YouTube is no longer showing recommended videos to users logged out of a Google account or using Incognito mode, making people concerned they are being bullied into always being signed into the service.
This change, which is now rolling out, shows a simple YouTube homepage without any videos or tips on what to watch.
As noted by some on X, users who have cleaned their search and watch history or turned off their history settings also see no suggestions when they’re logged in. Some people think YouTube is being pushy about this, trying to make users turn on their history settings.
I went through and cleared all of my old watch history, search history, everything from YouTube. It immediately started recommending the same things I’ve already watched. It continues to recommend seven year old videos regularly. Videos I know it knows I’ve watched already since it clearly didn’t erase any of my history like I asked. The shorts shit is awful. It’s even worse if you tell YouTube not to track you, it freaks out and only plays the same shorts over and over