Is YouTube hiding view counts, upload dates on the homepage? Company responds to media report

Major UI changes on large platforms like YouTube are often introduced to enhance user experience. However, updates are not always well received by users, especially when they involve removing familiar user metrics, such as the dislike count on videos. Now, according to a report by Dexerto (as spotted by @vidIQ on X), YouTube is reportedly testing a new homepage design that hides video view counts and upload dates. However, since then, YouTube has issued a statement on X that lists a specific condition under which this could happen.

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No Views, Upload Date on Homepage?

This change, as spotted by the X account @vidIQ, has sparked considerable user dissatisfaction. Later, Dexerto reported on it, mentioning that YouTube users aren't too happy about this. In fact, Marques Brownlee, also known as MKBHD, a popular tech YouTuber, replied to Dexerto, saying, “Stop chasing Netflix and just be YouTube.”

Some expressed that while removing view counts is acceptable, removing dates isn't ideal. “View counts I kinda get, but dates? Having a more recent video on a topic is really important a lot of the time,” X user @ThatNerdMert said.

Many users noted that hiding view counts and upload dates on the homepage may lead to overlooking videos with lower engagement, while some argued that this change could actually benefit new creators by reducing biases against videos with fewer views.

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YouTube's Response

In response to the backlash and media coverage, YouTube replied to Dexerto, saying, “Jumping in here to clarify that this may happen if viewers are watching YouTube with certain browser extensions enabled. If they disable extensions and still encounter this homepage experience, they can submit a report here, and we'll investigate: https://goo.gle/4fiueJf.”

This suggests that this peculiar occurrence could be conditional, and that if users do not have certain extensions enabled, they would be unaffected.

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