Youtube Institutes Monetization Changes - ....Really?

So earlier today, Youtube rolled out changes to its monetization setup:

Reading these, you can immediately see that they're ambiguous enough to allow widespread demonetization of virtually everything and then some. But a recent vid by Phillip DeFranco, and reports by several other YouTubers has revealed a pattern in the channels getting demonetized:

I'm hoping to Christ that this pattern isn't as insane as it seems at a glance, because fuck, man.

 

[Shokew]

I'd agree if increased automisation, outsourcing unskilled/low skill jobs overseas, and lack of investiture and incentive in high tech education and development wasn't a thing.

True - but that starts with having families (with kids, to be specific) address these problems at the local level, starting with getting these kids off of wanting to be famous on YouTube, as well as becoming more active on issues like these that you've mentioned (that otherwise need to be addressed, as well as combated against in the US today.). Again, YouTube is not a future career builder (nor long-term job creator of any kind) and these kids need to realize that, so they (along with future generations) can begin to push (if not fight) back against these issues in a meaningful way - or at least get actual stable work to begin to support themselves.

Also, I must admit I'm enjoying Sargon of Akkad's response to all of this...

 

[Sam Sung]

MundaneMatt said something similar to what Buckley said, and he got a lot of dislikes. Comes to show that we're becoming so pretentious and entitled to take money we haven't been hired for.

 

[Overcast]

Hey, if this kills off the obnoxious YouTube Drama fad that's going on right now, I say go for it Youtube.

 

[Intelligent Calcium]

Couldn't these people just make patreons instead? Quite a few of these people who've bashed this new policy, like YourMovieSucks, has a patreon, so what are they complaining about?

I don't have a single fact to back this up, but..

A lot of the bigger channels affected by this either don't have a very loyal viewership, especially all those shitty drama channels that became popular a year or so ago, or their viewership consists of children who couldn't donate to them even if they cared. It might seem like they have a lot of dedicated fans because of all the fan art and such, but the bitter truth about fan artists is that 9 times out of 10, they do it for exposure.
On the other hand, people like YMS or RLM who run successful Patreons have pretty loyal viewers. They carved out an identity for themselves before making videos was even profitable instead of hopping on a bandwagon and now that those bandwagons have hit a dead end, they're the ones who'll make it out alive.

That is mostly because they have been active for a while now and put a lot of effort into their videos. If you only look at the numbers, effort seems to be a waste on Youtube - why spend days or weeks on a video if an episode of a shitty Minecraft LP takes only an hour to make and rakes in 100 times the views?
However, that was only profitable under the old ad system. To get someone to donate to your Patreon, you have to make something they can't get elsewhere and would miss if it's gone. If RLM suddenly vanished, a lot of unique content would vanish with them, so their fans are more invested. If Pyrocynical vanished, the quantity of drama videos would decrease and that's it. Nobody would care for more than 5 minutes before moving on to the next fad.

People who don't strictly create anything unique are 100% replacable and that is reflected in the number of people willing to directly support them. This is a time for people like Ross Scott to feel vindicated - sure, he only makes pocket change compared to what literal children used to make from ad revenue, but his income is also more stable since the people who watch his videos actually watch them because of him, not because of the hot drama he's peddling this week.

 

[r00]

I wonder how many of the people bitching about the new rules use ad block?
The no swearing thing is dumb and they should probably have some opt in policy for if you want to advertise on edgy content, but this doesn't seem like it will affect the end user at all. Leafy and his ilk, doesn't deserve any money and little kids don't buy shit. If they don't want to entertain people without getting YouTube money then fuck em, someone else will.

 

[RJ MacReady]

Am I the only one who thinks it'll be BAU once the drama dies down? Nearly all the biggest channels already make their money churning out bland, inoffensive content and many more have alternative sources of income. All the chimping tards will eventually take it in the ass or they'll die and nobody will notice.

What does suck is that it'll be harder for talented newcomers making non-PG13 shit to get rolling, but these days I think undiscovered talent should consider skipping Youtube completely. It's exposure, not a basis for any career, and the concept of internet videos funded by advertising revenue as the next era of entertainment was a generational mass delusion that's starting to crack.

This is reality kicking in hard for the autistic hordes too young or too stupid to understand the business cycle of the internet that's been going on since the birth of the World Wide Web.

 

[Yaks]

ADoseOfBuckley posted an alternative different opinion about this issue. Worth taking a look.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=DqFf-UCRJm8

MundaneMatt said something similar to what Buckley said, and he got a lot of dislikes. Comes to show that we're becoming so pretentious and entitled to take money we haven't been hired for.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=OuJrgO1Lq6A

These were probably the most level-headed videos regarding the subject. I do find it funny that these policies have been implemented at least a year ago, but no one really paid attention until they had a big button in front of their faces.

 

[José Mourinho]

Am I the only one who thinks it'll be BAU once the drama dies down?

From what I see it kind of seemed to settle down too which is kinda like the ridiculous YouTube Content ID policies.

They're like fireworks, when they explode it's massive that draws a huge crowd close to them, but after that it sizzles and settles.

 

[Brandobaris]

I think undiscovered talent should consider skipping Youtube completely. It's exposure, not a basis for any career, and the concept of internet videos funded by advertising revenue as the next era of entertainment was a generational mass delusion that's starting to crack.

So what we got, umm. X-Factor, American Idol, Britains got Talent? I think thats all the major ones.

 

[RJ MacReady]

From what I see it kind of seemed to settle down too which is kinda like the ridiculous YouTube Content ID policies.

They're like fireworks, when they explode it's massive that draws a huge crowd close to them, but after that it sizzles and settles.

The Youtube cycle of outrage is fascinating. It's unspoken consensus that Youtube has been getting worse for years and yet when stuff like this happens the same people chattering about how Youtube is dead and they're above it all at this point turn around and cry like Google is a trusted friend who stabbed them in the back.

I wonder if it's because Youtube has no community. My favourite description of Youtube is "islands of popularity", i.e. there are thousands of successful channels with hundreds of thousands or even millions of subscribers whose viewer bases rarely or never overlap because Youtube is comprised of niches and has no general forum, unlike Twitter which is one enormous pool where users and messages overlap to an extreme degree and gain strength through mob behaviour.

So what we got, umm. X-Factor, American Idol, Britains got Talent? I think thats all the major ones.

The people best fit for Youtube have and always will be artists or anyone else who can compress what they do into a product or a service. If you can sing, you can sell an album. If you can act, you can audition for film and TV. If you do art, you can take commissions. If you can tell jokes, you can do stand-up. If you can't do any of that? Take whatever it is you do and put it on a T-shirt.

As I see it, the grand irony of Youtube is that while it will continue to benefit anyone with material skills, the largest and most influential Youtubers are all people whose only talent is having an audience. By the numbers they're overwhelmingly gamers and vloggers and if you took Youtube away from them, they'd have literally nothing. Their personality is worthless unless it's exposing someone to an advertisement, because they have no product to sell and no service to offer.

 

[Brandobaris]

The people best fit for Youtube have and always will be artists or anyone else who can compress what they do into a product or a service. If you can sing, you can sell an album. If you can act, you can audition for film and TV. If you do art, you can take commissions. If you can tell jokes, you can do stand-up. If you can't do any of that? Take whatever it is you do and put it on a T-shirt.
.

If you can act, then you are on a TV show which usually goes straight to Netflix or some other streaming service now. Most people discover a singer through YouTube and download the album through itunes. If you do art or comedy, then technically commissions and stand-up could be seen as a step down though.

I just find it strange people seem to say, "you created a series on YouTube by yourself HA what a loser, you'll never have a real job" and then "Oh I loved the series you were in on Netflix, I love your work!"

Like.... what? That's like telling a mechanic he's a loser for renting a garage out to use as his small business instead of just going to work for Toyota. I don't get it.

 

[KingGeedorah]

Yeah because some speds Lets Play of Sonic 3 has as much value and time put into it as the new season of Narcos.

It's not about making videos, it's about quality. Thus the fact people pay a subscription to Netflix and not some fat autistic kids Paetreon.

 

[Brandobaris]

Yeah because some speds Lets Play of Sonic 3 has as much value and time put into it as the new season of Narcos.

It's not about making videos, it's about quality. Thus the fact people pay a subscription to Netflix and not some fat autistic kids Paetreon.

But the policies that have been implemented by Youtube, and that people have become aware of now: affect Let's Players, Unboxers, Gaming News etc etc the LEAST. It's the other channels that it affects most, which is why they are freaking out about it. I don't see Tradechat or DCUnboxer losing their shit.

I just find it surprising people laugh and point at YouTube channels that are popular enough to hire writers, researchers, cameramen, people who create substantial content. When channels like this are around making money, and no one seems to give a crap they aren't going out and getting a real job.

 

[Jewelsmakerguy]

But the policies that have been implemented by Youtube, and that people have become aware of now: affect Let's Players, Unboxers, Gaming News etc etc the LEAST. It's the other channels that it affects most, which is why they are freaking out about it. I don't see Tradechat or DCUnboxer losing their shit.

I just find it surprising people laugh and point at YouTube channels that are popular enough to hire writers, researchers, cameramen, people who create substantial content. When channels like this are around making money, and no one seems to give a crap they aren't going out and getting a real job.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=mPM8vWfP7dg

Sometimes it's hard to tell just how many of these are either children, bots or (wo)manchildren. If they weren't, they'd probably have something to fall back on when this shit would happen. Like a dedicated fanbase on Patreon or an actual job.

But alas, that's not how reality works, and instead we have to put up with these people whining about losing money and complain about "YOUTUBE'S CENSORING MY RIGHT TO SWEAR AND BE CONTROVERSIAL!" When in actually, only the money thing is even close to true. Because if YouTube was censoring, nearly none of them would have an account anymore.

 

[Brandobaris]

Sometimes it's hard to tell just how many of these are either children, bots or (wo)manchildren. If they weren't, they'd probably have something to fall back on when this shit would happen. Like a dedicated fanbase on Patreon or an actual job.

But alas, that's not how reality works, and instead we have to put up with these people whining about losing money and complain about "YOUTUBE'S CENSORING MY RIGHT TO SWEAR AND BE CONTROVERSIAL!" When in actually, only the money thing is even close to true. Because if YouTube was censoring, nearly none of them would have an account anymore.

True, censorship freakouts is probably an overreaction. But you still have to concede YouTube, one of the biggest sites on the internet, didn't appear to have some sort of public notification of what what happening, why, and how it works, until 2 days after everyone started losing their shit, so professional.

Aside from that, Major Media companies seem exempt from the flagging system, so I guess it's a way for them to put some pressure on 3rd parties in the long run. But if you are a Toy unboxer, Let's Player, make Kitten Compilations, then you are fine. Hmm sounds like one of those Uni "safe space" rooms I hear about.

 

[Jewelsmakerguy]

True, censorship freakouts is probably an overreaction. But you still have to concede YouTube, one of the biggest sites on the internet, didn't appear to have some sort of public notification of what what happening, why, and how it works, until 2 days after everyone started losing their shit, so professional.

Aside from that, Major Media companies seem exempt from the flagging system, so I guess it's a way for them to put some pressure on 3rd parties in the long run.

Somehow, I get the feeling YT is either being bought out by the companies, or they're just saving them until after they deal with people like DiFranco and his ilk.

Anything's possible with YT/Google, after all.

 

[Quijibo69]

Anything's possible with YT/Google, after all.

Google just wants 90% of the site accessible with Youtube red, just like with Hulu. That's the only way Google can make money with Youtube. It will probably just ending up shooting themselves in the foot.

 

[r00]

the funniest thing about this is that all the people who make dogshit content that offers absolutely nothing of value are trying to claim this is some sort of free speech and censorship issue because youtube took away their cashcow.

 

[BatNapalm]

the funniest thing about this is that all the people who make dogshit content that offers absolutely nothing of value are trying to claim this is some sort of free speech and censorship issue because youtube took away their cashcow.

And for the ones crying the loudest (see the sample of spergs that CatParty posted a few pages back), they're not even the ones making any money off of youtube because they have a dozen subscribers and less than 300 views per video. Like how much ad revenue could they possibly be getting?

 

[XYZpdq]

And for the ones crying the loudest (see the sample of spergs that CatParty posted a few pages back), they're not even the ones making any money off of youtube because they have a dozen subscribers and less than 300 views per video. Like how much ad revenue could they possibly be getting?

Yeah it's not so much a cash cow as a cash mealworm.