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Why Is YouTube Subscribing Me to Random Channels?

Why Is YouTube Subscribing Me to Random Channels?

April 30, 2021 by Madalina Dinita 9 Comments

If you really like the content that a YouTuber puts out, you can hit the Subscribe button and get instant notifications when they post a new video. But many YouTube users complained the platform automatically subscribes them to random channels. We investigated these reports and we’ll list the findings below.

YouTube Subscribed Me to Random Channels Without Asking Me

Usually, these channels have very few videos and around 1000 subscribers. What’s even more annoying is that they cover subjects that users often have no interest in.

Maybe Your Account Was Hacked

One way to check if your email and YouTube account were hacked is to go to www.haveibeenpwned.com and check if your email is in a data breach.

If this is the case, you need to change all of your passwords as soon as possible. Check if YouTube still subs you to various channels without asking you.

Maybe Someone Else Hit the Subscribe Button

Or maybe someone else subscribed you to the respective channels. For example, if your kids often play with your phone, that might explain why random channels keep on popping up in your Subscriptions list.

Is This a Spinoff Channel?

If a content creator decides to create a spinoff or a subsidiary of a parent channel, they may automatically subscribe you to their new channel. This is actually common practice to help the new channel grow faster. I can confirm this has happened to me too, so maybe this is the case for you as well.

Check Your Extensions

Check if one of your browser extensions is doing sketchy stuff with your YT account. The Unsubscribe option is often unavailable when extensions change your browser’s settings. Disable all of your browser extensions and check if YT still subs you to random channels. If this workaround solved the problem, you need to identify and uninstall the problematic extension(s).

Go to the extensions bar and check if there is an invisible icon or an empty spot there. Select the shady extension, remove it from your browser and check the results. Many users solved this problem by disabling sketchy adblockers, or free VPN extensions such as KwZiVPN.

As Google explains, third-party extensions may subscribe you to channels without asking for your permission. To avoid similar problems, install only official extensions from the Chrome Web Store. Before installing an extension, take the time to read what browser settings the extension changes.

As a workaround, until you identify the culprit and restore the Unsubscribe function, log in to your YouTube account on your phone and unsubscribe from those channels.

Is This YouTube’s AI Algorithm Following a Hidden Agenda?

Many users are convinced that YouTube has a secret AI algorithm that’s trying to promote new channels by automatically subscribing users to these channels.

I heard about this being something that YouTube was forcefully doing as a “promotional advertisement” (Pay YouTube to get your channel automatically subbed to by people without them knowing) a while back, and YouTube was pushing this.

To make things even more confusing, some users said they got resubscribed to old channels they had unsubbed from months or years before.

Rest assured, YouTube doesn’t resort to such practices. Most likely, some sketchy extension got you subbed to those channels in the first place.

When a similar thing happened in 2019, Google  actually confirmed the strange YT behavior was related to the shutdown of the YouTube Gaming app. The company automatically moved the YouTube Gaming app subscriptions over to YouTube.

Conclusion

To sum up, if YouTube automatically subs you to random channels, most likely this is the work of some shady extensions taking over your browser settings. Disable the problematic extensions, clear the browser cache and check if the issue persists.

Has YouTube added any random channels to your Subscriptions list lately? Did you identify the root cause of the problem? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

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Filed Under: Internet Tagged With: youtube

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Tharusha Theekshana says

    November 19, 2022 at 12:51 am

    I was subscribed to about 1000 random channels (chinese, korean, indian, arabic). Most of them are just one week old but I haven’t visit Youtube with that account for about six months

  2. L Blincoe says

    August 15, 2022 at 11:08 am

    I definitely think it IS a YouTube founded problem. I’m not accessing YouTube with a browser or extensions, only their official app. Also, all of the channels I’m getting subscribed to are channels I’ve actually watched content from before, though I never subscribed to them. And I know without a doubt I did not subscribe and just forget or something, because I just found 10+ channels in my subscriptions that shouldn’t have been there. I would not just lapse on a dozen subscriptions! The most bizarre to me is that these are channels I’ve actually watched before, it would be LESS weird if they’d just been random!

  3. Ice says

    July 4, 2022 at 8:06 am

    I only watch YouTube on the app, so it cannot be an extension. I just woke up and saw videos from a 2 hour old channel on my subscription feed. So I couldn’t have subscribed and forgotten. It can only be youtube’s fault.

  4. Will says

    June 5, 2022 at 5:50 pm

    Today I was subscribed to LachlanPlayz, I never heard about this channel, accessing the channel and going to the “About” tab, It’s written “Joined Nov 21, 2014”, I watch youtube every day and I always see the subscriptions tab, if I was subscribed since 2014 I would have noticed this channel before.
    I use Adblock Plus, Grammarly, Video Screenshot, Video Speed Controller, YouTube Auto HD + FPS, and YouTube NonStop.

  5. Muxi says

    April 11, 2022 at 7:00 pm

    This was happening to me for a long while now, and I’ve finally found a way how to solve it. If you had downloaded youtube studio unto your device, try going to “manage google account” and then remove the access from youtube studio. This is what worked for me. Hope it also helps for you.

  6. Cage says

    March 19, 2022 at 3:22 pm

    Youtube just subscribed me to Mr. beast, i saw some of his videos a while back, but never returned. Now i found his videos on the top of my subscribed list.

  7. Patricia says

    January 19, 2022 at 9:56 am

    This is definitely a YouTube issue, never have i ever had this problem until now. I keep receiving some weird videos that i am subscribed to, but i never allowed this to happen. It’s so sketchy and really creepy if you think about it.

  8. Nunya Business says

    January 9, 2022 at 8:08 am

    Don’t have any shady browser extensions, still i get randomly added subscription to channel that have nothing but crappy videos that i would never like or watch. I know that you say its not a youtube issue. but that’s hard to believe when i don’t have any shady browser extensions. I think its more of an issue with compromised user account info on youtubes servers..

  9. Caz says

    January 5, 2022 at 3:12 pm

    I recently found that I qas suscribed to about 20 YT channels that I had never watched so didnt know them I have no extension so this is definitely YT doing this some of the channels were big ones over a million subs I do not watch those sort of channels So am sick of YT just fixing figures It is annoying that its all run by bots bring back people so we can talk to a human

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