YouTube Tests Your Custom Feed for Prompt-Based Recommendations

YouTube, the video-sharing platform owned by Google, has begun testing a new experimental feature called Your Custom Feed, designed to let users directly influence the recommendations on their homepage. The tool, currently available to a limited group of users, appears as an option next to the standard Home tab and allows people to enter simple text prompts to refine what content the algorithm suggests.

In the test, selected users see the Your Custom Feed chip at the top of the YouTube app or website homepage. Tapping or clicking it opens a prompt box where individuals can type instructions such as "more cooking videos" or "less gaming content." The system then adjusts the Home feed accordingly, prioritizing videos that align with the user's stated preferences. This approach aims to make recommendations more responsive to explicit interests, even if they differ from a person's viewing history. For instance, someone who types "history podcasts" could see more related suggestions surface, regardless of past watches.

The feature addresses longstanding complaints about YouTube's recommendation algorithm, which often interprets casual viewing as a strong preference. Users have...