Tbf I can’t think of any instance where Marques has click baited. At most they’re just obnoxious. But it’s been proven to work, as dumb as it is. Also Marques’s thumbnails are nowhere near as cringe as other Youtubers.
While I wish the days of 2007-2013 YouTube returned to the non clickbait and non garbage thumbnails, those days are over. I’d rather have the obnoxious thumbnails so I know which creators are trash.
I don’t know who this person is, but the example in the OP is definitely clickbait. “This phone is nearly perfect” but doesn’t say what the phone is, baiting you to click for the answer instead of just mentioning what phone we’re reviewing.
No judgement, it’s his business and he’s gotta make money, but saying he doesn’t do this just seems demonstrably wrong.
Yeah exactly, these kinds of titles make me not wanna click at all because I got no idea what it’s about (since it’s almost certainly not gonna be the perfect phone), so usually I don’t watch this kind of content at all. DeArrow really helped navigate around this crap and even LTT is kinda interesting to watch again because I finally know if a video is gonna be interesting to me BEFORE clicking it.
I dislike the “clickbait” style thumbnails but you are looking at things in a vacuum. Think about the two general reasons someone would see the video:
They are a fan of Marques or tech review youtube in general. They see a thumbnail that says “Cool, a phone review and the phone is generally good”. They then get their QVC on and maybe watch it
They are looking for reviews of the Pixel 69 or whatever the hell that phone is. They aren’t just browsing the front page and letting The Algorithm do it for them. They search “Pixel 69 review” and see “This phone is nearly perfect”. Which tells them that this is probably the Pixel 69, but is a good phone anyway
I’ve definitely gotten more than bit annoyed because I tend to want to buy the “alternative” products (an anycubic 3d printer instead of a prusa or whatever). But that is more because there just aren’t reviews of the “anycubic kobra 3” out there.
And it is also worth remembering that “clickbait” is not bad. If the entirety of your video can be summarized in the title then it is a bad video… and you are probably writing a video essay on why you think Silent Hill’s ballistic missile armed party city nurses are a work of art.
Another point in his favour may be the clear view of the phone in the thumbnail, considering that his target audience may recognise it by appearance. However, I still think he should’ve just said it in the title for everyone else, and for audience members for whom his video is their first exposure to the model.
Regarding the last section, though, I see clickbait titles less as ‘it doesn’t cover every nuance of the video’ and more ‘the title is overly reductive, genuinely misleading or pointlessly vague’, unless there’s artistic reasons it’s that way. A review title should name the reviewed product imo; it barely increases its length and lets people decide better whether the content’s worth their time without wasting any of it.
I also don’t think a title summarising a video’s central point well makes it bad. A good video doesn’t just repeat different wordings of the title for 10 minutes, it goes into specifics to argue why that is. I sometimes see nuanced, heavily researched video essays get some comment like ‘saved you half an hour, guys! (the main point in one sentence!)’ because the video didn’t… have some massive plot twist, I guess? And I don’t get why people would approach informational content that way. It feels anti-intellectual. Maybe the Silent Hill nurses are a work of art; the video would only be bad if it can’t argue that well or has a lot of fluff between the points.
Because saying “Pixel 69: 85/100” as a video title will actively discourage anyone from watching the video. And then you have the metacritic problem. Maybe one channel prioritizes battery life and weights heavily toward that while a different channel weights how easy it is to change the UI to a tentacle based one. Its why most outlets are doing what they can to NOT give numeric scores and the like.
But that also extends to “Pixel 69: I really like it and you should buy it”. People just get their headline, don’t watch, and the video was a waste.
Been a hot minute since I was in school, but this is basic writing. You want something that gives the reader an idea of what your essay is about, but you also want to encourage them to keep reading. If your thesis statement is the entirety of your argument then you are wasting everyone’s time.
And, in that regard, "This phone is nearly perfect’ is a REALLY good title. From what I know of Marques content, I think it is bullshit, but that is a different discussion. It tells you that he is going to be incredibly positive about this phone, but it has at least one major flaw.
Personally? I agree and would love to have “Pixel 69” in the title (what phone even is this? I can’t be bothered to look). But I can very much see how, in the world we live in, that would have the same issue as “Pixel 69: 85/100” and just exist to let people measure dick sizes or confirm they want to buy something from a headline alone.
(Sorry for the above being sent multiple times, I had a network issue.)
You’re suggesting larger changes to the title. I’m only saying ‘this phone’ should be replaced with ‘the pixel 69’ or whatever the model’s name is. ‘The pixel 69 is almost perfect’ is short, informative (edit: by which I mean informative enough about the video’s topic), more informative to anyone that hasn’t seen the phone before, and draws people in: why’s it almost perfect? That’s worth clicking to find out, and the details aren’t something you’d expect someone to cram into a general review title.
I fully agree that the title should encourage people to keep reading, but in my opinion ‘basic writing’ is keeping a balance between both goals of a title. The examples of clickbait I’ve given involve people optimising the title for attracting views while neglecting the goal of reasonably accurate description. If taken too far it could start making viewers feel patronised, and if I encounter a video with misleading clickbait I assume the rest of their videos will waste my time as well and avoid them. (Edit 3: I increasingly assume the same about vague titles from unfamiliar channels as well.)
If your thesis statement is the entirety of your argument then you are wasting everyone’s time.
The last part of my previous comment was about this; maybe we’re miscommunicating by using ‘summarise’ differently, as in ‘covers every point’ vs ‘vague overview’? I’ve been saying titles should do the latter because that’s what this entire conversation has been about. Nobody thinks every point of a review should be included in its title, just that the title should be reasonably descriptive about the central thesis or central question being explored. Quoting myself:
A good video doesn’t just repeat different wordings of the title for 10 minutes, it goes into specifics to argue why that is.
the video would only be bad if it can’t argue [the title’s statement] well or has a lot of fluff between the points.
TL;DR: there’s a balance to be struck between making the title descriptive and drawing clicks, and talking about full summaries as titles is a bit of a strawman.
EDIT 2: Removed some italics because they made this sound unintentionally patronising. Apologies, haha.
I should be clear that I think MKBHD is chill, this is pretty minor, and I can’t blame creators for doing it when youtube’s algorithm is brutal and more and more content is fighting for our declining attention spans.
It sucks that people have to be a little baity to survive on there. I think it’s fair for people to be annoyed by it anyway, but we should direct most of that negativity at the platform and extreme examples.
Another point in his favour could be the clear view of the phone in the thumbnail, considering that his target audience may recognise it by appearance. However, I still think he should’ve just said it in the title for everyone else, and for audience members for whom his video is their first exposure to the model.
Regarding the last section, though, I see clickbait titles less as ‘it doesn’t cover every nuance of the video’ and more ‘the title is overly reductive, genuinely misleading or pointlessly vague’, unless there’s artistic reasons it’s that way. A review title should name the reviewed product imo; it barely increases its length and lets people decide better whether the content’s worth their time without wasting any of it.
I also don’t think a title summarising a video’s point well makes it bad. A good video doesn’t just repeat different wordings of the title for 10 minutes, it goes into specifics to argue why. I sometimes see nuanced, heavily researched video essays get a comment like ‘saved you half an hour, guys! (the main point in one sentence!)’ because the video didn’t… have some massive plot twist, I guess? And I don’t get why people would approach informational content that way. It feels anti-intellectual. Maybe those Silent Hill nurses are a work of art; the video would only be bad if it can’t argue that well or has a lot of fluff between the points.
I have not mentioned the thumbnail, only the title.
I would argue that this sort of clickbait is not really intended for person 1. A bit for person 2 but probably most for person 3, the guy looking at YouTube’s recommendation algorithm. The title purposefully omits information to draw the reader in.
Again, I’m making no arguments about this being a bad or immoral thing to do, I’m simply saying that is a classic clickbait tactic. It’s his job to draw in viewers and that’s what he’s doing.
Your “3” is literally just the result of 1 and 2. If you watch a single video by The Charismatic Voice, your entire front page is going to be every single “vocal instructor reacts” video on Youtube in five different languages. And if you look up how to replace a gasket in your dishwasher then you are going to see a LOT of right wing idiots talking about why they hate chinese tools.
Another point in his favour may be the clear view of the phone in the thumbnail, considering that his target audience may recognise it by appearance. However, I still think he should’ve just said it in the title for everyone else, and for audience members for whom his video is their first exposure to the model.
Regarding the last section, though, I see clickbait titles less as ‘it doesn’t cover every nuance of the video’ and more ‘the title is overly reductive, genuinely misleading or pointlessly vague’, unless there’s artistic reasons it’s that way. A review title should name the reviewed product imo; it barely increases its length and lets people decide better whether the content’s worth their time without wasting any of it.
I also don’t think a title summarising a video’s central point well makes it bad. A good video doesn’t just repeat different wordings of the title for 10 minutes, it goes into specifics to argue why that is. I sometimes see nuanced, heavily researched video essays get some comment like ‘saved you half an hour, guys! (the main point in one sentence!)’ because the video didn’t… have some massive plot twist, I guess? And I don’t get why people would approach informational content that way. It feels anti-intellectual. Maybe the Silent Hill nurses are a work of art; the video would only be bad if it can’t argue that well or has a lot of fluff between the points.
Tbf I can’t think of any instance where Marques has click baited. At most they’re just obnoxious. But it’s been proven to work, as dumb as it is. Also Marques’s thumbnails are nowhere near as cringe as other Youtubers.
While I wish the days of 2007-2013 YouTube returned to the non clickbait and non garbage thumbnails, those days are over. I’d rather have the obnoxious thumbnails so I know which creators are trash.
I don’t know who this person is, but the example in the OP is definitely clickbait. “This phone is nearly perfect” but doesn’t say what the phone is, baiting you to click for the answer instead of just mentioning what phone we’re reviewing.
No judgement, it’s his business and he’s gotta make money, but saying he doesn’t do this just seems demonstrably wrong.
Yeah exactly, these kinds of titles make me not wanna click at all because I got no idea what it’s about (since it’s almost certainly not gonna be the perfect phone), so usually I don’t watch this kind of content at all. DeArrow really helped navigate around this crap and even LTT is kinda interesting to watch again because I finally know if a video is gonna be interesting to me BEFORE clicking it.
I dislike the “clickbait” style thumbnails but you are looking at things in a vacuum. Think about the two general reasons someone would see the video:
I’ve definitely gotten more than bit annoyed because I tend to want to buy the “alternative” products (an anycubic 3d printer instead of a prusa or whatever). But that is more because there just aren’t reviews of the “anycubic kobra 3” out there.
And it is also worth remembering that “clickbait” is not bad. If the entirety of your video can be summarized in the title then it is a bad video… and you are probably writing a video essay on why you think Silent Hill’s ballistic missile armed party city nurses are a work of art.
Another point in his favour may be the clear view of the phone in the thumbnail, considering that his target audience may recognise it by appearance. However, I still think he should’ve just said it in the title for everyone else, and for audience members for whom his video is their first exposure to the model.
Regarding the last section, though, I see clickbait titles less as ‘it doesn’t cover every nuance of the video’ and more ‘the title is overly reductive, genuinely misleading or pointlessly vague’, unless there’s artistic reasons it’s that way. A review title should name the reviewed product imo; it barely increases its length and lets people decide better whether the content’s worth their time without wasting any of it.
I also don’t think a title summarising a video’s central point well makes it bad. A good video doesn’t just repeat different wordings of the title for 10 minutes, it goes into specifics to argue why that is. I sometimes see nuanced, heavily researched video essays get some comment like ‘saved you half an hour, guys! (the main point in one sentence!)’ because the video didn’t… have some massive plot twist, I guess? And I don’t get why people would approach informational content that way. It feels anti-intellectual. Maybe the Silent Hill nurses are a work of art; the video would only be bad if it can’t argue that well or has a lot of fluff between the points.
Because saying “Pixel 69: 85/100” as a video title will actively discourage anyone from watching the video. And then you have the metacritic problem. Maybe one channel prioritizes battery life and weights heavily toward that while a different channel weights how easy it is to change the UI to a tentacle based one. Its why most outlets are doing what they can to NOT give numeric scores and the like.
But that also extends to “Pixel 69: I really like it and you should buy it”. People just get their headline, don’t watch, and the video was a waste.
Been a hot minute since I was in school, but this is basic writing. You want something that gives the reader an idea of what your essay is about, but you also want to encourage them to keep reading. If your thesis statement is the entirety of your argument then you are wasting everyone’s time.
And, in that regard, "This phone is nearly perfect’ is a REALLY good title. From what I know of Marques content, I think it is bullshit, but that is a different discussion. It tells you that he is going to be incredibly positive about this phone, but it has at least one major flaw.
Personally? I agree and would love to have “Pixel 69” in the title (what phone even is this? I can’t be bothered to look). But I can very much see how, in the world we live in, that would have the same issue as “Pixel 69: 85/100” and just exist to let people measure dick sizes or confirm they want to buy something from a headline alone.
(Sorry for the above being sent multiple times, I had a network issue.)
You’re suggesting larger changes to the title. I’m only saying ‘this phone’ should be replaced with ‘the pixel 69’ or whatever the model’s name is. ‘The pixel 69 is almost perfect’ is short, informative (edit: by which I mean informative enough about the video’s topic), more informative to anyone that hasn’t seen the phone before, and draws people in: why’s it almost perfect? That’s worth clicking to find out, and the details aren’t something you’d expect someone to cram into a general review title.
I fully agree that the title should encourage people to keep reading, but in my opinion ‘basic writing’ is keeping a balance between both goals of a title. The examples of clickbait I’ve given involve people optimising the title for attracting views while neglecting the goal of reasonably accurate description. If taken too far it could start making viewers feel patronised, and if I encounter a video with misleading clickbait I assume the rest of their videos will waste my time as well and avoid them. (Edit 3: I increasingly assume the same about vague titles from unfamiliar channels as well.)
The last part of my previous comment was about this; maybe we’re miscommunicating by using ‘summarise’ differently, as in ‘covers every point’ vs ‘vague overview’? I’ve been saying titles should do the latter because that’s what this entire conversation has been about. Nobody thinks every point of a review should be included in its title, just that the title should be reasonably descriptive about the central thesis or central question being explored. Quoting myself:
TL;DR: there’s a balance to be struck between making the title descriptive and drawing clicks, and talking about full summaries as titles is a bit of a strawman.
EDIT 2: Removed some italics because they made this sound unintentionally patronising. Apologies, haha.
(Adding to the other comment, last thing I swear)
I should be clear that I think MKBHD is chill, this is pretty minor, and I can’t blame creators for doing it when youtube’s algorithm is brutal and more and more content is fighting for our declining attention spans.
It sucks that people have to be a little baity to survive on there. I think it’s fair for people to be annoyed by it anyway, but we should direct most of that negativity at the platform and extreme examples.
Another point in his favour could be the clear view of the phone in the thumbnail, considering that his target audience may recognise it by appearance. However, I still think he should’ve just said it in the title for everyone else, and for audience members for whom his video is their first exposure to the model.
Regarding the last section, though, I see clickbait titles less as ‘it doesn’t cover every nuance of the video’ and more ‘the title is overly reductive, genuinely misleading or pointlessly vague’, unless there’s artistic reasons it’s that way. A review title should name the reviewed product imo; it barely increases its length and lets people decide better whether the content’s worth their time without wasting any of it.
I also don’t think a title summarising a video’s point well makes it bad. A good video doesn’t just repeat different wordings of the title for 10 minutes, it goes into specifics to argue why. I sometimes see nuanced, heavily researched video essays get a comment like ‘saved you half an hour, guys! (the main point in one sentence!)’ because the video didn’t… have some massive plot twist, I guess? And I don’t get why people would approach informational content that way. It feels anti-intellectual. Maybe those Silent Hill nurses are a work of art; the video would only be bad if it can’t argue that well or has a lot of fluff between the points.
I have not mentioned the thumbnail, only the title.
I would argue that this sort of clickbait is not really intended for person 1. A bit for person 2 but probably most for person 3, the guy looking at YouTube’s recommendation algorithm. The title purposefully omits information to draw the reader in.
Again, I’m making no arguments about this being a bad or immoral thing to do, I’m simply saying that is a classic clickbait tactic. It’s his job to draw in viewers and that’s what he’s doing.
Your “3” is literally just the result of 1 and 2. If you watch a single video by The Charismatic Voice, your entire front page is going to be every single “vocal instructor reacts” video on Youtube in five different languages. And if you look up how to replace a gasket in your dishwasher then you are going to see a LOT of right wing idiots talking about why they hate chinese tools.
Another point in his favour may be the clear view of the phone in the thumbnail, considering that his target audience may recognise it by appearance. However, I still think he should’ve just said it in the title for everyone else, and for audience members for whom his video is their first exposure to the model.
Regarding the last section, though, I see clickbait titles less as ‘it doesn’t cover every nuance of the video’ and more ‘the title is overly reductive, genuinely misleading or pointlessly vague’, unless there’s artistic reasons it’s that way. A review title should name the reviewed product imo; it barely increases its length and lets people decide better whether the content’s worth their time without wasting any of it.
I also don’t think a title summarising a video’s central point well makes it bad. A good video doesn’t just repeat different wordings of the title for 10 minutes, it goes into specifics to argue why that is. I sometimes see nuanced, heavily researched video essays get some comment like ‘saved you half an hour, guys! (the main point in one sentence!)’ because the video didn’t… have some massive plot twist, I guess? And I don’t get why people would approach informational content that way. It feels anti-intellectual. Maybe the Silent Hill nurses are a work of art; the video would only be bad if it can’t argue that well or has a lot of fluff between the points.
Titles picked within the last 4 months:
This is what parasocial relationships do to you…