YouTube is undergoing a significant transformation on its homepage for users who have disabled their watch history. This alteration is part of a broader “new viewer experience” introduced by Google. For users who have chosen to turn off their YouTube watch history and lack significant prior viewing activity, the homepage will offer a minimal display of content.
In this redesigned layout, users will primarily encounter the search bar along with buttons for Shorts, Subscriptions, and Library. The usual array of suggested videos will be noticeably absent. This change might be welcomed by individuals frustrated with the challenge of locating the play button amidst increasingly attention-grabbing thumbnails. However, it could also serve as a strategy to motivate users to re-enable their watch history.
Google has stated that this feature will be gradually rolled out “over the next few months,” although some users have already noticed the changes. In the space previously occupied by recommended videos, a notification appears, reading, “Your watch history is off. You can change your settings at any time to receive the latest videos tailored to you.”
According to Google, the purpose of this update is to clarify which YouTube features rely on watch history for delivering video recommendations. This approach aims to streamline the experience for users who prefer searching over browsing recommendations. The full extent of this feature’s implementation remains uncertain. While some users report encountering the new layout, others have indicated that personalized recommendations continue to appear in their home feeds, even after disabling watch history and erasing viewing records.
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