me is an empty page with a search bar.
[0] https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/undistracted-hide-...
Re: Unhook: Hide YouTube Recommendations
#65At least for music, you get much, much better recommendations when viewing in incognito mode. Basically you get songs that other people who listens to this song also listened to, instead of the same songs youtube thinks you like, regardless of the song playing.
I've started using YouTube while logged out in Brave. Every week or two I'll clear my cache / cookies / service worker / literally all of YouTube's local storage to be truly anonymous again.
The recommendations I get (next to a playing video) immediately after doing that are fantastic. It's like a time machine that takes you back to when their recommendations algorithm focused on recommending videos that are highly relevant to what you're currently watching.
When I hit an age gate and have to use it logged in, through firefox, the quality hit for the recommendations is immediately noticeable.
I was surprised that the difference is so apparent, and I've been spending more time on YouTube again as a result.
Re: Unhook: Hide YouTube Recommendations
#66Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yes, I know the cause, but I'm pointing out a flaw in their plan. It would be smarter to look for pools of products and be less targetted . E.g. to know that people who buy long lived leather belts may also be interested in long-lived leather wallets, or long-lived shirts, or glass containers instead of plastic, etc, and then rotate all these products in, rather than this targetted barrage of non-stop belt ads for th…
For what its worth, companies probably DO look into this, but people who are bidding on the "leather belt" keyword are outpaying those companies in adjacent products. At the end of the day, advertising space is auction based and if the belt companies want to bid the highest for that space, they win.
That would be a really interesting example of market failure, as it suggests if the leather-belt companies pay less, they would get more business.
Re: Unhook: Hide YouTube Recommendations
#67Is there an app that does this? I put for a YouTube subscription and I don’t want to see the recommendations. I just want to watch the videos on the topics I am searching. The recommendations are there to distract you and I always regret clicking on them.
I have configured NewPipe to show my subscriptions (disables the 'trending' tab):
Re: Unhook: Hide YouTube Recommendations
#68Earlier quoted context omitted.
For what its worth, this is more because none of those advertisers (except maybe the one whose belt you actually bought) know you actually finished and bought a belt! Everyone who wants people to buy their leather belts advertises to people who have searched or previously looked for "leather belts" and that is you... In a perverse way, it's actually good for you to keep getting belt ads. If you just stopped getting t…
Alternatively, the Faustian bargin we made with the FAANGs was that we would provide our data and they would give us useful ads. If I bought a nice leather belt, perhaps I should get ads for nicer leather shoes or some other item, maybe a leather polish/waterproofing kit to keep my belt nice and new. The failure of the Advertising-Industrial complex in that regard has been disappointing to say the least.
To do that you have to give up more information about what you actually bought which IMO is an even bigger privacy issue than what we're currently giving away.
Re: Unhook: Hide YouTube Recommendations
#69This might not be the place to ask this, but does anyone know of anything like this for the youtube app? On appleTV and on Droid the youtube app is severely struggling. From the inability to say not interested in a video or don't show this channel, to being unable to refresh the home page without closing the app completely or signing out of an account. There's no community engagement in the app from what I can see. I…
It’s called NewPipe
I looked at NewPipe and its not what I am looking for. I think what I am looking for is settings in youtube that will reflect the way the youtube app behaves on appletv, if they exist at all.
Re: Unhook: Hide YouTube Recommendations
#70I just reset profile in youtube settings periodically, their recommendations are way too sticky, like literally the same videos are shown for months even if I watched them already.
I wonder what all the highly paid "ML/AI engineers" are doing.