Friday, March 9, 2012

Changes to Related and Recommended Videos

The last time you went channel surfing, did you enjoy (or remember) the 20 TV shows you flipped through, or just the shows you watched all the way through? Would you recommend the 20 you surfed through to a friend, or the ones you actually watched? To make the videos you watch on YouTube more enjoyable, memorable, and sharable, we're updating our Related and Recommended videos to better serve videos that keep viewers entertained.

For years, the Related and Recommended videos we served to the right of the player and on the homepage represented our best prediction of what people wanted to watch next. We regularly tweaked the system that selects these videos to keep it evolving with the rest of the site.

Today, this system serves videos based on the number of clicks they receive, which would be like suggesting a TV show based on how many people briefly flipped on a channel while surfing. But clicks aren’t always the best way to predict whether you’ll be interested in a video. Sometimes thumbnails don’t paint the whole picture, or a video title isn’t descriptive.

We’ve been experimenting with the way we offer Related and Recommended videos, focusing on video engagement to get people to the videos they like more quickly. In particular, we’ve discovered that time watched is one of the best indicators of a viewer's engagement. As a result, we’ll be focusing more prominently on time watched in providing Related and Recommended videos starting next week. While we'll still be looking at clicks, engagement will become the leading indicator for serving these videos.

So, if you’re making videos that keep people engaged, Related and Recommended videos will begin showing your videos more prominently. On the flip side, videos that don’t will not be surfaced as prominently, which will impact a video’s viewcounts over time. How can you adapt to these changes? The same as you always have — create great videos that keep people engaged. It doesn’t matter whether your videos are one minute or one hour. What matters is that your audience stops clicking away and starts watching more of your videos.

To help you, we have an Analytics Audience Retention Report, a list of best practices, and answers to frequently-asked questions to find ways ranging from content to programming. As this kicks off next week, we’ll continue to share resources on this blog to help drive even more audiences to your videos and to your channel.

The YouTube Team
Posted by at

70 comments:

  1. Is this why Related videos on nearly every single new video have been broken and stuck showing the exact same 4-5 videos for the past few days now?

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    2. Same thing here! Plus the videos they are showing have one or two views!

      Delete

  2. I think it's only been the last couple days that's been happening. That has to be a glitch though, no? Especially since you click the 'load more' button and the same 4 videos show up.

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    1. Ok so, your post was on March 2012 we are on May 2013 and maybe it's happening again only this time there isn't even a load more option! Did this problem just vanished when you guys had it?

      Delete

  3. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  4. Dear YTCreators,

    Thank you for your hard work fixing the related and recommended videos. While this is a step in the right direction, I would very much like to draw your attention to a list of community suggestions that have been gathered in order to better the YouTube user experience.

    For example, suggestion two recommends that users be given the ability to block an entire channel's content from appearing in the recommendations. Not only would this work with your old "click-based" system by preventing further material (usually in the form of spam with luring thumbnails) from showing up, it would also reduce the number of accidental clicks on unwanted material. This also works in tandem with your new engagement-based system when a user discovers they don't want to see a particular channel's content after fully engaging with it to determine it's content value. The content will cease appearing immediately for the user and give them material that is likely more relevant to them, thus creating a more plesant and engaging consumer experience.

    Nearly four-thousand community users have signed a petition with this suggestion and others like it in hopes that we may be recognised as a collective voice of change. I emplore you to take it into consideration.

    Thank you,

    ~Seiaeka
    (Petition Spearhead)

    http://www.change.org/petitions/google-youtube-give-youtube-users-tools-to-combat-video-spam

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  5. I'm sorry, but the changes made to the recommended videos are very disagreeable. I continue to get the same four or five recommendations over and over. I will not watching something labeled "Epic Pee Prank", and don't care about Justin Bieber. I think YouTube has already changed enough with the forced migration to Cosmic Panda, without having to dictate what you watch next based on what "everybody" likes. If I watch a Let's Play video, then I want my recommendations to be other Let's Play videos, and not necessarily of partnered directors, either.

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  6. I spoke to a YouTube employee and they said the same four-five related videos are a separate bug that aren't related to this issue. Phew! Thank God!

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  7. Breaking the vedio give's a good loading capablity .Using Html5 might be far better in handling the vedio's.youtube html5 playeris showing its effeciency in leading web pages.

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  8. I'm glad something is being doing to address the annoying "RE: ..." spammers (who somehow end up as partners). Is it just viewer retention/engagement that is being used to weight whether it appears or not, or does videos with a high % of dislikes also get weighted down from appearing in recommended videos?

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  9. Thank god the reply girls are screwed

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  10. How does this affect the featured video on my channel on auto play? Obviously this video will have a shorter retention. Does this mean it I less likely to be recommended or related?

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  11. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  12. Does YouTube really want its content dictated by aggressive, foul-mouthed, misogynistic 20something male gamers? It saddens me that certain YouTubers' vigilante behaviour has been rewarded and that vapid gaming content now saturates the site.

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  13. Near the end of my videos I put thumbnails and annotations to previous videos. Most viewers will either click on my annotations or move to another video before my video ends.

    Will this affect how my videos show up as related videos?

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  14. I don't know what you folks have been doing but it is having very neg effects on the community as a whole, what ever it is that you've done over the past couple of weeks has caused my daily views to drop from between 10.000 to 18,000 a day down to around 2,500 and i'm loosing money hand over fist, i'm sure i'm not the only partner this is happening to. Next is the video upload tool, that's been broken for almost 3 day's now and is causing even more people to leave youtube, i don't know if you've noticed the amount of neg videos about all the changes, people are leaving youtube in their droves. On my monetized biker channel DibberInTheWind i have a video that's been rejected for monetization and i've also appealed as there is no copyright content on that video, i've always used the same site and the music there is creative commons 3.0 and can be used for commercial use, i have now been waiting 8 days for an answer to my appeal which means i'm loosing even more money and i know i'm not the only person who is still waiting. I know and understand you need to update the site etc but i think all these changes in one go are killing youtube, the way i see this going will be the same as what happened to MySpace when they made many unwelcome changes, without viewers there is no youtube, what is the point in introducing a TV feel if there will be no-one here to watch it. I have been on youtube since day 1 and i have to say what's been going on of late is causing more people to leave youtube than ever. Just bare in mind, if people leave in droves which they are then there will be no youtube, MySpace is a prime example.
    Many thanks for allowing us to get our point across

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    1. The problem is that no one else pays and if they do, no one has the traffic. You kind of have to stick it out and make the best of it. leaving YouTube is not going to bother YouTube. I promise you that. no one else can compete. I am sorry this has happened to you. I also feel your frustration of lack of communication with partner support. That is the worst.

      Delete

  15. I used to have around 3000 daily views on my iPhone Harmonica video. Now I don't have a single view anymore. The video is only 15 seconds

    Is there now a minimum video length?

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  16. I have worked hard to build up my YouTube channel and viewership in an attempt to gain partnership with YouTube. The changes that have recently been done have smashed both my earning and views. I can see by the many other comments I have read online in the last couple of days that these changes have negatively affected others as well. Looks like I'm going to lose out on my chance to ever move ahead with my channel,partnership or income. So disappointing indeed.

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  17. This change has also negatively impacted my traffic and AdSense income.

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  18. Have you folks looked through the amount of video going up this week about the changes, if you had then you'll already know many thousands of content makers are now jumping ship, as i said in my last post "This is MySpace all over again" you folks need to address this issue and fast before there is no youtube left

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  19. So it would seem we're all being punished for the actions of a few, mainly the ReplyGirls spamming videos, wouldn't it have been fairer to just un monetize their videos or terminate their channels for breaking the TOS regarding spam. I've been reading articles that point to those youtubers but instead of clamping down on them you've resorted to giving them partnerships and introduced an Algorithm that is hurting all content makers on youtube which is like slapping everyone in the room for the crimes of another. You really need to re think this issue, youtube is like an angry wasps nest right now.

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  20. Ours is a teaching channel. Accordingly we concentrated on providing short videos. This strategy should be rewarded - not punished. We have suffered a huge decline. Let's hope this policy is changed soon.

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    1. maybe they could go with % watched instead of time watched?

      Delete

  21. Do you guys plan on giving me the ability to block videos that have "Comment pending approval" anytime soon? so I don't waist my time watching those videos...because as soon as I see that I just toss all the information, dislike the video, and move on anyway :) thank you

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    1. Some people have comments pending to try and combat the trolls who leave hate comments or those who try to spam the comments of popular videos with rubbish like check out my videos etc, youtube put that control in to try and protect other users so i doubt they will remove it or put a block tool in place

      Delete

    2. I do a cooking show and have lots of kids watch my show. Some channels use comment pending so vulgar comments can't be posted for all to see. Fortunately on my Cooking With Jack Show I monitor my comments as they come in so i don't use that feature. But don't hate the feature. Hate the vulgar comments.

      Delete

    3. I have begged Youtube for a profanity filter and they just won't put one in.

      Delete

    4. I too have asked for a filter to allow me to block out the N-word. In comments I'm called that an average of 52 times a month. I'm still yelling about this; I pray for the day when I don't have to do so.

      Delete

  22. Despite having high audience attention rates, this change has devastated the views on my main partnered channel. If it continues it will sadly for me make me have to cut back on the time I put into making videos.

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  23. Since 2007, I've spent countless hours creating and editing videos for our California Travel Tips and Chef Tips channels. I can see everything plummeting so much that it may not be economically feasible to create content anymore. This new algorithm is not a good thing.

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  24. Do you think anybody is listening?

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  25. I hate to say this, but YouTube and Google have taken pains to grow the numbers of people in this YT Partner system. Now, it's got to keep thousands, rather than hundreds, happy.

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  26. The other problem is that YouTube is also used to roll out new music. The new algorithm does not allow YT or partners to benefit from this new dynamic - the old system did.

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  27. My fear is that this constant tinkering is going to trigger a class-action lawsuit, and then the entire program will be threatened. YouTube MUST get this beast level, have one algorithm, and leave it alone. The tinkering is just too dangerous to keep doing.

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  28. The very first suggested video next to my newest post is not my video, nor is it related to me. How do I make it go away?? Anyone who knows how to fix this problem please help. Thanks :)

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    ReplyDelete

  30. My concern is that some of the related videos appearing at the end of my videos may be disagreeable to my audience. Is there any way to ensure that content showing up as "related" is not completely different from the video currently being watched?

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  31. Hi. The new algorithm is really sinking my views and my business. This is not good.

    I am a solo guitar player....and as suggested videos next to mine I see Russian War Videos, in Russian, Jim Carey standup comedy and video games.

    This totally fouls up any continuity to my videos, and messes up continuity to people who learn my songs and wish to purchase instruction.

    I recently serached a Bach piece on classical guitar and had to continually "go back" to the initial search page because and "related" videos were totally irrelevant to what I wanted to see.

    Horrible. Please fix this.

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  32. I would like to be able to favorite playlists and even combine them.


    Suggestion.

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  34. I want the recommended video function to be completely gone. I predominately watch play throughs of people playing games on youtube. I watch gamers that are fun to watch, and I enjoy watching the played game from their perspective. Yet, you guys keep recommending videos to me that spoil the ending of these movies. Case and point "here is a scene where said important character dies to a story" and its in the title of the video ... great I read it and now you took the experience away from me because I can't genuinely experience the way I want to. Its like your force feeding me to watch these other videos. To be honest if the folks I subscribed to went to a different video sharing website, I would not hesitate for a second to watch their videos on another site.

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  36. Is this why there's always one or two really stupid 100% unrelated videos being recommended for me that I absolutely hate?

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  37. we wnt youtube not TV give it back,the whole pleasure was the random journey youtube would take you on and you will descover new and interesting things that you would not initially search for. I dont want to waytch that same clip i saw before

    YOUTUBE IS NOW DULL!

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  38. The recommended videos have not changed for months when I log into Youtube. The same bunch of videos that I've already watched months ago appear on the right hand side. No amount of watching new vids or attempts to clear the list works. FAIL.

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  39. Please remove this terrible annoying feature! I don't want to see the same "Fail compilations - Setember 2012" Everytime a watch a youtube video!

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  40. all content makers on youtube which is like slapping everyone in the room for the crimes of another. You really need to re think this issue, youtube is like an angry wasps nest right now. Unlock here

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  41. I'll tell you one problem with the 'recommended video' algorithm that they don't seem to have gotten a handle on: negative content when you are looking for positive content.

    The best example I can give is the times I get on YouTube to relax and watch something inspirational. There are many Church and music channels. But after someone's content ends, anyone with an axe-to-grind AGAINST that subject (THE MORMON CHURCH EXPOSED!! CHRISTIANITY IS A FRAUD!! ALL MUSLIMS ARE TERRORISTS, etc.) comes up. It is very annoying and off-putting.

    It may not be a direct money issue, as most of these videos, even the ones put out by the Mormon Church itself are meant as little more than informational in nature, but when I'm looking to improve my day I don't need foul content from Atheists recommended to me, and unless they can give viewers a way around that, eyeballs are going to leave.

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  43. My video is “Northern Breakers No Straps - No Wax” and the video is about kitesurfing. All the tags are about kitesurfing. Yet all the related videos listed after are about breakdancing. Should not be this way.

    ReplyDelete

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  53. I would like to ask why my youtube shows no related vids when i view any video its just the video itself but there is no more videos on the right side .. please help D:

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  54. Polluting "related" videos with "videos related to anything you've ever watched or subscribed to" is the stupidest decision YouTube has ever made.

    If it's not related, I don't want to see it!

    ReplyDelete

  56. Any tips on making your own videos come up as related?

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  57. people, u aren't getting it. youtube is google, and google is corporate america. they want to do all the talking and we do all the listening..just like tv.

    so like tv, insulting minorities sells. so no blocking n word posts. insulting religion sells, so no blocking athiest recommended vids.
    money talks, so athiest vids backed by big money, will "MAGICALLY" Have 10,000,000 hits, placing it on front page. and your new music vid that used to get 150,000 hits, will get 230. And, truthfully, SOME VIDEOS WILL GO BACKWARDS IN HITS.

    there are ways to pay for hits.

    think about it..u are ultra users. do u see a video and say. ooooooooo letter me watch it..but it currently has 3 hits..from a major video star like Beyonce?

    it seems to hit with 10,000,000 hits.

    I remember a spoof of dreamgirls that had a million hits. now its nowhere close.

    the objective is to kill us off and hand youtube over to corporate america. hence, old spice commercials go viral, hut your funny "old spice sucks" parody, gets 12 hits.

    remember, the news will run youtube, and place "courtesy of youtube" of a kid beating a teacher.
    not "courtesy of user gillygirl365",even though she filmed it.

    note also people looking like local users, and autotuning copyrighted news clips. how is that legal? youtube has took out videos with a simple image of a celeb. all the sudden, now, this?

    in 2009, the corporation version of youtube was born. u may have noticed your vids numbers dropping or reversing.


    youtube now even has the literal words " no hits" instead of 0. so they have a simple hit counter that also shows letters?! hit counters are simple code. not for youtube. ask yourself....WHY???
    CORPORATIONS NOT WANTING TO BE COMPETING WITH YOU FOR HITS THATS WHY

    let me tell you who won't get viral hits...ANY old musicians not on a major label. so cher makes a self paid vid, and song on youtube and itunes? 400,000.

    darryl hall has videos of him playing with huge music icons," live, unplugged" type thing. his money. he gets hits like u and I.

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  58. Does everyone see the same related videos or does it depend on what videos that they have watched on their computer?

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  59. well here is my one youtube video which I shared on my blog and when it finishes it shows a video of a butt picture but now is fixed.

    ReplyDelete

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