It’s both. The dumb faces and titles are unfortunately extremely effective at getting random clicks. The A/B testing is to find the more effective of a few options, which again will almost always be the worst sort of engagement bait.
i always find this funny because i’ve noticed myself only clicking on videos once someone changes the thumbnail in dearrow, most clickbait thumbnails and titles are literally less interesting to me than a dry description of what the video is about
you’d think youtube could use the ability to show different thumbnails to different people so i’m not shown things that clearly actively makes some people not click on videos, but of course they are incapable of considering anything but appealing to the majority…
Give them time. Eventually enough of their engineers with integrity will leave the company, and micro-targeting users to maximize engagement will be on the table. They’re solidly in the “growth at any cost” mindset.
It’s both. The dumb faces and titles are unfortunately extremely effective at getting random clicks. The A/B testing is to find the more effective of a few options, which again will almost always be the worst sort of engagement bait.
i always find this funny because i’ve noticed myself only clicking on videos once someone changes the thumbnail in dearrow, most clickbait thumbnails and titles are literally less interesting to me than a dry description of what the video is about
you’d think youtube could use the ability to show different thumbnails to different people so i’m not shown things that clearly actively makes some people not click on videos, but of course they are incapable of considering anything but appealing to the majority…
Give them time. Eventually enough of their engineers with integrity will leave the company, and micro-targeting users to maximize engagement will be on the table. They’re solidly in the “growth at any cost” mindset.