Part 4/14:
YouTube filters content through two primary metrics: watch time and CTR. While watch time tends to be more stable, CTR is wildly inconsistent, especially for small creators. When a creator's video is shown to only a handful of viewers, fluctuations are significant, and the algorithm struggles to determine whether the content is worth promoting. This leads to many "bad" videos that initially flounder before unexpectedly taking off—a phenomenon exemplified by the creator’s own mid-range videos that suddenly gained massive traction without changes on his part.