How YouTube's algorithms are trained to understand your preferences

Have you ever noticed that YouTube doesn’t always show you what you really want to watch? Even though it’s one of the biggest time sinks online, its algorithm can sometimes get a bit off track and flood you with videos that just don’t fit your vibe.

The good news is you can actually train your own YouTube algorithm to show you stuff you enjoy. A report from Lifehacker, checked out by Qera Tech, backs this up.

All you really need to do is learn how to engage smartly with the platform’s features.

So why bother training your YouTube algorithm? Well, stats from Nielsen say that YouTube beats Netflix and Disney+ when it comes to how many hours people watch. But YouTube doesn’t work like a regular streaming service. You can’t just pick a show and binge it. Instead, the experience is all about its recommendations; it tries to figure out what you’ll like based on your past views.

Here are some basics to help fine-tune that algorithm:

Likes and dislikes: Use these as tools, not just emotional reactions. If you like a video, it tells YouTube you want to see more like it. Disliking a video will lower its visibility, but it won’t completely wipe that category from your feed.

Subscribing: When you hit that subscribe button, it shows you like a channel, but keep an eye on your "Subscriptions" tab to see the latest uploads. That way, you won’t miss out.

Activating notifications: This is a solid way to get quick alerts about new videos from the channels you love.

YouTube pays attention to your habits, not just what you say you like. If you like a video and subscribe to a channel but stop watching, the algorithm will think you’re done with it. So, actual watch time really matters when it comes to what it suggests next.

Want to clean up your recommendations and avoid those weird suggestions? Here are some advanced tips:

Removing unwanted videos: If you’ve seen something you didn’t vibe with, go to your "Watch History" and delete it ASAP. That tells YouTube to ignore it.

Use “Not interested” and “Don’t recommend channel”: For those suggested videos you don’t want to see, hit “Not interested,” or go for “Don’t recommend this channel” if you really want it out of your life.

Disabling autoplay for thumbnails: Sometimes, a video might count as "watched" just because it started playing automatically. You can turn that off in the settings to keep your history cleaner.

How to take back control over your suggestions? Training the YouTube algorithm isn’t about having full control, it’s more like giving it gentle guidance. Be mindful of how you interact: skip what you don’t like, rate videos, and regularly clean your watch history to keep things fresh.