I love YouTube. I probably spend far too much time watching YouTube videos, like Rene's hour-long video covering everything you need to know about macOS Catalina, but their algorithm for recommended channels and videos I might want to watch next is a dumpster fire. Luckily, YouTube seems to know this and are rolling out some changes that give you more control over suggested channels and videos.
Explore topics and related videos on your Homepage and in Up Next videos: You can now more easily explore topics and related videos — such as baking videos, the latest late-night talk shows or your favorite music genre, and see more of what you love on YouTube. The options that you see are based on your existing personalized suggestions and are meant to help you find what you're looking for faster. They could be videos related to the one you're watching, videos published by the channel you're watching, or other topics which may be of interest to you. This new feature can be found on the homepage when you scroll up, and on Up Next when browsing. It will be available for signed-in users in English on the YouTube app for Android and will be available on iOS, desktop, and other languages soon.
Remove suggestions from channels you don't want to watch: Although we try our best to suggest videos you'll enjoy, we don't always get it right, so we are giving you more controls for when we don't. We've now made it simple for you to tell us to stop suggesting videos from a particular channel. Just tap the three-dot menu next to a video on the homepage or Up Next, then "Don't recommend channel." After that, you should no longer see videos from that channel suggested to you on YouTube. You may still be able to find them if you subscribe, search for them, or visit the channel page or Trending tab. This new feature is available globally on the YouTube app for Android and iOS today and will be available on desktop soon.
Learn more about why a video may be suggested to you: Finally, sometimes, we recommend videos from channels you haven't seen before based on what other viewers with similar interests have liked and watched in the past. When we're suggesting videos based on this, you'll now see more information underneath the video in a small box. Our goal is to explain why these videos surface on your homepage in order to help you find videos from new channels you might like. This new feature is available globally on the YouTube app for iOS today and will be available on Android and desktop soon.
The changes are certainly welcomed in my opinion because no matter how often in the past I have tapped that 'Not Interested' button, some channels and videos always seem to make their way back in. YouTube has been making a lot of changes lately, based on user feedback, concerns, and criticisms about the platform. One other change YouTube seems to be testing is an interface where comments are tucked away.
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