Here’s how you can bring back dislikes count to Youtube Videos

A software developer named Dmitry Selivanov has developed an open-source browser extension for Chrome and Firefox that can bring back the dislike count to any video on YouTube. If you want to get back the dislike count of videos on Youtube, you can consider using this browser extension that will bring back the same function. The Chrome Web Store reports that this extension, named “Return YouTube Dislike,” has got more than 50,000 downloads. This extension is an early alpha version, but it seems to work properly. Just stream any video on Youtube and the extension will re-add the dislike count to the video.
This extension accesses Google’s own YouTube API to pull out the dislike count, which also opens third-party access to the video platform. This means you will be able to see the accurate dislike counts and not just an estimate. Unfortunately, Google plans to shut down this API on December 13 and to counter this, Selivanov is archiving dislike counts for multiple videos across the platform. The FAQ for the extension states that once this API goes down, 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from extension user data and estimates based on view/like ratios for videos whose dislikes weren’t archived and for outdated dislike archives”.
So the accuracy of the dislike count can be expected to deteriorate with time and might affect the newly uploaded videos more. Moreover, you won’t be able to see the dislike count on the extension in real-time, instead, the latest version of the software will update them once every two or three days.
Privacy concerns
In order to work properly, the extension will require permission to read and change data whenever your browser streams Youtube videos. The FAQ also mentions that the extension also collects the IDs of the videos that the users are streaming, but only at an aggregate level. In an exclusive interview to PCMag Selivanov says, “We’re not collecting any private data. We don’t even know the exact number of users (only the numbers provided by Chrome store and Firefox store)—since we don’t store anything user-related. We only store publicly available dislike counts. Later, when we start collecting actual votes made by extension users—we won’t be storing this data in an identifiable way—just anonymous IDs.”
He added, “I mostly use YouTube for educational videos and tutorials—so not being able to see dislikes in these categories was quite hindering,” as he created this extension as the dislike count helps him to determine whether a YouTube video is good enough.
This is a sentiment common to several other users including one of the co-founders of Youtube. whether a YouTube video wrote, “The ability to easily and quickly identify bad content is an essential feature of a user-generated content platform”. He also mentioned that the platform’s decision to completely remove the dislike count was a “stupid idea.”
On the contrary, Youtube decided to remove this feature as the same features were being abused for harassment. Only the uploaders can now privately see the dislike count to their own videos via the platform’s official systems.
How to use this extension?
This app is open-source and it can also be accessed through its GitHub page. Here are the steps to download and use them on your browser.
Step 1: Open the browser and search for “return youtube dislike GitHub” and tap on the first link with an update date of 10 November 2021.
Step 2: You will find a link (returnyoutubedislike.com) right beside it in the about section. Select it.
Step 3: This will take you to their official website where you will find the install button and have to select between Chrome or Firefox. You can add this extension to your browser, once you are on the official page for the extension.
Step 4: Lastly, open a Youtube video and click on refresh once. The extension will show the dislike count at the bottom as it did before the new update.