Browser extension brings back Dislike count on YouTube, until...?

ocanada_techguy · November 30, 2021

Summary

Reports are a developer named Dmitry Selivanov has made an extension for Chrome and Firefox that can re-add the dislike count to videos across YouTube. First I noticed was feed from PCMag article

Quotes

Quote

The extension, dubbed “Return YouTube Dislike,” has already attracted more than 50,000 users, according to the Chrome Web Store. The software is an early alpha version, but it works as intended: load up a YouTube video, and the extension re-adds the dislike count to the clip.

...
The bad news is that Google plans on shutting down the API on Dec. 13. As a result, Selivanov has been archiving dislike counts for various videos across the platform. Once the API goes offline, the extension will “switch to using a combination of archived dislike stats, estimates extrapolated from extension user data and estimates based on view/like ratios for videos whose dislikes weren't archived and for outdated dislike archives,” the FAQ for the extension says.

My thoughts

And so now the war begins between those who want the dislike count and YouTube trying to impose their will on the populace. Who will win?

Sources

https://www.pcmag.com/news/browser-extension-brings-back-dislike-count-to-youtube-videos