[spike021]

I've noticed this too. Occasionally I'll look up a how-to/DIY thing, watch one video for it, and then all my recommendations (even the ones on the front page) revolve around that topic. But it's not like I have a consistent interest in it, it was a one-off.

[lelandfe]

I can be pretty confident that once I've finished a video, that very same video will be on my YouTube homepage for weeks. It's useless.

At this moment, my homepage's first 10 videos include 7 that I've already watched.

[munificent]

> that very same video will be on my YouTube homepage for weeks.

I just right-click those videos and tell YouTube I'm not interested in it. That helps keep my homepage fresh while still being pretty good about recommending stuff I like.

One thing I think must be deeply challenging about recommendation on YouTube is that many videos like DIY informative stuff only warrant being watched once. But music, DJ mixes, livestreams, etc. I will watch over and over. So the signal "did I watch this" might mean "definitely do not show it again" for some videos and "definite do show it again" for others. It's probably hard for the system to distinguish those.

[gxqoz]

Maybe they're being fooled by toddlers who love rewatching the same video over and over again.

[ysavir]

Not even that, I bet. I've heard a lot about how YT is used for music by many people (myself included, sometimes), and recommending the song you just listened again probably has a good click rate.

[munificent]

Yeah, I have definitely watched the same DJ set dozens of times for some particularly good ones.

[8note]

Or people who are asleep and not switching away from auto-plays of the same video

[eropple]

It's worse when it's decided that yeah, you are interested in that thing. My interests bounce between woodworking, homebrew vehicles, and strategy video games. The YT algorithm gets itself totally snarled when I watch a video from one side of that fence and assumes that that's all I want to see now. Watch a SuperfastMatt vehicle about the Jag he's retrofitting with the guts of a Tesla? Obviously you want seven more videos from his channel that you've already watched. And I like his channel! Not enough to watch the same seven videos again, though.

It also seems to have some classification issues, too. It lumps a lot of stuff into "DIY", and woodworking is part of it--but so is a lot of stuff that more fits under "construction" or "carpentry". No shade thrown, that stuff can be interesting too, but there's a large gulf between "crotchety woodworking dork going on about tablesaw safety" and "refinishing a backyard shed with glamour shots of a Home Depot sponsored miter saw set to bouncy stock music" that the algorithm does not seem to grok. Maybe it wants me to hatewatch that stuff, I dunno.