This seems like a rather biased and rosy view of what I'd consider almost a dark pattern... using personalized recommendations to artificially drive engagement numbers and ad views, at the expense of user agency.
For example, the finding that users primarily went to the home page to search led not to better searching but to distracting them with algorithmic suggestions on the home page instead.
Like with most things Google, YouTube users aren't users, but products :/
Meanwhile the signals that I purposely provide, like my likes. dislikes, and subscriptions, are downplayed. I wish I could get a clutter free home screen with just a big search bar and my latest subs, but no...
For example, the finding that users primarily went to the home page to search led not to better searching but to distracting them with algorithmic suggestions on the home page instead.
Like with most things Google, YouTube users aren't users, but products :/
Meanwhile the signals that I purposely provide, like my likes. dislikes, and subscriptions, are downplayed. I wish I could get a clutter free home screen with just a big search bar and my latest subs, but no...