---
title: 'YouTube''s New Algorithm in 2025: How Small Creators Can Grow'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=swaKs3uM4NQ'
video_id: 'swaKs3uM4NQ'
date: 2026-07-12
duration_sec: 590
---

# YouTube's New Algorithm in 2025: How Small Creators Can Grow

> Source: [YouTube's New Algorithm in 2025: How Small Creators Can Grow](https://youtube.com/watch?v=swaKs3uM4NQ)

## Summary

The video explains how YouTube's algorithm has fundamentally changed in 2025, shifting from search-based discovery to homepage and subscription feed browsing. Small creators must adapt by focusing on retention, consistency, and training the algorithm through predictable content.

### Key Points

- **Algorithm Shift** [00:13] — Most creators follow 2022 rules in a 2025 game. Search is now only 5% of discovery, down from 30%. Views come from homepage and subscription feed.
- **Competition Context** [01:38] — Small channels compete directly with top creators on the homepage. Thumbnails must stop mid-scroll and create more curiosity than established creators.
- **Content Flood** [02:21] — Content on YouTube will triple in 5 years. Tutorials and information-sharing are being replaced because knowledge is no longer scarce.
- **Algorithm Experiments** [02:52] — The algorithm runs experiments on videos, giving small bursts of impressions (e.g., 500-1000) then flatlining. It returns later to test again, needing consistent content to build on previous data.
- **Retention Priority** [04:07] — The algorithm prioritizes retention over click-through rate. AB testing is based on how many viewers reach the end of the video.
- **Curiosity Cascade** [04:36] — Viewers decide to watch based on a cascade: thumbnail stops them, title creates curiosity, hook engages, and content delivers. Each piece just needs to be good enough to move to the next.
- **Waiting Periods** [05:42] — Creators experience flops and waiting periods between algorithm experiments. The key is to keep creating and studying failures during these times.
- **Three Pillars** [06:50] — To be promoted consistently: predictable audience (serve same type of person), consistent value delivery (same type of value), and retention optimization (keep viewers on platform).
- **Small Creator Framework** [07:31] — Pick one specific person and solve one specific problem. Optimize for retention and completion rate. After 20-30 videos, the algorithm sees you as a reliable source of engagement.

### Conclusion

Success on YouTube in 2025 requires working with the algorithm's new rules: consistent content for a consistent audience, optimized for retention, with realistic expectations about timing and waiting periods.

## Transcript

watching other creators blow up with content that seems thrown together, this algorithm has fundamentally changed and most creators are still playing by 2022
rules in a 202526 game. I'm going to show you exactly what's different and are building real momentum right now. In this video, you'll learn why your
actually treats small channels in 2025 and the new framework that's helping you'll understand exactly how to position yourself as the algorithm's
favorite type of small creator, the one it promotes consistently instead of my 12-week program that walks you through everything we're covering today and more. The links in the description if you want to check it out. I'll also
talk about it more after I've given you some value. Here's what most creators don't realize. Much of the advice you're following is platform. That advice might have been perfect at the time, but it's from a
snapshot of the past. The context has changed completely. Search on YouTube is basically dead now. Not completely useless, but it used to be about 30% of how people found videos. And now it's hardly 5%. Your priorities need to shift
completely. You don't get views anymore by hoping someone searches for your someone's face while they're browsing for something to watch. Think about your YouTube? Most of your watching happens from your homepage, your subscription
where the game is played. Now, let me put this into perspective for you. When sitting right next to all of their favorite creators, people they've been
production teams, and you have to be the better choice for them. Your thumbnail has to stop somewhat midscroll better than some polished thumbnail from a
curiosity than the creator they've loved for 5 years. That's the game now. But an alarming rate. The amount of content on this platform is going to triple in
the next 5 years. If you're still doing tutorials or just sharing information, you're being replaced. Right now, I can pull out my phone, talk it to it like the morning. Knowledge isn't scarce anymore. Information isn't valuable just
because it exists. So, how do you stand out when knowledge isn't scarce anymore? your videos, and this might explain everything you've been experiencing. The algorithm is struggling to keep up. With all of this new content flooding the
platform, it can't pay attention to every single video you upload. Here's a videos, so it runs experiments. Every once in a while, you'll get way more
suddenly gets 500 or a thousand. And then things flatline again. This isn't random. This is the algorithm that just ran an experiment on your content. It's
learning what it can from that test, but then it runs away for a while to process that data. Sometime later, maybe three or four videos later, it shows back up to try again. Last time it gave you 1,000 impressions, maybe this time it
tries 2,000. But here's the critical part. When it comes back, it needs to see the same pattern. If your first video was about gaming and the next one it tests is about cooking, it gets confused. It doesn't know what to do
with you. This is why consistency matters more than ever. Not just upload consistency, but content consistency. Each time the algorithm shows up to run an experiment, you need to be building on what it learned from the last video.
If you don't, then it's starting over each time. You'll never build momentum. Your goal is to train the algorithm on exactly who your content is for. button for me, it'll help train the algorithm to find more people like you.
algorithm treats small channels, let's talk about what it actually cares about. The algorithm prioritizes retention over almost everything else. Now, look at how YouTube's new AB testing works. It's based on retention, not click-through
make it to the end of your video. So, let's reverse engineer how that happens. in their tracks at a glance, they bounce. They never read your title. If
build a curiosity gap that they want filled, they bounce. If they commit to what they came for, they bounce within 30 seconds. If they make it past 30
cascade. Each piece has to work well enough to get them to the next piece. This is my philosophy. You don't need each piece to be perfect. You just need belonging. Your thumbnail doesn't need to be perfect. It just needs to not look
need to be the most clever thing ever written. It just needs to create enough curiosity that someone thinks, "Okay, I'll give this a try." Your hook doesn't to get exactly what you promised, maybe even more. Do this long enough with
consistent content, and you'll build up enough momentum to reach what I call promote you more regularly. By the way, if you're realizing that your retention that we're going to focus on in my 12week program. More details at the end,
reality of what this actually feels like. You're going to create videos that flop. You're going to spend 20 hours on something that gets 40 views while your throwaway video gets 400. Those algorithm experiments I had mentioned
earlier, the waiting period between them can be weeks, sometimes months. And that's the hardest part, the waiting, not knowing if you're doing something wrong or if the other room just hasn't come back to test you again yet. I call
you're doing is working. The key is using those waiting periods yourself crazy, use the time to create more content and study what's working.
Look at your failed videos systematically. Don't just dismiss them. first 30 seconds? Did you maintain that promise throughout? Most creators quit during the waiting periods. They think silence means failure. But silence might
last experiment. So, how do you become the type of small creator that the algorithm actually promotes consistently instead of randomly? It comes down to three things working together. predictable audience,
consistent value delivery, and retention optimization. First, predictable audience. The algorithm loves creators who serve the same type of person consistently. When it runs those experiments, it gets clear data. It
knows exactly who to show your content to because you've trained it. Second, the same type of value each time. Whether that's entertainment, education, or inspiration, pick one and own it. The algorithm needs to categorize you
are important. They're the first piece of the chain. But don't forget, they're wants them to stay on the platform. If your video keeps people watching YouTube
longer, you become valuable to them. Here's a framework small successful creators are using. They pick one specific type of person and solve one completion rate. When you do this consistently for 20 or 30 videos,
It starts seeing you as a reliable source of engagement for a specific become consistent growth. The framework I've given you today isn't about gaming
the system. It's about working with how the system actually operates in 2025. Consistent content for consistent audiences optimized for retention with realistic expectations about timing. Okay, I mentioned my 12-week program
we've just discussed. This is a complete system covering strategy, tactics, and retention psychology, everything you need to stop spinning your wheels and
start seeing real growth. You get direct access to me and our private community for the full 12 weeks. I'm spending all of my free time in that community and helping you troubleshoot roadblocks in real time. Plus, guaranteed office
hours every Thursday and Sunday, at least 90 minutes each time, where I'm months trying to figure out why your retention drops at the 2-minute mark. it first comes out, you only have a little time left to decide. I made the
website myself, and you can find all the details there. The investment is $1,750 the description. You'll give me your email. I'll send you a link for a quick we get started. But you need to act fast if this sounds like something that you
want to do. We've just explored how YouTube's new algorithm works and the still going to fail sometimes. Your next video might flop and then the one after
isn't talent or luck. It's one specific skill. Click on this video next where I the mental resilience that separates winners from quitters in this game. The
the new rules and play accordingly. I'll see you in that video.