I need the YouTube algorithm to cease doing this one annoying factor

Over time, the YouTube suggestion algorithm has change into fairly complicated. I’ve observed that it could extrapolate my tastes very properly based mostly on my watch historical past, repeatedly tempting me to eat extra movies. For instance, I lately watched a stay clip of The Prodigy at Coachella. My house display feed then crammed up with not solely live performance clips from different exhibits by The Prodigy, but in addition different artists that I take pleasure in, similar to 9 Inch Nails, St. Vincent, Air, and extra. Notably, these artists sound nothing like The Prodigy, however the algorithm is wise sufficient to imagine that my tastes will align with them based mostly on my watch historical past. I’m not going to lie: I needed to cease myself from spending all day watching stay live performance clips.

That is spectacular and one thing Google has in all probability spent tens of millions of {dollars} refining, because it retains folks glued to YouTube and fueling the money-printing machine that it’s change into. Curiously, whereas the algorithm is clever sufficient to do this, it’s nonetheless utterly inept at one thing else: understanding after I seek for a video not as a result of I’m deeply within the matter, however as a result of I need assistance doing a selected activity. Even now, in 2025, this nonetheless appears to throw the algorithm for a loop.

Let me offer you a real-world instance of the algorithm’s deficiency. I’ve a pair of high-priced German leather-based boots that I put on practically day by day and love with all my coronary heart. Since I put on them a lot, they endure fairly a bit of wear and tear and tear. Prior to now, I’ve taken them to a cobbler for a refresh each few years, however right here in California, that’s costly — and never getting any cheaper. I figured it could’t be that troublesome to do annual upkeep on my boots on my own, and doing so will surely save me cash.

I went straight to YouTube with this thought. I looked for “leather-based boot refresh” and located dozens of high-quality movies going over the instruments, polishes, conditioners, and different supplies wanted for this activity, in addition to step-by-step directions. I watched one video — only one! — and knew I may do that myself. I purchased the merchandise the video urged, and once they had all arrived, I re-watched the identical video a number of instances as I adopted its directions. My boots look nice now — they’re like new!

One would suppose that the YouTube algorithm would perceive that this course of I went via is by no means much like watching a stay live performance clip. I’m not involved in shopping for leather-based boots. I’m not searching for different tips about fixing my boots. I’m not going to open a cobbler store. I had a one-time drawback — refreshing my boots — and used one YouTube video to resolve that drawback. If I ever need assistance once more, I’ll seek for it (or simply watch the identical video as soon as extra).

Regardless of how apparent this would appear, this didn’t cease the algorithm from filling my house web page with different movies about refreshing leather-based boots. Critically, for a number of days after I did the refresh, roughly half of my house web page was movies associated to leather-based, boots, or cobbler issues. Shouldn’t we be past this by now? Shouldn’t the algorithm be capable to inform the distinction between video hours spent watching stuff I take pleasure in and hours spent utilizing YouTube as a instrument?

Keep in mind how I needed to maintain myself again from bingeing complete concert events after watching only one Coachella clip? That’s what has made YouTube so profitable. Sadly, this drawback — its incapability to forestall itself from suggesting irrelevant content material based mostly on one-time wants — actively makes the house web page worse, working towards its success. In different phrases, my feed being lined with boot movies makes me wish to navigate away from YouTube. It’s the precise reverse of Google’s intentions!

Primarily based on this, one would suppose that Google would prioritize stopping this difficulty. Nevertheless, on condition that YouTube has been round for 20 years (man, I’m outdated) and this drawback nonetheless exists, it clearly isn’t as a lot of a precedence for Google as I’d suppose.

To Google’s credit score, a bit of greater than every week after this occurred, my feed cleared all references to boots and leather-based. It appears the algorithm is wise sufficient now to know that I didn’t click on on any of its ideas, so I’m not likely involved in extra boot movies. However what if this wasn’t one thing associated in addition restore, and as an alternative one thing extra delicate? What if I went to YouTube for an answer to a health-related difficulty, and out of the blue my feed was a beacon to anybody who desires to find out about my medical situation? What if I watched a video about easy methods to resolve a marital drawback, and my feed turned stuffed with different movies about marital issues I’m not having? YouTube needs to be working for us, not towards us.

Have you ever confronted the same drawback? What did you seek for that the algorithm then pummelled you with different associated movies? Let me know within the feedback, and make sure to decide one thing within the ballot above, too!