extensive use of the "Don't recommend this video > Tell us why > I don't like this video" function, plus removing bad videos from my watch history after I stop watching, has got me a well-trained slop-free recommendations page with interesting new smallish channels.

Usually I go there looking for something specific and use the search bar.

However, the search function in YouTube has also turned to absolute crap. It only lists a few results and then switches to random shit you didn't ask for.

A lot of the results are also often misleading titles leading to lazy videos that are a slideshow of impertinent pictures with a synthetized voice spewing inaccurate information. AI has made that even worse. The star rating system would have helped identify these crap videos before you click on them.

Or good channel you know mention other channel.