YouTube swaps view count for comments or likes on homepage videos for some

Update 15/08/24: While responding to a user, YouTube support now says this is an experimental feature. Granted, be sure to send feedback so that the team behind it knows your feeling about it.

Update 09/08/24: YouTube support on X says the team is now digging into this issue, so hopefully a solution is in the works.

Original article follows:

Lately, the YouTube homepage is looking a bit different for some Android users, and not everyone is thrilled about it. In what appears to be either an experimental feature or an unexpected glitch, some YouTube users are now seeing the comment count instead of the view count on video thumbnails on the homepage. Others are reporting the like count showing up instead of the familiar view count. While the rest of the video information remains the same, this change has left users outright frustrated.

The change seems to be selectively affecting users, as evidenced by the myriads of reports popping up on Reddit and X. One user lamented that their YouTube Premium account now shows comment counts on the homepage, making them wonder where the view count went. Another user, similarly vexed, pointed out that random changes like these, without any opt-out option, can be incredibly annoying. To them, the number of comments on a video isn’t exactly a compelling piece of information to decide whether to click on it or not. And I completely agree.

Others are finding the swap to be more confusing than anything. One user noted that seeing the like count was even less useful, as it doesn’t provide a clear picture without the context of the total views. They quipped about the absurdity of YouTube constantly shifting features around, likening it to a chaotic mini-game of hide and seek with the interface.

Interestingly, not everyone is experiencing this change. I still see the view count as usual on both Android and iOS, and so do my colleagues, suggesting that this might be one of those infamous A/B tests where YouTube rolls out changes to a select group of users to gauge reactions. However, YouTube isn’t currently testing any new features, so this might be a glitch affecting some users.

YouTube’s support team on X has been less than helpful.

The implications of this change could be significant. The view count is a quick indicator of a video’s popularity and relevance. It helps users decide whether a video is worth watching, especially when searching for content on a specific topic. Swapping this for comment or like counts could lead to fewer clicks on videos, as these metrics don’t provide the same immediate value. This change could impact the number of views channels receive, as viewers might misinterpret the comment count as the view count and skip videos that actually have high engagement.

YouTube is also experimenting with mid-roll PiP ads on live streams.