Another thing I've noticed in Youtube on the smart™ TV, is that the app does not adapt the suggestions based on previous searches anymore. Now it's almost entirely generic crap all the time (Seriously, I am so sick of those thumbnails with the surprise face. I hate them!)
Between the ads and the poor content, I feel like Youtube is pushing hard to become the new public TV.
It's not just you. Mozilla ran a study recently and found user content controls on YouTube such as the 'Like' and 'Dislike' buttons are largely useless and have no effect on what we're recommended.
The algorithm might not take it into account but it's useful for viewers to see how downvoted a video is. If I see that it's 50% downvoted then I know the contents to be controversial.
Between the ads and the poor content, I feel like Youtube is pushing hard to become the new public TV.