Ranking guide
The numbers are weights, not guaranteed positions.
YT Finder fetches public video results from a source, then scores them with your current ranking weights on the server. The sliders decide how much each scoring signal contributes when that search reruns.
The short version
Each signal gets a score from 0 to 1. The slider number is that signal's weight. Final score is the weighted average.
What changes between recency 20 and recency 40?
Raising recency from 20 to 40 roughly doubles how much upload age can move a result, but it still competes with every other enabled signal. It does not mean new videos automatically win.
Recency 20
With the other default-style weights unchanged, recency is about 6% of the weighted average.
Recency 40
With the same surrounding weights, recency becomes about 12% of the weighted average.
Older exact title
Exact phrase: strong. Word coverage: strong. Recency: weak.
Newer loose match
Exact phrase: weak. Word coverage: medium. Recency: strong.
If recency is low, the older exact title is likely to stay higher. If recency is high, the newer loose match can gain ground, but only if the title signals are close enough.
What each slider rewards
Exact phrase
Rewards the full query appearing in the title as typed. Raise it when you want literal title matches.
Word coverage
Rewards titles that include more of your individual query words. Raise it for multi-word searches.
Word order
Rewards titles where matched words appear in the same order as the query. Raise it for named topics or phrases.
Title precision
Rewards concise titles instead of long padded titles. Raise it when noisy or clickbait titles crowd the list.
Popularity
Rewards higher view counts within the current result pool. Raise it when broad public visibility matters.
Recency
Rewards newer upload dates. Raise it for current events, software, product reviews, or time-sensitive topics.
Useful starting points
Raise exact phrase, word coverage, and word order. Keep recency low. Use posted-date filters when age matters.
Raise word coverage and recency. Keep popularity moderate so newer useful videos can surface.
Raise popularity. Keep exact phrase and word coverage high enough that famous but off-topic results do not take over.
Ranking changes rerun the current search with the active filters and return a newly scored result pool.