this post was submitted on 09 Dec 2025
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Privacy
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Friendly suggestion: Substitute video's clickbait title with something more informative like "Variable pricing using AI algorithms are increasing grocery prices."
I can't believe anyone would think that clickbait is something people want. There is no purpose to it here - no affiliate monetary gain, no cash for clicks - just a Youtube video. Note that my quarrel is with the video uploader, not OP
Clickbait is probably not something that people want, but their prevalence seem to indicate that they work, unfortunately.
From what I can tell as someone who detests clickbait as well, the stupid algorithm for YouTube shows it works so while I also wish there shouldn't be any more clickbait, creators somewhat have to do it or risk their video getting lost in the vast ocean of other daily uploads
I’ve also heard YouTube creators talk about how they think a certain style of thumbnail is stupid, but they do it because it generates clicks.
YouTube offers random A/B testing of titles and thumbnails now, and unfortunately the clickbait/red circle/soy face stuff absolutely does work. Everyone seems to agree that the "metric has ceased to be a good measure" when it comes to the algorithm, but it's so opaque and omnipotent that people who can't afford for their videos to be buried have no choice.
YouTube doesn't just reward you for doing it, you are actively punished for not doing it. The same way one "underperforming" video can have cascading negative effects on your entire channel.
I can't imagine relying on it for my family's income. Google basically has hundreds of thousands of people doing spec work for them.