YouTube Removes Dislike Count – Annoys Consumers

So, we have to talk about this platform change that YouTube made.  They removed the dislike from all videos.  I’m sure you guys are well aware, because I’m sure you are feeling the impact.  So, in this video, we’re going to talk about that.  We’re going to talk about, I guess my opinion on why they made the change, and then we’ll also look at…  If you stick around a couple of workarounds, that are available out there. 

So, let’s dig in.  (upbeat music) My name is Ron Thomas.  Welcome to Logical Money, where we optimize convenience, and maximize money.  So, we’re going to talk about the what, the why, the fallout, the future.  And let’s get right into the why, or the what.  Let’s start with what.  I think we all know what happened.  We all feel it.  YouTube decided to remove, the dislike button on all videos.  So, we can’t see it anymore.  And is a lot of fallout.  A lot of people do not like it.  There’s been a lot of big YouTubers, with larger followings that have done their own videos.  They pretty much don’t like it.  I know Marques Brownlee did a video, so you can check that out.  But the video you really might want to look at is Matt Koval’s.  He did a video, and he’s, I guess, YouTube’s content creator ambassador.  And he actually described what the change is about, the reasoning and all of that.  So, check that out because in that video, you can cast out your vote, whether you like it or dislike it. 

So that’s the real what.  And let’s look at the why.  So, in Matt Koval’s video, he talked about mental health issues, and addressing that.  He also talked about people, I guess, bombing the dislike button, to sabotage other people’s YouTube channels.  So, I have to take them for their word.  You know, that’s the reasoning.  It may have been, those, issues could be addressed in a different way, especially through technology. 

So, my take on that base value, your reasoning is your reasoning.  So that’s the why.  I think their why is…  and this came out during his video, when he started talking about watch time, and I guess they did a study, their researchers did a study and they said that the watch time, there was no difference between the watch time, whether they had the like or dislike button there or not.  Well, which I was kind of like, well, of course.  The dislike button, if you don’t have it, we use that as a indicator, whether the content is valuable or not, we look at that dislike to like ratio.  I use it.  And I usually make cut offs like 3%.  If that ratio is above 3%, disliked to likes, then I usually don’t watch the video.  So of course, the watch time would be similar because you have to watch content, that you really would have not watched otherwise.  So that rationale didn’t really sit well with me. 

But I do think it has to do a watch time.  But there’s another reason.  And I think it’s because, what they want is for us to watch more of their videos, so they can make more money, so that they can have more advertiser’s revenue.  So, you know, I think it always usually comes down to money.  And I think in this case, that is the situation.  So, you know, when you think about it, you know, it’s just inconvenient, for the consumer.  And I think that’s why we’ve seen so much fallout.  In my opinion I think it may have been, a level executive, needs to meet some metrics or some numbers, for the fourth quarter.  So okay, you got November, you got a December.  Maybe they’ll reverse course in 2022.  But we’ll proceed.  They seem to be pretty dug in.  

So yeah, I kind of leave it there, but I think they did misjudge, the value people use that dislike button for.  So, I think that’s where all the fallout is coming from.  Now as for the future, we’ll see.  I think Google, for the most part, there is a consumer centric, and they vocally value their consumer, and they don’t want to annoy their consumers.  So maybe they’ll reverse course.  I do think that it’s all about the data.  I think when the data comes in, over the next month or two, they’ll realize that this is not a change, that was well received. 

So, I guess also for the future, and this is where some of the workarounds come in.  As a data guy, like I said, I use the dislike to like ratio, but I also use the like to view ratio.  And for some reason, that 3%, was another benchmark for me, and the type of video that I will watch, you know, it may be different for other You Tubers  or people who view content on YouTube.  Think we watch different types of content, but I usually watch educational type videos.  And now if the like to view ratio, also 3%, it seems it would be my cut off.  But I want it to be 3% or higher, so to tell whether I’ll watch it or not.  As where the dislike, I want it to be 3% lower.  So those are some metrics that has worked for me, so in the past.  That one of the look arounds you could use if they continued to cancel the dislike count.  But who knows?  Well, we’ll see what happens. 

But there is a bonus workaround, there is actually a Chrome extension.  I think it’s called the called, Return YouTube Dislike.  I did install it and it works.  And I can now see the dislike count.  And the only trick with this extension is they’re using the API from YouTube in that data.  And YouTube did say, I think on December 13, they’re going to (indistinct) the dislike value on their API.  So, it seems like this is just a short-term fix that you can use, and that maybe go away.  But it seems like the developers and their extensions are more confidence that they will still be able to provide some type of count.  Maybe, it may not be what dislike count, may not be quite as accurate, but it seems like they still think that they’ll be able to provide that. 

So, we’ll see.  But in the meantime, you can kind of start to use some of those ratios while we can see both the like and dislike, and kind of compare them to see where your cutoffs are.  And if they don’t return it, then you at least have another option, to value whether content is going to be worth your time, or not.  Of course, you know, we all value our time.  And that’s another reason why I had this kind of word, that’s why YouTube had made this change.  So, like I said, I think they’ll get enough pushback and they’ll reverse course.  So, I’m going to leave it there.  I hope you guys found value, and I appreciate your time.  Thanks for watching.