Do Dislikes Affect YouTube Video Search Rankings or is it a Myth?

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So in order to rely on a likes at all the person liking your vids would need to have a decent following for it to show up to. I've noticed most bigger YouTubers don't like videos that often and I don't even have the option turned on to show up in my feed :S
Exactly, it just doesn't seem all too likely to be discovered through someone liking your video. It seems that all that excessive begging for Thumbs Ups is kind of pointless now.
 
Exactly, it just doesn't seem all too likely to be discovered through someone liking your video. It seems that all that excessive begging for Thumbs Ups is kind of pointless now.
Yeah there's less chances of organic growth there. So if likes & dislikes don't work like the FAQ says we can assume that comments don't help the video either.
 
I would say it does help. Many likes on a video means people are more likely to watch it, since so many people liked the content. Many dislikes on a video means the same. People love horrible content too.

So maybe it won't show up in the search, but I am sure it does do something!
 
Exactly, it just doesn't seem all too likely to be discovered through someone liking your video. It seems that all that excessive begging for Thumbs Ups is kind of pointless now.
For ranking maybe,yes, but e.g. when people have it activated that every time they like a video it gets shared on Twitter it's also good for your video, of course.
 
For ranking maybe,yes, but e.g. when people have it activated that every time they like a video it gets shared on Twitter it's also good for your video, of course.
Right, that's the best promotion of all but unfortunately so few people have it activated (I know I know, you have ;)). So instead of begging for likes in videos you'd be better off asking for shares right away.
 
Dislikes actually help people. If you notice sometimes there are top ranked videos with many dislikes on the first few pages, and some of these videos have way more dislikes than likes. Google see dislikes as interaction because people are expressing their disagreement with the content. Although sometimes a video gets many dislikes for foolish reasons. One channel uploads guest content to help new people in his niche and the video received many dislikes because of the guest's race.
 
I don't think YouTube would have the dislikes if they could be exploited in this way. youtube doesn't want controversial videos to go down if it sparks conversation and is more likely to get non youtube regulars on their site to share their opinions.
Then again I don't see them as a good thing at all. I have sometimes not watched a video while it was loading as I saw the dislikes outweigh the video. It's viewers way of warning each other that the video is bad.

Remember the 5 star ratings YT used to have? that was just not accurate enough, and im sure it used to affect search results a lot. but again, jealous people, and bot attacks could ruin genuine vids and noone wants that.
 
Sorry, I have not heard anything officially as to whether if dislikes count as engagement or help a video. I have not noticed dislikes hurting any of my videos but I haven't noticed them helping either.
 
Well as SuckMyDax posted:
From part of the YouTube FAQ's:
"Q: Do likes, comments, shares, etc. factor into search ranking?

A: We've tested this in the past, however these factors are too easily gamed so they aren't reliable enough to use in ranking. However, the organic ripple effects of these actions may help with discoverability in other ways; for example, if someone "likes" your video, and their 1,000 subscribers see that activity in What to Watch, those 1,000 subscribers may decide to also watch that video."
Source: https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/6046966
We can finally establish that likes, dislikes, comments & shares are not factored into Google's Algorithm when it comes to ranking the videos. The only benefits are organic which comes from other people seeing these likes, comments & shares on other people's channels and social media profiles. I'm also going to assume the "etc." includes view count since that's something that could easily be gamed too.
 
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