MrBeast's Director Reveals Major YouTube Shorts Algorithm Shift

A significant, unannounced alteration to YouTube’s algorithm for short-form content is reportedly crippling creators, according to Mario Joos, the highly influential Retention Director for channels like MrBeast, Stokes Twins, and Alan’s Universe. This alleged shift, characterized as a change "for the worse," primarily impacts creators specializing in YouTube Shorts, though its effects are noticeable for anyone regularly uploading short videos.

Joos, who manages channels collectively garnering hundreds of millions to over a billion views monthly, observed a consistent pattern across his extensive portfolio. Following weeks of investigating a widespread dip in performance, he and his clients pinpointed a crucial variable: YouTube Shorts older than approximately 28 to 30 days are now receiving drastically fewer views than previously. While newer content initially masked this decline in overall channel analytics, filtering specifically for Shorts published before this one-month threshold unveiled the stark reality.

The "September Slide" in Short-Form Content

Evidence shared by Joos, including a graph detailing the view drop-off for seven prominent Shorts channels, illustrates a consistent decline. Around September, older Shorts across these channels experienced a sharp fall in viewership, remaining significantly lower thereafter. This trend, Joos notes, affects both entertainment and educational content and is not tied to a channel's size. He also clarified that some exceptional videos can still achieve strong performance regardless of age, suggesting a "shift in prioritization" rather than an outright suppression of content. Joos publicly highlighted this issue due to the change's substantial and visible impact.

Strategic Pivot: Recency Over Longevity

Exercising diplomatic caution, Joos emphasizes that this is a "carefully constructed working theory" rather than a confirmed fact, refraining from direct accusations against YouTube. His belief is that YouTube is aggressively prioritizing "recency and novelty," potentially as a strategic response to compete with platforms like TikTok. While acknowledging the corporate logic behind such an approach, Joos expressed concern that it disproportionately disadvantages creators whose income largely relies on Shorts. He has not issued a call to action but instead invited content creators and viewers to share their own experiences and observations.

Community feedback has been mixed, with some corroborating Joos's findings while others report no such changes on their channels. Interestingly, some commenters suggested this shift could present a "decent springboard for new content creators" by redirecting viewership rather than losing it from the platform. Joos himself echoed this sentiment, advising creators to "take advantage of this change while it's here."

Beyond Shorts: A Pattern of Uncommunicated Changes

The alleged Shorts algorithm change is not an isolated incident of perplexing shifts on the platform. Josh Strife Hayes, an MMO-focused content creator and streamer, conducted his own investigation into long-form content viewership several months prior. He observed a sharp decline in views specifically from computer browsers around August 10th, while revenue remained unaffected. Hayes theorized this might indicate a change in how views from ad-blocking software are reported.

Both situations underscore a pervasive frustration within the creator community: YouTube's noticeable lack of communication regarding significant platform adjustments, even those impacting its largest content creators. If Joos’s observations prove accurate, many Shorts-first creators may need to fundamentally rethink their content strategy, pivoting towards "here and now" content rather than the evergreen videos that once thrived.