YouTube Is Testing New System for Reducing Notifications from Infrequently Watched Channels

Google has announced that it is testing a new system for YouTube which reduces notifications received from subscribed channels that aren't watched anymore. On YouTube, users can set the notification setting to All which makes sure they stay up to date with all the ongoing activities from their preferred channels via push notifications. However, this becomes annoying when you don't watch a channel anymore but keep receiving alerts about it. At present, the only option is to unsubscribe from them but if there are a lot of channels you've subscribed to in the past, YouTube's reported in-development system may offer a relief.

YouTube's New Notification System

According to Google, viewers who haven't engaged with a channel recently but still have received push notifications will not experience the same anymore during this experiment. While they will still be available via the notification inbox in the YouTube app, they will not receive push notifications from the channel.

This experiment will not affect the YouTube channels that viewers actively engage with, nor channels that upload infrequently. As per Google, instead of unsubscribing to channel notifications individually or adjusting their preferences, users simply opt for disabling notifications entirely at the app level. While this does put a stop to the unwanted alerts, it also makes it impossible for creators to reach out to their viewers outside the app.

The company says its experiment is aimed at finding a solution to this issue without having to disable app notifications entirely. However, it is still in the test phase and not widely available to all YouTube users. Only those part of the experiment group will be able to experience the latest change.

Other Recent YouTube Experiments

Earlier this month, YouTube commenced an experiment which automatically sends videos that receive a “Limited or no ads” rating for an additional suitability review. This means newly uploaded reviews, even if they are set as private, will be considered for monetisation review and the process may take up to 24 hours.

In a subsequent announcement, the video streaming platform said that it was testing a feature which lets users hide end screens on desktop and mobile. Those enrolled in the experiment will see a Hide icon in the top-right corner of the video when end screens start to appear, allowing them to hide it.