YouTube to cut notifications for channels with low engagement

• Published On: 29 March 2025 at 16:43

YouTube has launched a new test that may prevent users from receiving push notifications for channels with frequent uploads, even if they have enabled all alerts.

According to a TeamYouTube announcement, the experiment applies to channels where users have notifications set to "all" but have not engaged with recent alerts. The test will not affect notifications for channels that upload infrequently.

TeamYouTube representative Rob clarified that viewers who are actively engaged with push notifications will continue to receive them as usual. Those who consistently ignore alerts may stop receiving them on their devices. Notifications will remain available in the YouTube app's inbox.

It is unclear whether users will be notified if they miss alerts, raising concerns about YouTube's management of notifications on their behalf.

Rob explained that the experiment's goal is to improve notification efficiency: "When viewers disable all YouTube notifications, all creators are unable to reach even their most engaged viewers outside of the app. This experiment aims to alleviate that problem."

While excessive notifications can be overwhelming, some users may still want to be notified of updates to their favourite channels, even if they do not watch them right away.

YouTube describes this as a “small experiment,” but there is no indication of how long it will run or if it will be expanded to more users.