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submitted 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) by DanTDM@lemmy.world to c/privacy@lemmy.ml

I have an extension that can individually disable all the most useless/addicting components of the Youtube site, such as shorts and whatnot. On the search page, I have turned on:

hide Shorts

hide For You

hide Trending

hide 'People Also Searched For'

hide Search Categories

hide Promoted Videos

hide Promoted Websites

hide Suggested Products

Do you know what Youtube has started doing? They are now inserting engagement slop DIRECTLY into the search results, as seen in the image above. It's literally a short, yet it's inserted like a video so you're forced to see it. The only possible way to remove it is by using a privacy frontend, as even on incognito mode, Youtube will look at the three videos you've watched and start inserting shit based off that.

Louis Rossman is right, they all have rapist mentalities... "just let me stick it in"

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[-] ikidd@lemmy.world 9 points 2 years ago

Piped. Trust me.

[-] braxy29@lemmy.world 8 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

i ran into this kind of garbage the other day looking for a Nicholas Jaar video when i couldn't recall the name. like BoC, there's tons and tons of tracks by Jaar, but results gave me one or two of his most popular tracks and a buuuuuunch of other stuff. i couldn't even just keep scrolling, there were a dozen results and then the "related search" garbage.

ugh, i'm so fed up with google, and at the same time not motivated enough to figure out workarounds. i have work and shit to do around my house.

i guess, with me, they won.

edit typo

[-] Omega_Haxors@lemmy.ml 7 points 2 years ago

I remembered there was a thing that came out not too long ago that proved that silicon valley executives literally don't know what consent is.

[-] ruckblack@sh.itjust.works 7 points 2 years ago

Great band though, you've got good taste

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[-] jsomae@lemmy.ml 7 points 2 years ago

In fairness, I have no idea what I would want from that search query.

[-] BreakDecks@lemmy.ml 7 points 2 years ago

Boards of Canada is a very popular IDM artist, and they're the third result down from the top.

[-] FilthyShrooms@lemmy.world 6 points 2 years ago

It looks like it's a band name, as the third result is from a channel with that exact name. Idk what the first search result is, but that second one seems vaguely related probably because the guy mentioned it in his silly short

[-] needthosepylons@lemmy.world 5 points 2 years ago

It's indeed the name of a band

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as a boards lover myself, i just have to comment on this, for one, impeccable taste in music.

anyway, i tested this myself, seems fine. Have you tried disabling the watch history bullshit? It even lists a sidebar full of album related shit.

So uh, go off queen ig.

[-] mvilain@fedia.io 7 points 2 years ago

I disabled History and only see my channel subscriptions. None of the options above appear in my Youtube feed.

[-] kylian0087@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 points 2 years ago

Yeah i did this until they make the entire homepage blank if you keep history off. Very annoying.

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[-] slimarev92@lemmy.world 6 points 2 years ago
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[-] krolden@lemmy.ml 6 points 2 years ago

OK but what does that have to do with privacy?

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On a similar note, does anybody know of a frontend or add on for Instagram? I do not want the suggested content and reels they shove down everyone's throats because it is very easy to waste hours and get distracted easily with it. Also no ads would be nice. I have to use Instagram to keep in touch with certain people who I have no alternative means of keeping in touch with.

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[-] chonglibloodsport@lemmy.world 5 points 2 years ago

I’m really surprised at how bad of an experience people are having! I have a bunch of channels I follow and people I interact with. Some big channels but most small. I love channels with only a few hundred to a few thousand viewers. The creators post their videos and then I talk to them through the comments. We have some really interesting conversations.

Lots of other channels I follow I don’t interact with but still really enjoy. A lot of hobby channels are amazing! I generally avoid the news and politics stuff, though I still occasionally watch Ukraine videos or Trump trial stuff. I get sick of those after one video though!

[-] Firipu@startrek.website 5 points 2 years ago

Yeah, tbh, the insane focus on privacy makes YouTube a lot worse, no shit. The algorithm just throws shit at the wall hoping it sticks, what do you expect?

Make a burner account only for YouTube. See how the quality goes up because you can follow people you are actually interested in.

I personally really don't see the privacy risk with that? (then again, I gave up on the idea of true privacy online years ago. Privacy through obscurity is enough. I don't care big companies recognize my habits, as long as they don't know 100% exactly who I am.)

[-] onion@feddit.de 7 points 2 years ago

You can subscribe without an account using third party clients like NewPipe or FreeTube

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[-] buzz86us@lemmy.world 5 points 2 years ago

The damn site tries to crash my browser before showing me what I want

[-] StereoTrespasser@lemmy.world 4 points 2 years ago

It's amazing how hard some of you work to make YouTube enjoyable. Here's a tip: stop watching YouTube.

[-] Yerbouti@lemmy.ml 9 points 2 years ago

The problem is no other platform has that much content. Looking for an obscure scene from an old tv show? It's probably on YouTube. Wanna know more about Brigitte Bardot's career? Someone has a nice channel about her. The fact that the platform sucks amd his own by effing google doesn't change that there is just so much great niche content to be discovered. Hopefully we'll have a fully working foss alternative soon enough. I'll gladly pay for that if the money goes back to creators.

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this post was submitted on 20 Apr 2024
851 points (100.0% liked)

Privacy

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