If you’re a fan of YouTube videos, you may have noticed that the dislike button remains but the dislike count is gone. Effectively, there is no way to ratio a video based on likes to total votes.
Viewers used the Likes-to-Total ratio in a number of different ways. I know that personally the Likes-to-Total ratio helped me decide how many seconds I’d be willing to give a video before giving up on it; this comes in handy if you’re doing casual research on pop culture.
However, this limitation does provide a new opportunity for qualitative studies and the collection of bespoke metrics. Whoever comes up with the best browser extension to provide the proper ratio would be well advised to hire the proper soft-skills people to help drive the focus groups and turn their program into a legitimate business. There’s gold in this for someone.
While temporarily limiting, this spineless move by YouTube offers someone a chance to make a killing at the expense of Alphabet, Inc.
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