Is YouTube Search Broken? Does Anyone Care?

September 5, 2020

“The Ultimate List of YouTube Channels to Boost your Web Development and Programming Skills” illustrates one of the ways in which YouTube search does not work. The write up is a compendium of YouTube presenters with information of interest to Web developers. The list consists of more than 80 YouTube “channels” with useful information. The list is curated; that is, one or more individuals dug through the digital swamp to locate content on the topic and of value to the list compilers.

Can this list or an approximation of it be produced using the YouTube search system?

The answer is, “No.”

Before offering some observations, let me offer an illustration the DarkCyber team encountered about eight days ago. One of my group wanted to do a review of free video editing software. She ran into a “dark pattern” problem and ended up trying to contact the company’s technical support, obtain information about fixing the issue, and moving forward with the review. The company (an outfit called FXHome) finally roused itself and refunded the money. No explanation about the problem was offered.

As part of that interaction, another team member went looking for information about FXHome on Web search engines. One interesting source was YouTube. We quickly learned that the YouTube search engine cannot display a comprehensive list of results with date and time stamps. My researcher reported, “YouTube doesn’t work.”

You may have had your own experiences with YouTube, but I think most people just take what the recommendation system offers.

Observations:

For a company in the search business, YouTube search seems flawed
Locating videos on a topic or by a company is next to impossible
When lists are displayed, vital information about date, time, and running time are not presented.

YouTube generates a ton of money for Alphabet Google. It also opens the door to curated lists like the one cited above. The YouTube search function does generate frustration.

Stephen E Arnold, September 5, 2020

Written by Stephen E. Arnold · Filed Under News, Search, Video

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Stephen E. Arnold monitors search, content processing, text mining and related topics from his high-tech nerve center in rural Kentucky. He tries to winnow the goose feathers from the giblets. He works with colleagues worldwide to make this Web log useful to those who want to go "beyond search". Contact him at sa [at] arnoldit.com. His Web site with additional information about search is arnoldit.com.