Is this the funniest YouTube video ever? Google invents algorithm to find the most amusing clip... and 'No No No No Cat' is the winner

By TED THORNHILL

Feline your funny bone: No No No No Cat is YouTube's most amusing according to Google's maths wizards

You’d think the reasons for something being funny were beyond the reach of science – but Google’s brain-box researchers have managed to come up with a formula for working out which YouTube video clips are the funniest.
Their algorithm has declared that a video of a cat appearing to say ‘no’ over and over again – called No No No No Cat - is currently the funniest.
The video only has just over 60,000 hits – which is small compared to the millions some clips clock up – but Google turned its attention to the comments users leave to gauge comedy value.

Officially the second funniest YouTube clip: Guy Gets Killed by Bear

She wrote in a blog post: ‘We noticed that viewers emphasize their reaction to funny videos in several ways: e.g. capitalization (LOL), elongation (loooooool), repetition (lolololol), exclamation (lolllll!!!!!), and combinations thereof.
‘If a user uses an “loooooool” vs an “loool”, does it mean they were more amused? We designed features to quantify the degree of emphasis on words associated with amusement in viewer comments.’
Comments posted for No No No No Cat certainly reflected this, with kayleighzoe1 writing ‘lololololollololololol’ and muretto89 saying ‘XD LOL XD’.

Funny business: Google monitors YouTube clips for comedy value

Google also took other factors into account such as how videos were described by the uploader and tagged and whether audible laughter can be heard in the background.
The search giant used its research to populate a list of candidates for YouTube’s Comedy Slam feature, where users can vote for the videos they laughed at the most. No No No No Cat received the most votes.
The number two slot is currently occupied by ‘Guy gets Killed By Bear’, featuring a comedy kung-fu duel.
At number three is Marshmallow Murder, where ‘talking’ marshmallows are skewered and burned.
Number four is a clip of an elderly gentleman showing off his dance moves, called Old Man Shuffling and number five is a cartoon of a misunderstood Italian holidaying in Malta, called Angry Italian man!

Plenty of YouTube users have a soft spot for Marshmallow Murder



source: dailymail