Item — HN Reader

I feel like we have reached a point where Youtube can just remove the search fields and let their algorithms do its thing.

The last time I tried YTs search field was when I was trying to find an older video in my history. Nothing, even if I typed down the exact keywords. Nothing. Luckily, I found it through myactivity.google.com.

Its actually kind of fascinating how a huge enterprise like Youtube can ruin a feature to the point that its actually useless.

What they are good at is pushing irrelevant content everywhere, if I scroll to the bottom of my playlist, there is a suggestions feed. If I search something, after a couple of results, it turns into a suggestion feed. Even my subscribers feed is now a recommendations system at the top instead of just displaying in chronological order.

If it wasn’t for their dominance in the market, I would have left long time ago. But I am stuck there, because the creators are there.

uBlock and Sponsorblock is a bless.

I am curious if there is alternative frontends to youtube that also allows me to sign in with my Googlw account and access all my playlist, likes, watch later etc.

3 comments

> Its actually kind of fascinating how a huge enterprise like Youtube can ruin a feature to the point that its actually useless.

For the people in charge of engagement at YouTube, making search useless is a feature. If most people don’t get value from search then they’ll resign and be forced into following the algorithm, which is how Google wants you to consume YouTube.

Similar reason why streaming providers keep making it more difficult to find your previously watched list.

> I feel like we have reached a point where Youtube can just remove the search fields and let their algorithms do its thing.

> The last time I tried YTs search field was when I was trying to find an older video in my history. Nothing, even if I typed down the exact keywords. Nothing. Luckily, I found it through myactivity.google.com.

I have had a similar experience but it seems ridiculous to propose removing the search. It's not like its returning random results. It does generally work, even with the major failure points you describe.

> I am stuck there, because the creators are there.

Don’t make this mistake. You are not “stuck” - you’re making a choice. You can also choose to seek other materials elsewhere to stay entertained.