YouTube Tightens Shorts Recommendations to Curb Low-Effort Re-Uploads

Under the change, reused clips can still be recommended if the uploader adds meaningful commentary, editing, storytelling or another original angle, according to Android Authority. Reposts that bring nothing of substance to a video will surface less often in the feed.

YouTube says the adjustment should make Shorts feel less repetitive for viewers. Creators who clip their own long-form videos are unlikely to be affected by the update, the report said.

Shorts has not been a favorite feature across the whole of YouTube's audience. Some users have asked for Shorts to be spun off into a standalone app, and YouTube itself allows users to set their daily Shorts feed limit to zero, signs of how dissatisfied many of them are with the way short-form video is pushed across the platform, according to the report.

The volume of low-effort material flooding the Shorts feed is one of the main reasons behind that dissatisfaction, and YouTube's recommendation change is aimed directly at that supply of reposted video.