6 Things The YouTube Algorithm Hates (STOP Doing These)

[00:02] things the algorithm hates in 2026. And even making just one of these mistakes could be completely killing your growth. So, if your videos aren't getting pushed by the algorithm at the moment, you need to stop doing these things. Let's get

[00:15] into it. All right. So, the very first thing that the algorithm hates is a low returning viewer rate. Now, this is actually related to this thing here, this new section in your video analytics. Basically, what this shows

[00:28] here is a breakdown of all of the viewers on a particular video. It separates them into new viewers, casual viewers, and returning viewers. Now, of course, to grow a YouTube channel, you want a big portion of new viewers on

[00:41] each video. Like, obviously, you want new people seeing your content so they subscribe to you and build up your audience. But, this is where it gets a little bit tricky because YouTube is also massively looking at these two

[00:55] numbers here now as well, casual viewers and returning viewers. Now, over the last year or so, the algorithm has made a huge push on returning viewers, which means your channel success will now be determined on how well you can keep

[01:09] keep watching more and more of your videos. Now, to show you what I mean, here are two examples from my own channel. Now, this first one is a really good one because it shows a really healthy balance between new, casual, and

[01:22] regular viewers. But, this next one on the other hand, isn't that great because here you can see the vast majority of the viewers were actually brand new and the regular viewer rate was actually really low, which isn't a good thing

[01:34] anymore. So, what this all means is, basically, if you keep bringing in loads of new viewers every video, but you don't get many regular viewers coming back, it shows to the algorithm that you aren't doing a very good job at

[01:47] retaining the loyalty of your current audience. And that's bad news. So, as part of your YouTube strategy going forward from now on, you need to make sure not only are you optimizing your videos for new viewers to grow your

[02:00] channel, but you're also optimizing every video to make sure all of your regular viewers keep coming back and watching more as well. This is going to be a big one for 2026. Now, this actually brings us on to the next thing

[02:12] that the algorithm hates, which is not matching your channel identity profile. causes of viewers not returning and having a really low regular viewer rate. Now, let me explain how this works because a channel identity profile is

[02:28] where YouTube categorizes your content into a specific identity based on who watches it and what those people then watch next. And if you post outside of your usual pattern, the algorithm then struggles to know who to show that video

[02:43] to. In simple terms, it's your channel's algorithmic data profile. And breaking that can hurt your reach. Now, over time, the algorithm will basically build up a kind of like identity profile about your channel and also about your average

[02:58] viewer, like what your average viewer looks like. So, if you want to grow your channel and your audience over the long run, you need to make sure you always stick within this identity profile. Because having a clear and consistent

[03:11] profile not only helps the algorithm to always find new viewers for your content, but it also actually helps massively in keeping your returning viewer rate really high, too. However, if you were to keep posting outside of

[03:24] your identity profile, like if you keep chopping and changing different topics and different niches in every video, then your viewers won't come back. And also, your channel's data profile will become super messed up. So, you'll end

[03:36] up just confusing both your actual viewers and the algorithm, and none of your content will get pushed at all. So, my biggest advice here is make sure to always keep your identity profile the same. Always stick around the same

[03:49] topics and niches in all of your videos. All right, then. So, the next thing the algorithm absolutely hates is when you end a video without a clear next step for the viewer to take. Now, if your video has a really poor ending and it

[04:01] makes someone click off and leave YouTube all together, then the algorithm really hates it. Like, what you need to understand is YouTube's main priority is keeping people on the platform for as long as possible watching as many videos

[04:15] as possible. Like, that's literally how they make money as a company. So, what this means is if your content is able to keep people on the platform watching video after video, the algorithm loves this and they will always push those

[04:28] videos very heavily. But, on the other hand, if a viewer watches your video, the platform all together, well, in the algorithm's eyes, your video is responsible for losing that viewer and they hate this. YouTube wants to

[04:42] maximize session time, not dead ends. So, when you next create a video, never just end it without a clear call to action or without pointing your viewers in the direction of another video. Now, for me, at the end of all of my videos,

[04:57] too, I always suggest a new video for you guys to click on and watch next that actually relates to the current one you're watching. And I'll always use end screens at the end of the video so you guys know exactly which video I'm

[05:10] talking about so you can click on next. So, you just need to do the same thing. Add an end screen to each video and at the end of each video, just mention viewers should watch next. It really is that easy. Like, this is the easiest way

[05:24] Now, if you have any questions on this or any of these points, actually, please best to get back to you. Then, the fourth thing an algorithm hates is when your video has no information gain. Now, this one is a big one because if you

[05:40] haven't already watched this video I posted last week, then basically, back in September 2025, there was a huge dip in views all across the YouTube platform. Many big channels got hit hard

[05:53] and never properly recovered. Now, this big dip in views was basically because there was a huge algorithm change that was brought in to basically tackle repetitious content. And no, I'm not talking about repetitious AI content.

[06:06] I'm talking about real, normal, genuine human videos now. Because the issue was over the last few years, it became incredibly easy for creators to just literally copy people's videos. Like all they needed to do was copy and paste the

[06:21] transcript of someone's viral video into Chat GPT, edit it slightly in their own words, and then make their own version of that video and claim it as their own. Like I had this happen so many times to me. Look at all of these examples of my

[06:36] videos and my thumbnails being copied by other creators. So, as part of this new algorithm change to tackle this, it will now analyze entire videos to see if the stuff you say or the things you do in the video is new and unique, or if it's

[06:52] actually just been copied from other videos already on YouTube. If the your video is actually very similar or the same as other videos already on the platform, then it won't push your videos

[07:05] out and it will actually restrict them because there's no information gain. But, if your videos are actually unique and the contents of them is new and not copied from anyone else, then the algorithm will push them and it will

[07:18] push them hard. The days of copying people are over, so don't make this mistake anymore. What you can still do though is actually repurpose your own videos into shorts and post them out as bits of new fresh content. Like this

[07:31] short here from my travel channel. It's basically just a 60-second clip taken from this long-form video. And it did really well. So, if you're in like the travel niche or the gaming niche or even streaming or anything like that,

[07:44] clipping up your content into shorts can be a great way to grow. Now, a tool you can use to make the process of clipping much easier is actually Nexus Clips. It's an AI tool literally built around clipping. All you need to do is drop a

[07:58] long-form video into their tool, then the AI will actually scan your video and pick out the most viral moments of that video and it will turn it into standalone shorts. You can then edit things like the captions, subtitles, and

[08:10] much more. Then just post those clips out straight as shorts, and there you go. Now, the fifth thing the algorithm absolutely hates is having just one absolutely hates is having just one video go super viral on a small channel.

[08:22] Now, I know this sounds crazy because everyone wants that one breakout video, but the problem is if that one breakout video doesn't actually match your usual channel identity, it can massively mess things up for you going forward. So,

[08:35] what happens here is let's say that one video blows up, and yeah, it brings in loads of new viewers and loads of new subscribers. But, those new viewers aren't actually your ideal viewers because they only really clicked for

[08:48] that one specific video. They didn't click for you or your overall channel. So, this means you could end up actually gaining the wrong audience. And then when you go to post out your new next videos, YouTube does what it's supposed

[09:01] to do. It shows that new video to all of those people that watched and subscribed to your viral one. But, the problem here is those people probably don't actually care about your new content. So, they don't click, they

[09:15] don't watch, and then the new video just flops. And this is where it gets bad because now you've basically trained the algorithm with the wrong data. You've told it, "Hey, this is my audience." When actually it's not. So, all of your

[09:28] future videos will now keep getting pushed to the wrong people, and your channel will just become super inconsistent. Now, this actually links directly back to what we were talking about earlier with the returning viewers

[09:40] and your channel identity profile. Because if that one viral video sits outside of your normal channel identity, then it pulls you away from your core audience. So my recommendation is stop trying to aim for one viral video and

[09:54] instead just build up your channel over the long term. And then the last one on this list actually sounds pretty harmless, but it will slowly kill your videos. And that is over explaining simple concepts. Now this is something I

[10:08] see all the time, especially with smaller channels in the education or value-based niches. But it's where basically creators take a really simple idea and then drag it out for way too long. They'll explain something, then

[10:23] re-explain it, and then give like three more examples on that same one point. But this is what we call cognitive overload, where you're basically throwing way too much information at the viewer at once. And the viewer's brain

[10:35] basically just checks out and loses interest. And this also usually means that your attention rate will drop because once the viewer's brain has checked out, they will almost always just click off your video. So if you're

[10:47] giving educational or value-based content in your videos, you should always aim for efficient value delivery. Get to the point quickly, say what needs to be said, and then just move on. And now that you know exactly what the

[11:00] important you know what the algorithm loves as well. Now this video that pops up here will teach you the best way to grow a small channel and have the going to really like it. I'll see you

[11:13] going to really like it. I'll see you there.