Isn't autoplay the normal, default setting? Do a significant percentage of users have autoplay disabled?
Disabling autoplay on an ongoing basis isn't an option for me because I won't log into Google services, except to check who is still mailing my gmail address on the long tail of de-googling.
Not in my world it's not. I'm pretty sure FF has disabled autoplay as well as default. The only time autoplay is allowed is when listening a "full album" play list. But that's only after I've scrolled the list to make sure some asshat hasn't pushed in a rando video below the first page.
I think you could see it on the page, even before the video started playing (i.e. while you're still watching the ads). But maybe I remember wrongly.
Still. Far more likely to quit in the first 10 seconds than you would be to stick around for a couple of minutes and find out. Let alone click a related link.
There actually are browser extensions and userscripts that show a like/dislike bar on the thumbnails. Let's say goodbye to them. Likes per view will be the only metric they'll be able to calculate.
Nothing is stopping anyone from storing likes and dislikes offsite. Now that YT is opting-out of being a source of record for dislikes, it's pretty straightforward for those sorts of tools to step in.
How were you seeing the dislike count before clicking videos before?
I might be mistaken but I thought under normal circumstances you couldn't see the dislike count until the video was already starting anyway.