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YouTube recommendations
YouTube's recommendation system picks the videos on your homepage and in Up Next, learning from clicks, watch time, survey answers, shares, likes and dislikes.
Views, watch time or valueInteractive
- Signals it learns from
- 80 billion+
- Watch time added
- March 2012
- Views right after
- Dropped 20%
- Valued watch time
- 4 or 5 star survey ratings
- Main surfaces
- Homepage and Up Next
What recommendations rewarded
In words
Where recommendations show up
3/3
Recommendations work in two main places: the homepage, a mix of personalized picks, subscriptions and news, and the Up Next panel beside the video you are watching 1. YouTube says they drive more of its viewing than subscriptions or search 1. Each surface leans on different signals: Up Next uses the current video as its main signal, the homepage mostly your watch history 2. Short videos get their own feed, see YouTube Shorts recommendations.
3 of 3 quotes found in their sources
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On YouTube's recommendation system (YouTube Blog, September 2021) blog.youtube
You can find recommendations at work in two main places: your homepage and the “Up Next” panel.
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On YouTube's recommendation system (YouTube Blog, September 2021) blog.youtube
Recommendations drive a significant amount of the overall viewership on YouTube, even more than channel subscriptions or search.
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How YouTube recommendations work (YouTube Help) support.google.com
our system uses the video you’re currently watching as the main signal when suggesting a video to play next
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From views to watch time
4/4
Until 2012 related and recommended videos were served by clicks, which rewarded thumbnails over videos people actually watched 1. In March 2012 YouTube made time watched the leading indicator 1, and in October search followed 2. YouTube later said views dropped 20% right after the change 3. That is why Watch time became the number creators chase.
4 of 4 quotes found in their sources
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Changes to Related and Recommended Videos (YouTube Blog, March 2012) blog.youtube
this system serves videos based on the number of clicks they receive
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Changes to Related and Recommended Videos (YouTube Blog, March 2012) blog.youtube
While we'll still be looking at clicks, engagement will become the leading indicator for serving these videos.
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YouTube search, now optimized for time watched (YouTube Blog, October 2012) blog.youtube
We've started adjusting the ranking of videos in YouTube search to reward engaging videos that keep viewers watching.
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On YouTube's recommendation system (YouTube Blog, September 2021) blog.youtube
When we first incorporated watchtime into recommendations, we saw an immediate 20% drop in views.
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Valued watch time
3/3
Not all watch time is equal, so YouTube asks viewers to rate videos from one to five stars, and only four or five stars count as valued watch time 1. A model trained on those answers predicts how everyone else would rate a video 1. YouTube's own creator help lists the same chain: did people choose to watch, how long they stayed, and whether they liked it or rated it well afterwards 2.
3 of 3 quotes found in their sources
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On YouTube's recommendation system (YouTube Blog, September 2021) blog.youtube
Only videos that you rate highly with four or five stars are counted as valued watchtime.
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On YouTube's recommendation system (YouTube Blog, September 2021) blog.youtube
we’ve trained a machine learning model to predict potential survey responses for everyone
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Search & discovery tips (YouTube Help) support.google.com
Our systems use both avg. view duration and avg. % viewed as signals to inform ranking.
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