Monthly Archives: September 2022

Hated that video? YouTube’s algorithm might push you another just like it.

YouTube’s recommendation algorithm drives 70% of what people watch on the platform. That algorithm shapes the information billions of people consume, and YouTube has controls that purport to allow people to adjust what it shows them. But, a new study finds, those tools don’t do much. Instead, users have little power to keep unwanted videos—including…

YouTube’s ‘dislike’ and ‘not interested’ buttons barely work, study finds

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Even when users tell YouTube they aren’t interested in certain types of videos, similar recommendations keep coming, a new study by Mozilla found. Using video recommendations data from more than 20,000 YouTube users, Mozilla researchers found that buttons like “not interested,” “dislike,” “stop recommending channel,” and “remove from…

Sources say Web Summit Ventures will be a new $40M follow-on fund

Web Summit, one of the world’s largest events centered around technology startups, is to launch a brand new venture capital vehicle consisting of two new funds, TechCrunch understands. The move follows an acrimonious fall-out between Web Summit’s co-founders, who first started the now-defunct Amaranthine VC fund in 2018, in part to join the ballooning investment…

UK to change Online Safety Bill limits on ‘legal but harmful’ content for adults

Changes are incoming to draft online safety legislation in the UK which continues to attract controversy over the impact on free speech. The draft Online Safety Bill has already been years in the making but new prime minister Liz Truss signalled earlier this month that she wants “tweaks” to ensure it does not harm freedom…

Trump’s legal team is trying to avoid turning over information about whether or not the documents found at Mar-A-Lago were declassified

Former President Donald Trump speaks at CPAC in Dallas, Tex., on August 6, 2022. Brandon Bell/Getty Images Trump’s lawyers are running into a roadblock with special master Raymond Dearie.Dearie asked Trump’s team to hand over specific information about files he claims he declassified.His team is now arguing that doing so would compromise any defense Trump…

YouTube’s ‘dislike’ barely works, according to new study on recommendations

If you’ve ever felt like it’s difficult to “un-train” YouTube’s algorithm from suggesting a certain type of video once it slips into your recommendations, you’re not alone. In fact, it may be even more difficult than you think to get YouTube to accurately understand your preferences. One major issue, according to new research conducted by…