zlacker

> Channel Blocker (lets me block channels from search results on Youtube)...

I wish this were possible for the phone app. Every now and then I am recommended a video from one YouTuber in particular that I can't stand. Is there an app for that? I don't think you can block within YouTube, which would be great.

>>nulbyt+(OP)
I don't think so (I looked). Best I could find was some articles online claiming you can add "-unwantedChannel '...'" to your YouTube search to exclude individual channels. I didn't even test it because it would be WAY to cumbersome. Maybe that's all Channel Blocker does under the covers -- add a bunch of those switches to my search.

What frustrates me the most is that this is one place where mine and Google's interests actually align! Let me help train them to not show me crap I don't want to see... then I'll use their products (YouTube and Search) more and give them more opportunities to show me ads! (Well, theoretically -- I block as many ads as I can right now).

That was one of the big reasons I looked for an alternative to Google search. IIRC, you used to be able to exclude results from Google search. In order to do so, you HAD TO LOGIN TO GOOGLE (another huge win for Google!). Now I use Kagi -- primarily because they allow me to exclude sites from their search results.

>>emacdo+F1
Doesn't help for searching for new stuff, but you can subscribe to channels using rss feeds. From my experience, it helps avoid getting sucked down the YouTube rabbit hole

>>nulbyt+(OP)
You can select "Do not recommend this channel" as one of the options when you see content you don't want to surface anymore. It's not as good as a block, but it does help remove some clickbait algo trash from your feed.

>>rcarr+t2
You can almost certainly be uniquely identified from the combination of feeds your RSS reader polls regularly, combined with your location, if the feeds alone are not enough.

The more feeds you subscribe to, the more unique your fingerprint.

>>emacdo+F1
mine and Google's interests actually align

They really don’t. Some YouTube videos (and channels) are way more profitable for Google than others, on a CPM basis. I think there are even some videos that are just plain money losers (long videos that aren’t packed with mid rolls).

Google wants to steer you towards the most profitable videos and away from the unprofitable ones. They don’t care about your interests. They’d rather trick you into watching videos you don’t like and that get you angry (but keep you engaged) than to watch videos you’re really interested in but are too long and niche and unprofitable.

>>pmoria+GC
Last time I checked I wasn't get any ads in my RSS reader though