[Updated] YouTube issue with feed getting filled with Shorts recommendations frustrating some users, but there're workarounds

New updates are being added at the bottom of this story…….

Original story (published on March 28, 2023) follows:

YouTube is one of the largest and most popular video-sharing platforms in the world. However, over the past week, many users have expressed frustration about their feeds being filled with Shorts recommendations.

This has led to a lot of discussion about the issue and ways to curb it.

YouTube Shorts recommendations overwhelming some

According to several reports (1,2,3,4,5), the recommendations on YouTube feeds are full of Shorts, with some users reporting up to 8 Recommended Shorts for each typical video.

Why is my entire feed filled with shorts? All of my recommendations are less than a minute long. Its ridiculous. I just want to watch longer videos but its all shorts. I try and avoid clicking on any of them but its all I see now
Source

Anyone else tired of youtube shorts getting shoved down their throat? The youtube app is just getting worse and worse. I open the app, see 8 shorts. Scroll down, a video. Then 8 more shorts. I have to scroll for like 10 minutes before seeing an actual video that looks appealing.
Source

What’s more, the option to hide the Shorts or temporarily remove the category is not working either. This suggests that YouTube has recently decided to start aggressively promoting this format.

The issue reportedly started just over a week ago, with some users complaining that they are tired of Shorts being overpromoted on their feeds.

Some users have pointed out that there is no way to indicate that they are not interested in Shorts, which is a cause of frustration for them.

Youtube will not let me remove the ‘shorts’ recommendations.
I keep hitting the ‘x’ and it keeps saying it will remove that category for 30 days, but every time I come back to youtube it’s in my face. I’ve tried 3 browsers on 2 devices! Is there some hack I can do to block it?
Source

Potential workarounds

However, there are some workarounds that users can try to hide Shorts on their feeds.

One such workaround is to use the uBlock Origin extension and add some code to ‘My Filters.’

While the extension did help some users, it also didn’t work for others. In that case, users can try another alternative extension.

Try this one:
www.youtube.com###content > .ytd-rich-section-renderer.style-scope
Source

However, keep in mind that these two extensions cannot be used simultaneously.

Another option with uBlock Origin is to right-click over the YouTube Shorts section, click Block Element, and then click Create.

BlockTube, another extension, also has the option to hide Shorts.

Blocktube extension has function to hide all YouTube shorts.
Source

While these workarounds may be helpful for some users, they may not be the perfect solution for everyone.

Hopefully, YouTube will address this issue soon and provide users with a more straightforward way to indicate their disinterest in Shorts.

As always, we’ll keep our ears on the ground so that you don’t miss out on any developments that drop here.

07:15 pm (IST): According to a report, YouTube is concerned that prioritizing short-form videos can affect the revenue of long ones.

PiunikaWeb started as purely an investigative tech journalism website with main focus on ‘breaking’ or ‘exclusive’ news. In no time, our stories got picked up by the likes of Forbes, Foxnews, Gizmodo, TechCrunch, Engadget, The Verge, Macrumors, and many others. Want to know more about us? Head here.