YouTube Algorithm 2023: What Creators Need to Know

Hello Insiders! Today we're here with Todd, Director of Growth and Discovery, to chat about all things algorithm.

Check it out and leave us your comments and questions below!

Chapters:
0:00 Intro
0:08 Todd, what is your role at YouTube?
0:18 Think audience, not algorithm
1:20 Think like a viewer
1:51 How does "satisfaction" factor in?
3:55 How can creators better understand "satisfaction"?
4:33 How does the algorithm follow creators with smaller audiences?
5:42 How should creators think about multi-format?
8:07 How do you envision Search and Discovery evolving on YouTube?
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Creator Insider is an informal YouTube channel to share information from the YouTube Creator technical team with the wider Creator community. We will feature different people talking about the products they work on and changes we are making so you have more context.

[VEGTheAgingHippie]

My frustration with the recommendations is that 99% of them are videos with many thousands of views. This prohibits me from discovering small channels which I may find more interesting. There seems to be a bias toward large established channels which in my opinion makes the platform become stale and uninteresting. I wish there were a way to find some of the millions of worthwhile channels that remain undiscovered. Many of the channels that I find most interesting have a small subscriber base and I only found them by hearing about them from other creators. It would be great if You Tube had a page dedicated to smaller channels. I realize that You Tube is a business and needs ad revenue to operate, but even if such a page were restricted to premium members, it would be a huge game changer as well as an extra incentive to continue my premium membership.

[KozDraAni]

We've got this small channels!!!! Don't give up!!!!

[personalnotesmusic]

Love the focus on audience rather than algorithms!

[williamnorried]

Retired as an expert, starting with YouTube as a complete novice; loving every minute learning something completely new!

[Ovampa]

I'm glad I started YouTube in 2022. It became my easiest route to become a multi millionaire

[Binod-official-]

My frustration with the recommendation is that's 99% of them are videos with many thousands of people's view .This probabilit me from descovering small channel ❤️🙏

[lifewithmochi]

As a single dad growing a channel with my 3yr old, this video helps a lot to understand better what we need to do to find our audience. As a beginner I understand I need to put more time into editing and what not but it’s definitely hard to make time to edit all the videos we have recorded. But I hope we can reach the people we need to without all the trends and gimmicks, I’m trying my best to stay true to just genuine wholesome content as a real person.

[Dailycozwerks]

Sliding through these comments to find other small creators to follow. We got this team!

[GlitchmanVGM]

I really wish that we could customize our interests like "Music, " "Gaming, " "Videos from smaller channels, " etc. so that we primarily get recommendations from topics we are most likely to watch and enjoy rather than the algorithm guessing what we're interested in, because the system is not always correct and often only suggests videos that already have lots of views.

[michellesfrugallivin]

1. Variety is the spice of life. A channel shouldn't be forced into making videos on one subject.
2. I like to watch a very wide variety of topics. It really seems like the algorithm that is controlling my suggesting is getting more narrow in what it will show me. And doing a search doesn't always help. It seems like it only wants to pull videos that have gotten tens of thousands to millions of views and has an over-achiever thumbnail picture. I know there has to be other people out there making videos but I can't get to them.
3. My suggested videos really gets caught up on channels I have watched recently.

[luminousmeditations]

As a new creator, it's really helpful to hear these discussions. Thanks.

[YummyGastronomy]

Thanks guys, great stuff! I just learned multi language audio tracks are enabled. I despised the idea of condensing helpful details into short subtitles, so this is going to be wonderful for me.

[LvfreeAdventures]

The watch time should be the king - not some short and very limited surveys and guessing what actually viewer feel when watching. It also sounds like youtube is making subjective decision what videos have more values in future...

[Moe-eid]

For me, I have been working on YouTube since 2015, and unfortunately, until today, I did not understand how the algorithm works, nor the actual factors that cause the success of a video or the failure of another video.

[djsorry]

We’re so glad YouTube is prioritizing audience satisfaction — that’s exactly what our channel is all about. We’re not just trying to get views… we’re here to make people feel something, whether it’s through music, humor, or pure vibes. If our content makes someone smile, think, or dance — that’s the real win. 💯

[JFC-Nation]

A feature I think would help fitness channels is to add a health and fitness category. I feel like if there's a category for that I feel new creators can find an audience.

[BaltimoreAndOhioRR]

Does YouTube use the algorithm to "punish" channels? I almost always have a handful of videos that consistently perform very well - not viral, but just good steady performance. It seems every time I make critical comments here (or have issues the "help" team fails to correct), the bottom drops out of all my good videos. I say this tongue in cheek, but lately I'm not so sure. I noticed this a little while ago, and sort of joked about the coincidences in my head, but then I kept noticing. I have no other social media and I do no advertising or promotion of my videos anywhere. I'm 100% at the mercy of the algorithm. It seems odd how my channel - including all my top videos- can just drop to 2009 levels at a whim. It's almost as if my channel, and all it's videos, gets blacklisted (or at least put into a lesser tier) for some reason other than the individual videos themselves. Like I'm being punished or
I'm curious to hear your opinion, and I hope it's more in depth than, "No, we don't".

[AllNBAChronicles]

I started a month ago and am really proud of being monetized in a month, however, it is frustrating to know that a lot of videos wont even get shown in the shorts feed. I wont give up, just feel frustrated when I know that similar content from established creators get eaten up hahaha. In saying all that, I am truly grateful!!

[kellerfamilyfun]

My daughter and I have been making unboxing videos since 2021. Now that she is getting older, it's more geared to skin care, clothing, and unboxing things we use instead of toys. We only have 399 subscribers. I'm trying to build this. Keep working towards your goals! 99 subs were obtained in the last month!

[TMS]

Please pray for my beginner friends, I have been able to register through 3000 hours of viewing, I will register tonight. Keep up the spirit 💪🇲🇨