YouTube wants a ‘block channel’ choice

Google’s algorithm on YouTube that implies new content material to me is nice. It shortly will get a really feel for the stuff I like to look at and pushes me to related content material by completely different creators. Earlier than I do know it, I’m hooked, spending hours and hours glued to my display screen.

Nonetheless, every so often, one thing slips by the cracks. Possibly you watched a political video and now get fed content material from creators you’d slightly not see. Or, maybe you watched a video about your favourite sports activities staff, and the algorithm is pushing you in the direction of creators that favor your staff’s rival. These sorts of issues occur, and YouTube has a nifty means of coping with it: simply hit the three-dot icon subsequent to a video’s title on the Dwelling web page after which choose “Don’t advocate channel.” Drawback solved!

Properly, you’d suppose the issue is solved, however it really isn’t. All you’ve actually completed is inform the algorithm that you simply don’t like that channel and don’t need it really useful anymore. You haven’t really blocked it, so movies from that channel will nonetheless seem in your search feed, amongst different locations on the positioning.

It’s excessive time that YouTube actually solved this downside. All it will take is including a “Block channel” choice subsequent to any video on the platform.

Let me offer you a real-world instance of why I desperately need a “block channel” choice on YouTube. I’m available in the market for a brand new laptop computer, and have my eyes set on the 2025 ASUS ROG Zephyrus G16. As one would anticipate, I’ve been watching a ton of YouTube content material associated to this laptop computer to get a really feel for whether or not or not it’s definitely worth the cash. It begins at a whopping $2,799, so that you’d higher consider I’m going to be 100% positive it’s what I need earlier than I pull the set off.

The YouTube algorithm is aware of I’m searching for Zephyrus G16 content material, and is pummeling me with recommendations. One channel, SimplifyTech, has popped up on my residence display screen just a few occasions now. I watched the primary few seconds of their video concerning the Zephyrus G16, and was horrified to see that this isn’t a “actual” creator’s channel. As a substitute, it’s a pc’s voice studying a written script (that was most probably generated with AI) with b-roll footage stolen from different creators. As if that wasn’t dangerous sufficient, typically the knowledge isn’t even correct. Try the stills under for proof:

Take particular be aware that the b-roll nonetheless proven above — stolen from the unimaginable HardwareCanucks channel — exhibits the 2024 Zephyrus G16. Granted, the 2025 mannequin seems very related, however SimplifyTech couldn’t even steal the suitable footage.

Anyway, SimplifyTech is pure trash, and I by no means wish to see it once more in my search outcomes or anyplace within the app, ever. I efficiently ticked the “Don’t advocate channel” choice on the house display screen, and haven’t seen something pop up there since. Nonetheless, the channel nonetheless exhibits up in search outcomes, which is de facto annoying. Since there’s no “block channel” choice on YouTube, there’s nothing I can do about it.

You’re most likely pondering that I ought to report the video. Properly, I did try this: I reported it to YouTube as “Spam or deceptive” content material, which was essentially the most acceptable choice obtainable (there was no “AI slop that includes stolen content material” choice, sadly). The kicker is, although, that this doesn’t block the channel both. That video I reported nonetheless seems as the third video after I seek for Zephyrus G16 content material. Third! You’d suppose reporting a video would at the least take away it from my feed, particularly, or on the very least downgrade it. However no, it’s nonetheless there, very prominently. In the meantime, I obtained an computerized e mail from YouTube saying that it’s wanting into my report and can both take away the content material, place restrictions on it, or go away or not it’s after “taking a cautious look” at it.

That’s not sufficient, Google. Simply let me block it.

It’s no secret that Google is all-in on generative AI. The corporate can’t cease speaking about it. Nonetheless good its AI may be, there’s no query that AI is at the least partially liable for the genesis of channels like SimplifyTech. As AI will get simpler and cheaper to make use of, there shall be a deluge of rubbish channels prefer it throughout YouTube. As of proper now, there’s nothing you or I can do about it.

If Google allowed us to dam channels, although, it will at the least allow us to make our personal particular person YouTube experiences tolerable. If Google isn’t going to crack down on blatantly unethical (and unhelpful) channels like SimplifyTech, that’s its personal fault. However at the least let me management what YouTube seems like for myself by permitting me to purge dumpster fires like this and keep centered on the hard-working, actual individuals making YouTube content material.

The actual kicker right here, although, is that I pay for YouTube Premium. Shouldn’t paying YouTube over $20 month-to-month shield me from channels like SimplifyTech? It’s not an advert, positive, however it’s not precious content material by any stretch of the creativeness. Granted, I don’t suppose a “block channel” software on YouTube ought to be locked behind a Premium subscription, but when Google ought to be out to guard anybody’s finest curiosity right here, it ought to be individuals like me who’re paying for YouTube.

Do you want YouTube had a “block channel” choice? Let me know within the ballot in the beginning of this text, and hold forth your individual ideas within the feedback!