Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Ask HN: Why has quality of YouTube reduced drastically?

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

251–260 of 309 posts

Re: Ask HN: Why has quality of YouTube reduced drastically?

#251

Post by callumw13 »

c7DJTLrn wrote: post #134

Machine learning probably had something to do with it. It notices videos with thumbnails of people with their mouths and eyes wide open doing some kind of shocked expression with red arrows pointing to something perform better than average. Then it starts recommending videos with thumbnails like this preferentially. YouTubers take notice and start producing thumbnails like this for every video. Go to the front page r…

Wow nail on the head. Just did this and out of the first 8 videos, 5 were reaction videos, 4 with the exact same "shocked" faces. Scrolling down the page it is much the same. How can google allow whatever algorithm to present such homogenous content on such a general platform?

Notably though, if I log in and visit my home page I have only one video of this nature on the front page in the first ~50, so it does appear possible to teach the algorithm you will not engage with such content even without conscious effort.

Re: Ask HN: Why has quality of YouTube reduced drastically?

#252

Post by KTallguy »

I’ve given up, and I dislike having content pushed to me in general.

I use a combination of Remove YouTube Suggestions[1] and prefacing “intitle:” before any YouTube search to avoid weird matches that point me to irrelevant content.

I think it’s ridiculous that I need to constantly click “show less like this” and exert so much effort to train YouTube. I also hate how they’ll insert random unrelated videos “For Me” or “Watch it Again” in my search results. It’s all designed to keep me on the site and distracted… better to avoid it entirely.

[1] https://github.com/lawrencehook/remove-youtube-suggestions

Re: Ask HN: Why has quality of YouTube reduced drastically?

#253

Post by [deleted] »

GLGirty wrote: post #186
mrweasel wrote: post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There was a Linus Tech Tips video where he admits that it's stupid, but sadly it works really well. It's a bit like when Wikipedia kept using Jimmy Wales' face in banners requesting donations. People claim to not like it, yet it's was what got the highest conversion rates.

Gawd those haunting eyes... I wonder how many people donated just to make them stop.

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: Why has quality of YouTube reduced drastically?

#254

Post by Kye »

dorkwood wrote: post #247
Kye wrote: post #161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is one thing Google still does well. https://www.google.com/search?q=how+to+pronounce+foxes

It unfortunately doesn't seem to work with all words. https://www.google.com/search?q=how+to+pronounce+schnitzel

This seems to work: https://www.google.com/search?q=schnitzel+etymology

Re: Ask HN: Why has quality of YouTube reduced drastically?

#255

Post by mikkelam »

I really recommend using something similar to firefox' containerized sessions. I like to have a few I rotate around and try and engage in different content each time. I have discovered a lot more new content this way. I also only login on one of them where I keep my subscribed channels that I rarely add to.

As it is right now, the recommendation engine is just not optimised for people like us here. I think most people engage with extremely similar or constantly nostalgic content, or current pop culture

Re: Ask HN: Why has quality of YouTube reduced drastically?

#258

Post by otabdeveloper4 »

sabas123 wrote: post #122
otabdeveloper4 wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They're a monopoly, so they abuse their advertising clients as much as they abuse their users.

I don't know if abuse is the right word considering that youtube most likely just breaks even.

Youtube's advertising product sucks balls.

Re: Ask HN: Why has quality of YouTube reduced drastically?

#259

Post by yakshemash »

Could it be just that producing relevant recommendation for every one at all times is a complicated problem that gets even more complicated as the volume of uploaded videos continually increases and SEO tactics get ever more sophisticated? Maybe what worked a few years ago is no longer cutting it and they have yet to figure it?

Re: Ask HN: Why has quality of YouTube reduced drastically?

#260

Post by dereg »

Balgair wrote: post #238
dereg wrote: post #210

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a clear example of penny-wise but pound-foolish. At no point in a product's lifetime does should machine learning obviate the need for good taste.

I'm not going to argue that, but that ship sailed back in ~2014. All the FAANGs do live A/B testing like this.

2014 lines up with my memory of when YT recommendations, among many things, started to change for the worse.

On a side note, wow. I can’t believe that 8 years have already passed. It feels like yesterday that people were actively debating these topics here on HN.

Post reply on HN