The Escape Artist’s Manual to Disguised YouTube Archives

You may have noticed that some videos in your YouTube playlist are unavailable. This is because the platform allows content creators to categorize their videos into public, private, or unlisted based on their preferences.

To help you uncover the content that you otherwise wouldn’t have access to, we’ve compiled a detailed guide to show you how to find YouTube hidden videos. We’ve also explained why so many unlisted videos are now labeled as private.

So, let’s get started with our guide without any further delay!

4 Types of Videos on YouTube

Firstly, let’s learn about the background of the types of YouTube videos. YouTube videos fall into the following four broad categories:

Public Videos: YouTube contains videos on many themes and topics. It makes it impossible to watch all uploaded content under a specific category.

So, whenever you search for a video or theme, a list of content is displayed in the search result: “Public Videos.” It means that they are visible to everyone around the globe (depending on the terms and conditions). Moreover, you can share, like, unlike, download, or add these videos to your playlists for later watching.

Private Videos: Private videos on YouTube can only be seen by people invited by the person who uploaded the video. This means that only those with access to the video’s shareable link can watch it.

Private videos are not visible to the public or to people who are not logged into YouTube. Hence, it is a great way to share sensitive or personal information with a select group.

Unlisted Video Unlisted videos on YouTube are not publicly visible on the site. They can only be seen by people who have the URL. This category works as a bridge between private and public videos. It is accessible only through sharable links without appealing in any YouTube public playlist or search result.

You might upload an unlisted video to YouTube if you do not want everyone to see it. However, you still want to share it with specific people, like your friends or family. You might also use an unlisted video to test out a new idea before making it public on the video-sharing platform.

Age-Restricted Videos: Age-restricted videos on YouTube are not suitable for all audiences. It may contain content that includes violence, profanity, sexual content, and other inappropriate material. YouTube requires that users be at least 18 years old to view these types of videos.

If you search on YouTube and come across an age-restricted video, you will be asked to confirm your age before viewing its content.

How To Find Unlisted YouTube Videos

Now that we’ve learned about the four types of YouTube content, let’s discuss how you can find unlisted YouTube videos:

How To Find Other People’s Unlisted YouTube Videos?

Since unavailable videos in YouTube playlists are hidden from general public viewers, you cannot find them on YouTube or Google search results.

However, the following workaround can help you watch these YouTube videos without facing much trouble:

Step 1: First, open a browser on your PC and visit the Unlisted Videos website. This platform contains over 600,000 unlisted YouTube videos from 2016 and earlier. You can also submit your unlisted video on the site.

Step 2: Use the search bar at the top of your screen to search for other people’s YouTube playlists. You can also click the “All Video” or “Random Videos” option to find the hidden content of a user.

How To See Unlisted Videos on My YouTube Channel?

To see your unlisted videos on your YouTube channel, do the following steps in sequence:

Step 1: In the first step, install the YouTube Studio app on your mobile device or visit its website using a browser on your computer. Next, launch the app and sign in to your channel’s account using your email and password.

Step 2: In the next step, tap/ click the “Content” tab and tap/click the “Funnel” icon at the top of the video list to access the visibility options.

Step 3:

• Now, choose the “Visibility” option.
• Select “Unlisted” to change the visibility.
• Click the “Save” option to apply changes.
• See the hidden videos on your channel.

Since YouTube has marked the videos uploaded before 2017 as private as of July 2021, you can find your old unlisted videos under the “Private” list. To access it, choose “Private” as the visibility option.

How To Find Unlisted YouTube Videos with Google

Sometimes, unlisted YouTube videos appear on Google when someone shares the link to them on a public forum or website.

To confirm this, open a browser on your computer or a mobile device, head to the Google website, and search for your query. With some luck, you can find these unlisted YouTube videos in the search results.

You May Want to Know: Why Are So Many Unlisted Videos Now Private?

All unlisted videos uploaded to YouTube before January 2017 were switched to private. Therefore, if you have any older unlisted videos added to your Playlist or embedded on your website, you won’t be able to access them now.

However, the channel’s owner can restore access to the video by switching it back to unlisted or public. If now, the video will be labeled as “Private” indefinitely or until its settings are changed.

Conclusion

In this detailed guide, we’ve explored the four types of videos on YouTube and how to find YouTube hidden videos in three different ways. We’ve also explained why so many videos are now listed as “Private” and inaccessible.

Hopefully, you’ve found this article helpful and can now access the unlisted videos on YouTube without hassle.

You may have noticed that some videos in your YouTube playlist are unavailable. This is because the platform allows content creators to categorize their videos into public, private, or unlisted based on their preferences.

To help you uncover the content that you otherwise wouldn’t have access to, we’ve compiled a detailed guide to show you how to find YouTube hidden videos. We’ve also explained why so many unlisted videos are now labeled as private.

So, let’s get started with our guide without any further delay!

4 Types of Videos on YouTube

Firstly, let’s learn about the background of the types of YouTube videos. YouTube videos fall into the following four broad categories:

Public Videos: YouTube contains videos on many themes and topics. It makes it impossible to watch all uploaded content under a specific category.

So, whenever you search for a video or theme, a list of content is displayed in the search result: “Public Videos.” It means that they are visible to everyone around the globe (depending on the terms and conditions). Moreover, you can share, like, unlike, download, or add these videos to your playlists for later watching.

Private Videos: Private videos on YouTube can only be seen by people invited by the person who uploaded the video. This means that only those with access to the video’s shareable link can watch it.

Private videos are not visible to the public or to people who are not logged into YouTube. Hence, it is a great way to share sensitive or personal information with a select group.

Unlisted Video Unlisted videos on YouTube are not publicly visible on the site. They can only be seen by people who have the URL. This category works as a bridge between private and public videos. It is accessible only through sharable links without appealing in any YouTube public playlist or search result.

You might upload an unlisted video to YouTube if you do not want everyone to see it. However, you still want to share it with specific people, like your friends or family. You might also use an unlisted video to test out a new idea before making it public on the video-sharing platform.

Age-Restricted Videos: Age-restricted videos on YouTube are not suitable for all audiences. It may contain content that includes violence, profanity, sexual content, and other inappropriate material. YouTube requires that users be at least 18 years old to view these types of videos.

If you search on YouTube and come across an age-restricted video, you will be asked to confirm your age before viewing its content.

How To Find Unlisted YouTube Videos

Now that we’ve learned about the four types of YouTube content, let’s discuss how you can find unlisted YouTube videos:

How To Find Other People’s Unlisted YouTube Videos?

Since unavailable videos in YouTube playlists are hidden from general public viewers, you cannot find them on YouTube or Google search results.

However, the following workaround can help you watch these YouTube videos without facing much trouble:

Step 1: First, open a browser on your PC and visit the Unlisted Videos website. This platform contains over 600,000 unlisted YouTube videos from 2016 and earlier. You can also submit your unlisted video on the site.

Step 2: Use the search bar at the top of your screen to search for other people’s YouTube playlists. You can also click the “All Video” or “Random Videos” option to find the hidden content of a user.

How To See Unlisted Videos on My YouTube Channel?

To see your unlisted videos on your YouTube channel, do the following steps in sequence:

Step 1: In the first step, install the YouTube Studio app on your mobile device or visit its website using a browser on your computer. Next, launch the app and sign in to your channel’s account using your email and password.

Step 2: In the next step, tap/ click the “Content” tab and tap/click the “Funnel” icon at the top of the video list to access the visibility options.

Step 3:

• Now, choose the “Visibility” option.
• Select “Unlisted” to change the visibility.
• Click the “Save” option to apply changes.
• See the hidden videos on your channel.

Since YouTube has marked the videos uploaded before 2017 as private as of July 2021, you can find your old unlisted videos under the “Private” list. To access it, choose “Private” as the visibility option.

How To Find Unlisted YouTube Videos with Google

Sometimes, unlisted YouTube videos appear on Google when someone shares the link to them on a public forum or website.

To confirm this, open a browser on your computer or a mobile device, head to the Google website, and search for your query. With some luck, you can find these unlisted YouTube videos in the search results.

You May Want to Know: Why Are So Many Unlisted Videos Now Private?

All unlisted videos uploaded to YouTube before January 2017 were switched to private. Therefore, if you have any older unlisted videos added to your Playlist or embedded on your website, you won’t be able to access them now.

However, the channel’s owner can restore access to the video by switching it back to unlisted or public. If now, the video will be labeled as “Private” indefinitely or until its settings are changed.

Conclusion

In this detailed guide, we’ve explored the four types of videos on YouTube and how to find YouTube hidden videos in three different ways. We’ve also explained why so many videos are now listed as “Private” and inaccessible.

Hopefully, you’ve found this article helpful and can now access the unlisted videos on YouTube without hassle.

You may have noticed that some videos in your YouTube playlist are unavailable. This is because the platform allows content creators to categorize their videos into public, private, or unlisted based on their preferences.

To help you uncover the content that you otherwise wouldn’t have access to, we’ve compiled a detailed guide to show you how to find YouTube hidden videos. We’ve also explained why so many unlisted videos are now labeled as private.

So, let’s get started with our guide without any further delay!

4 Types of Videos on YouTube

Firstly, let’s learn about the background of the types of YouTube videos. YouTube videos fall into the following four broad categories:

Public Videos: YouTube contains videos on many themes and topics. It makes it impossible to watch all uploaded content under a specific category.

So, whenever you search for a video or theme, a list of content is displayed in the search result: “Public Videos.” It means that they are visible to everyone around the globe (depending on the terms and conditions). Moreover, you can share, like, unlike, download, or add these videos to your playlists for later watching.

Private Videos: Private videos on YouTube can only be seen by people invited by the person who uploaded the video. This means that only those with access to the video’s shareable link can watch it.

Private videos are not visible to the public or to people who are not logged into YouTube. Hence, it is a great way to share sensitive or personal information with a select group.

Unlisted Video Unlisted videos on YouTube are not publicly visible on the site. They can only be seen by people who have the URL. This category works as a bridge between private and public videos. It is accessible only through sharable links without appealing in any YouTube public playlist or search result.

You might upload an unlisted video to YouTube if you do not want everyone to see it. However, you still want to share it with specific people, like your friends or family. You might also use an unlisted video to test out a new idea before making it public on the video-sharing platform.

Age-Restricted Videos: Age-restricted videos on YouTube are not suitable for all audiences. It may contain content that includes violence, profanity, sexual content, and other inappropriate material. YouTube requires that users be at least 18 years old to view these types of videos.

If you search on YouTube and come across an age-restricted video, you will be asked to confirm your age before viewing its content.

How To Find Unlisted YouTube Videos

Now that we’ve learned about the four types of YouTube content, let’s discuss how you can find unlisted YouTube videos:

How To Find Other People’s Unlisted YouTube Videos?

Since unavailable videos in YouTube playlists are hidden from general public viewers, you cannot find them on YouTube or Google search results.

However, the following workaround can help you watch these YouTube videos without facing much trouble:

Step 1: First, open a browser on your PC and visit the Unlisted Videos website. This platform contains over 600,000 unlisted YouTube videos from 2016 and earlier. You can also submit your unlisted video on the site.

Step 2: Use the search bar at the top of your screen to search for other people’s YouTube playlists. You can also click the “All Video” or “Random Videos” option to find the hidden content of a user.

How To See Unlisted Videos on My YouTube Channel?

To see your unlisted videos on your YouTube channel, do the following steps in sequence:

Step 1: In the first step, install the YouTube Studio app on your mobile device or visit its website using a browser on your computer. Next, launch the app and sign in to your channel’s account using your email and password.

Step 2: In the next step, tap/ click the “Content” tab and tap/click the “Funnel” icon at the top of the video list to access the visibility options.

Step 3:

• Now, choose the “Visibility” option.
• Select “Unlisted” to change the visibility.
• Click the “Save” option to apply changes.
• See the hidden videos on your channel.

Since YouTube has marked the videos uploaded before 2017 as private as of July 2021, you can find your old unlisted videos under the “Private” list. To access it, choose “Private” as the visibility option.

How To Find Unlisted YouTube Videos with Google

Sometimes, unlisted YouTube videos appear on Google when someone shares the link to them on a public forum or website.

To confirm this, open a browser on your computer or a mobile device, head to the Google website, and search for your query. With some luck, you can find these unlisted YouTube videos in the search results.

You May Want to Know: Why Are So Many Unlisted Videos Now Private?

All unlisted videos uploaded to YouTube before January 2017 were switched to private. Therefore, if you have any older unlisted videos added to your Playlist or embedded on your website, you won’t be able to access them now.

However, the channel’s owner can restore access to the video by switching it back to unlisted or public. If now, the video will be labeled as “Private” indefinitely or until its settings are changed.

Conclusion

In this detailed guide, we’ve explored the four types of videos on YouTube and how to find YouTube hidden videos in three different ways. We’ve also explained why so many videos are now listed as “Private” and inaccessible.

Hopefully, you’ve found this article helpful and can now access the unlisted videos on YouTube without hassle.

You may have noticed that some videos in your YouTube playlist are unavailable. This is because the platform allows content creators to categorize their videos into public, private, or unlisted based on their preferences.

To help you uncover the content that you otherwise wouldn’t have access to, we’ve compiled a detailed guide to show you how to find YouTube hidden videos. We’ve also explained why so many unlisted videos are now labeled as private.

So, let’s get started with our guide without any further delay!

4 Types of Videos on YouTube

Firstly, let’s learn about the background of the types of YouTube videos. YouTube videos fall into the following four broad categories:

Public Videos: YouTube contains videos on many themes and topics. It makes it impossible to watch all uploaded content under a specific category.

So, whenever you search for a video or theme, a list of content is displayed in the search result: “Public Videos.” It means that they are visible to everyone around the globe (depending on the terms and conditions). Moreover, you can share, like, unlike, download, or add these videos to your playlists for later watching.

Private Videos: Private videos on YouTube can only be seen by people invited by the person who uploaded the video. This means that only those with access to the video’s shareable link can watch it.

Private videos are not visible to the public or to people who are not logged into YouTube. Hence, it is a great way to share sensitive or personal information with a select group.

Unlisted Video Unlisted videos on YouTube are not publicly visible on the site. They can only be seen by people who have the URL. This category works as a bridge between private and public videos. It is accessible only through sharable links without appealing in any YouTube public playlist or search result.

You might upload an unlisted video to YouTube if you do not want everyone to see it. However, you still want to share it with specific people, like your friends or family. You might also use an unlisted video to test out a new idea before making it public on the video-sharing platform.

Age-Restricted Videos: Age-restricted videos on YouTube are not suitable for all audiences. It may contain content that includes violence, profanity, sexual content, and other inappropriate material. YouTube requires that users be at least 18 years old to view these types of videos.

If you search on YouTube and come across an age-restricted video, you will be asked to confirm your age before viewing its content.

How To Find Unlisted YouTube Videos

Now that we’ve learned about the four types of YouTube content, let’s discuss how you can find unlisted YouTube videos:

How To Find Other People’s Unlisted YouTube Videos?

Since unavailable videos in YouTube playlists are hidden from general public viewers, you cannot find them on YouTube or Google search results.

However, the following workaround can help you watch these YouTube videos without facing much trouble:

Step 1: First, open a browser on your PC and visit the Unlisted Videos website. This platform contains over 600,000 unlisted YouTube videos from 2016 and earlier. You can also submit your unlisted video on the site.

Step 2: Use the search bar at the top of your screen to search for other people’s YouTube playlists. You can also click the “All Video” or “Random Videos” option to find the hidden content of a user.

How To See Unlisted Videos on My YouTube Channel?

To see your unlisted videos on your YouTube channel, do the following steps in sequence:

Step 1: In the first step, install the YouTube Studio app on your mobile device or visit its website using a browser on your computer. Next, launch the app and sign in to your channel’s account using your email and password.

Step 2: In the next step, tap/ click the “Content” tab and tap/click the “Funnel” icon at the top of the video list to access the visibility options.

Step 3:

• Now, choose the “Visibility” option.
• Select “Unlisted” to change the visibility.
• Click the “Save” option to apply changes.
• See the hidden videos on your channel.

Since YouTube has marked the videos uploaded before 2017 as private as of July 2021, you can find your old unlisted videos under the “Private” list. To access it, choose “Private” as the visibility option.

How To Find Unlisted YouTube Videos with Google

Sometimes, unlisted YouTube videos appear on Google when someone shares the link to them on a public forum or website.

To confirm this, open a browser on your computer or a mobile device, head to the Google website, and search for your query. With some luck, you can find these unlisted YouTube videos in the search results.

You May Want to Know: Why Are So Many Unlisted Videos Now Private?

All unlisted videos uploaded to YouTube before January 2017 were switched to private. Therefore, if you have any older unlisted videos added to your Playlist or embedded on your website, you won’t be able to access them now.

However, the channel’s owner can restore access to the video by switching it back to unlisted or public. If now, the video will be labeled as “Private” indefinitely or until its settings are changed.

Conclusion

In this detailed guide, we’ve explored the four types of videos on YouTube and how to find YouTube hidden videos in three different ways. We’ve also explained why so many videos are now listed as “Private” and inaccessible.

Hopefully, you’ve found this article helpful and can now access the unlisted videos on YouTube without hassle.

Pause Unrequested YouTube Video Selections

YouTube Recommended Videos - Block the Videos I Don’t Like

Richard Bennett

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

0

YouTube is forever recommending videos for you whether it’s in your dashboard or next to the video you’re already watching. In theory, these recommendations are based on your viewing habits and you’re only directed to videos you’re interested in.

Except we all know that’s not always what happens.

YouTube’s recommendations are based on more than just what you’ve watched and searched for, and sometimes even the data on that can get skewed over time. Not all your searches reflect your real tastes, and as your search history builds up the algorithm can start having trouble with all that data.

Here’s what you can do about it:

1. Manage Your Watch History
2. Tell YouTube You Aren’t Interested
3. But Why Does It Recommend Stuff I Don’t Like?

Manage Your Watch History

Scroll to the bottom of any page on YouTube and you will see a button marked History with an hourglass icon. To access this feature using a mobile device, go to the Account tab and tap History.

You will be able to completely clear your watch history, remove specific videos from it, or pause your history while you look at videos you don’t want a record of you visiting. By taking control of your history, you can make sure nothing you looked up on a random whim is reflected in your recommendations.

If you are being recommended more things you aren’t interested in than things you are, you might want to clear your history completely and start fresh. Maybe your tastes have changed since YouTube started keeping track of them.

Tell YouTube You Aren’t Interested

Based on your watch history, YouTube knows what you like. However, they have no way of automatically collecting data on what kinds of videos you’d rather not see.

What they do have is a system for you to flag recommendations you don’t like.

Hover over the thumbnail of a video you don’t want to be recommended to you and a small icon that looks like three stacked dots will appear next to the title. Click on that, and then click Not Interested.

When you tell YouTube you aren’t interested in certain videos they use that data to adjust what they recommend for you.

But Why Does It Recommend Stuff I Don’t Like?

Your search/watch history is not the only thing that determines what YouTube recommends for you. Nobody outside of Google knows exactly how the algorithm works, but we do know one of the major factors influencing it is to watch time.

Watch time refers to how a video effects the session time of a viewer. If a video has proven it can keep viewers on YouTube for longer it is more likely to get recommended, even if it isn’t closely related to the interests of individual viewers. The ultimate goal of the algorithm is to keep you on the site longer. Part of that is recommending things, surely, you’ll be interested in, and part of that is trying to get you interested in things that’ll keep you around.

A video that is simply watched for longer, because it is engaging and can hold viewers’ attention for a long time, will have a high watch time. So will a video that is short, but which leads into a playlist which holds peoples’ attention. If a video is a frequent session starter – people see it outside of YouTube (i.e. in a Google search) and get to the site through it – then its watch time will be high because it is given credit for all of the time viewers are spending on YouTube watching other videos after they get there.

The only way to stop certain types of videos from being recommended for you is to take advantage of the ‘not interested’ feature.

Are you usually happy with YouTube’s recommended videos?

What video editing software did YouTube suggested videos are used?

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

0

YouTube is forever recommending videos for you whether it’s in your dashboard or next to the video you’re already watching. In theory, these recommendations are based on your viewing habits and you’re only directed to videos you’re interested in.

Except we all know that’s not always what happens.

YouTube’s recommendations are based on more than just what you’ve watched and searched for, and sometimes even the data on that can get skewed over time. Not all your searches reflect your real tastes, and as your search history builds up the algorithm can start having trouble with all that data.

Here’s what you can do about it:

1. Manage Your Watch History
2. Tell YouTube You Aren’t Interested
3. But Why Does It Recommend Stuff I Don’t Like?

Manage Your Watch History

Scroll to the bottom of any page on YouTube and you will see a button marked History with an hourglass icon. To access this feature using a mobile device, go to the Account tab and tap History.

You will be able to completely clear your watch history, remove specific videos from it, or pause your history while you look at videos you don’t want a record of you visiting. By taking control of your history, you can make sure nothing you looked up on a random whim is reflected in your recommendations.

If you are being recommended more things you aren’t interested in than things you are, you might want to clear your history completely and start fresh. Maybe your tastes have changed since YouTube started keeping track of them.

Tell YouTube You Aren’t Interested

Based on your watch history, YouTube knows what you like. However, they have no way of automatically collecting data on what kinds of videos you’d rather not see.

What they do have is a system for you to flag recommendations you don’t like.

Hover over the thumbnail of a video you don’t want to be recommended to you and a small icon that looks like three stacked dots will appear next to the title. Click on that, and then click Not Interested.

When you tell YouTube you aren’t interested in certain videos they use that data to adjust what they recommend for you.

But Why Does It Recommend Stuff I Don’t Like?

Your search/watch history is not the only thing that determines what YouTube recommends for you. Nobody outside of Google knows exactly how the algorithm works, but we do know one of the major factors influencing it is to watch time.

Watch time refers to how a video effects the session time of a viewer. If a video has proven it can keep viewers on YouTube for longer it is more likely to get recommended, even if it isn’t closely related to the interests of individual viewers. The ultimate goal of the algorithm is to keep you on the site longer. Part of that is recommending things, surely, you’ll be interested in, and part of that is trying to get you interested in things that’ll keep you around.

A video that is simply watched for longer, because it is engaging and can hold viewers’ attention for a long time, will have a high watch time. So will a video that is short, but which leads into a playlist which holds peoples’ attention. If a video is a frequent session starter – people see it outside of YouTube (i.e. in a Google search) and get to the site through it – then its watch time will be high because it is given credit for all of the time viewers are spending on YouTube watching other videos after they get there.

The only way to stop certain types of videos from being recommended for you is to take advantage of the ‘not interested’ feature.

Are you usually happy with YouTube’s recommended videos?

What video editing software did YouTube suggested videos are used?

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

0

YouTube is forever recommending videos for you whether it’s in your dashboard or next to the video you’re already watching. In theory, these recommendations are based on your viewing habits and you’re only directed to videos you’re interested in.

Except we all know that’s not always what happens.

YouTube’s recommendations are based on more than just what you’ve watched and searched for, and sometimes even the data on that can get skewed over time. Not all your searches reflect your real tastes, and as your search history builds up the algorithm can start having trouble with all that data.

Here’s what you can do about it:

1. Manage Your Watch History
2. Tell YouTube You Aren’t Interested
3. But Why Does It Recommend Stuff I Don’t Like?

Manage Your Watch History

Scroll to the bottom of any page on YouTube and you will see a button marked History with an hourglass icon. To access this feature using a mobile device, go to the Account tab and tap History.

You will be able to completely clear your watch history, remove specific videos from it, or pause your history while you look at videos you don’t want a record of you visiting. By taking control of your history, you can make sure nothing you looked up on a random whim is reflected in your recommendations.

If you are being recommended more things you aren’t interested in than things you are, you might want to clear your history completely and start fresh. Maybe your tastes have changed since YouTube started keeping track of them.

Tell YouTube You Aren’t Interested

Based on your watch history, YouTube knows what you like. However, they have no way of automatically collecting data on what kinds of videos you’d rather not see.

What they do have is a system for you to flag recommendations you don’t like.

Hover over the thumbnail of a video you don’t want to be recommended to you and a small icon that looks like three stacked dots will appear next to the title. Click on that, and then click Not Interested.

When you tell YouTube you aren’t interested in certain videos they use that data to adjust what they recommend for you.

But Why Does It Recommend Stuff I Don’t Like?

Your search/watch history is not the only thing that determines what YouTube recommends for you. Nobody outside of Google knows exactly how the algorithm works, but we do know one of the major factors influencing it is to watch time.

Watch time refers to how a video effects the session time of a viewer. If a video has proven it can keep viewers on YouTube for longer it is more likely to get recommended, even if it isn’t closely related to the interests of individual viewers. The ultimate goal of the algorithm is to keep you on the site longer. Part of that is recommending things, surely, you’ll be interested in, and part of that is trying to get you interested in things that’ll keep you around.

A video that is simply watched for longer, because it is engaging and can hold viewers’ attention for a long time, will have a high watch time. So will a video that is short, but which leads into a playlist which holds peoples’ attention. If a video is a frequent session starter – people see it outside of YouTube (i.e. in a Google search) and get to the site through it – then its watch time will be high because it is given credit for all of the time viewers are spending on YouTube watching other videos after they get there.

The only way to stop certain types of videos from being recommended for you is to take advantage of the ‘not interested’ feature.

Are you usually happy with YouTube’s recommended videos?

What video editing software did YouTube suggested videos are used?

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

0

YouTube is forever recommending videos for you whether it’s in your dashboard or next to the video you’re already watching. In theory, these recommendations are based on your viewing habits and you’re only directed to videos you’re interested in.

Except we all know that’s not always what happens.

YouTube’s recommendations are based on more than just what you’ve watched and searched for, and sometimes even the data on that can get skewed over time. Not all your searches reflect your real tastes, and as your search history builds up the algorithm can start having trouble with all that data.

Here’s what you can do about it:

1. Manage Your Watch History
2. Tell YouTube You Aren’t Interested
3. But Why Does It Recommend Stuff I Don’t Like?

Manage Your Watch History

Scroll to the bottom of any page on YouTube and you will see a button marked History with an hourglass icon. To access this feature using a mobile device, go to the Account tab and tap History.

You will be able to completely clear your watch history, remove specific videos from it, or pause your history while you look at videos you don’t want a record of you visiting. By taking control of your history, you can make sure nothing you looked up on a random whim is reflected in your recommendations.

If you are being recommended more things you aren’t interested in than things you are, you might want to clear your history completely and start fresh. Maybe your tastes have changed since YouTube started keeping track of them.

Tell YouTube You Aren’t Interested

Based on your watch history, YouTube knows what you like. However, they have no way of automatically collecting data on what kinds of videos you’d rather not see.

What they do have is a system for you to flag recommendations you don’t like.

Hover over the thumbnail of a video you don’t want to be recommended to you and a small icon that looks like three stacked dots will appear next to the title. Click on that, and then click Not Interested.

When you tell YouTube you aren’t interested in certain videos they use that data to adjust what they recommend for you.

But Why Does It Recommend Stuff I Don’t Like?

Your search/watch history is not the only thing that determines what YouTube recommends for you. Nobody outside of Google knows exactly how the algorithm works, but we do know one of the major factors influencing it is to watch time.

Watch time refers to how a video effects the session time of a viewer. If a video has proven it can keep viewers on YouTube for longer it is more likely to get recommended, even if it isn’t closely related to the interests of individual viewers. The ultimate goal of the algorithm is to keep you on the site longer. Part of that is recommending things, surely, you’ll be interested in, and part of that is trying to get you interested in things that’ll keep you around.

A video that is simply watched for longer, because it is engaging and can hold viewers’ attention for a long time, will have a high watch time. So will a video that is short, but which leads into a playlist which holds peoples’ attention. If a video is a frequent session starter – people see it outside of YouTube (i.e. in a Google search) and get to the site through it – then its watch time will be high because it is given credit for all of the time viewers are spending on YouTube watching other videos after they get there.

The only way to stop certain types of videos from being recommended for you is to take advantage of the ‘not interested’ feature.

Are you usually happy with YouTube’s recommended videos?

What video editing software did YouTube suggested videos are used?

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

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