How YouTube Recommendations Work in 2026: Official Sources Review
A documented review of YouTube’s official recommendation guidance: personalization, appeal, engagement, satisfaction, external factors and unsupported myths.
Research · Tiny Media Lab
Research the signals behind YouTube growth.
We examine audience behavior, analytics and durable content patterns—then turn the evidence into decisions a small creator can use.
Browse the library01Observe
Start with what viewers and analytics are actually showing.
02Explain
Separate durable patterns from one-off tactics and noise.
03Apply
Turn the finding into the next useful content decision.
Featured research
Small YouTube Channels: What 600 Videos Reveal About Breakouts
A reproducible study of 600 mature videos from 30 educational YouTube channels under 50K subscribers, including breakout ratios, content promises and an idea-screening framework.
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Research notes
2 published articles