@goofsqueak@lemdro.id is correct, it's an AI generated thumbnail option that youtube suggests to content creators as it is "calculated" to get the most clicks, but i think it has been backfiring. A channel i watch a lot started to use it and everyone pushed back, so they stopped.

The main thing to look out for is chunky yellow letters. Often a bit of crinkling on the edges as so - more so if it's "appropriate", e.g a biking video (pictured above). Always to the side, usually the entire left half of the screen.

When you go to make a video it suggests the thumbnail to you based on your video content, or you can upload one and it will suggest changing it. It's optional, but lots of creators "fall" for it because it saves them work and insists it gets more clicks

i think this is just ai slop as always

It was “sudden” nearly a decade ago. Your favorite creator is just catching up. Use DeArrow if you prefer a purer youtube experience

Thank you for the ideas and the recommendations.

Thank you. I will check it out.

That’s sick, thanks for sharing. As the other person said, it doesn’t seem to work on iOS

I've tested on both Chromium and Firefox based browsers. Both saved the cookie preference and redirected me to the mobile/desktop version based on the persistence flag.

On what browsers have had success with this recently? I tried a few iOS browsers just now, and it didn’t work.

There is also a persist flag you can use so that your saved cookies will always take you to the respective version.

Switch to mobile:

https://m.youtube.com/?persist_app=1&app=m

Switch to desktop:

https://www.youtube.com/?persist_app=1&app=desktop

Wow, I usually suggest iOS app Desktop Browser for this kind of thing, but it no longer succeeds in the case of www.youtube.com, and I have no idea why.

I subscribe to enough channels through RSS to the point where I have too many videos to watch, honestly. Just by paying attention to other people's recommendations through threads like this, videos friends send me, crossover videos between channels, and looking at the channels featured by the channels I already watch was enough to get my feeds to their current state.

KBash and Jason Graves are my current favorites. Highly recommended if you're interested in video essays on retro and obscure video games.

Technology Connections is very popular around here ;)

The last screenshot is Chrome-specific. Other browsers don't get the cast or mini player buttons

Shorts dont have the inserted scripted ads peppered through the video. Perfect for when I just want a short concise explanation for how to do some task, like change a faucet aerator or swap the air filter in my car. So I disagree, shorts have a place in search results at the moment.

Once those get ads, yeah, they should be separate.

Many things have ruined it, but shorts is absolutely a huge part of that

tictoc brain infection

The search is generally complete trash. Not only because of the shorts. It is also filled with unrelated bullshit. Often times videos i watched before, that have absolutely nothing to do with the thing i'm searching right now.

Yes

I consume content at my speed and dislike any sort of push solutions because at least for me content pushed towards me makes me feel pressured to watch (because the pile of unwatched stuff grows if I don't keep up with it).

I'm a lot more comfortable to do what I can when I can than having an external something set the pace.

I suspect getting "stressed" by a growing pile of unwatched stuff is a personality quirk.

I don't use the YouTube app unless I want to Cast a video to my TV (rare). Otherwise I just use my Firefox browser to watch YouTube videos. Shorts are a non-issue. Especially since I've disabled history.

Just want a browser add-on to automatically hide shorts, switch my searches to videos, and autohit "don't recommend channel" if it finds a video with over 100k views.

Not necessarily a different app, but it should definitely be a separate section.

Seriously? Spotify, any streamkng services, even youtube? Adobe products? Anything that requires a subscription nowadays is so so much enshittified..

You do pay for Youtube, either with your money or your attention.

There should be at least a dropdown box to let you choose what types of content you want to find. Videos, shorts, posts, surveys, etc.

Whole lot of dumbass assumptions in here.