2020-05-22: YouTube's recommended videos get longer as more of them are watched; Most are conspiracy videos.
The video "The NZ Mosque Attack Doesn't Add Up" was recommended from 51 channels In this post, I examine the results of YouTube's recommendation algorithm through an example of series of videos recommended by YouTube. From this example, I found that: The recommended videos are generated to maximize watch time There is significant correlation between videos' metadata and their recommendation order YouTube's recommended videos promote conspiracy theories (in this example) Maximizing watch time is YouTube's ultimate goal YouTube's recommendation algorithm, among other discovery features, focuses on watch time to keep viewers glued to the site. In theory, maximizing engagement benefits YouTube, content creators, and advertisers. It encourages YouTubers to create content that people actually want to watch because it makes them more money from displaying more ads. On the other hand, YouTube makes money from advertisers because they find thei...