YouTube has finally revealed its mysterious secrets behind controlling your algorithm. The discovery may shock viewers everywhere: clicking “Not interested” actually tells the platform you’re not interested.
YouTube has shared a community FAQ revealing new information about how users can adjust their own algorithm. However, the “new” tips are not exactly groundbreaking.
How Users Can Reshape Their YouTube Algorithm
According to the document, users are given several tools to adjust their recommendations. One option is to deactivate watch history altogether. However, doing so prevents YouTube from generating any recommendations on the platform’s homepage. For those who want more control, individual videos can also be removed from the watch history, allowing users to influence the algorithm in a more targeted way.
Another option that is anything but new is the “Not Interested” feature. If there is a video you do not want to be recommended, you can click the three dots below the video and select this option. Afterwards, you can provide feedback explaining why you chose it. The available options include “I've already watched this video” or “I don't like this video.” YouTube says it will adjust future recommendations accordingly.
The three dots below a video offer another way to adjust your recommendations. Instead of only blocking individual videos, you can prevent an entire channel from being recommended. To do this, click the three dots and select the option “Don’t recommend channel.” After that, videos from that channel should no longer appear in your recommendations.
An additional section of the FAQ addressed how users can remove “Not Interested” and “Don’t recommend channel” feedback. To do this, users have to go through their Google account, as the option is not integrated directly into YouTube. Once you open your Google account, navigate to “My Activity.” From there, open the menu on the left and select “Other Activity.” Then choose “YouTube ‘Not Interested’ Feedback.” Here, you can delete either all videos you previously marked with that tag or remove individual entries.
So, the sky is still blue and water is still wet. Most of these tips are nothing new, but the last one could actually be useful for those who accidentally sent the wrong channels to the shadow realm. For everyone else, a tip on how to skip the ads might have been more helpful.
