YouTube is shaving off more of the smaller channels from its monetization program:
YouTube is tightening the rules around its partner program and raising the requirements that a channel/creator must meet in order to monetize videos. Effective immediately, to apply for monetization (and have ads attached to videos), creators must have tallied 4,000 hours of overall watch time on their channel within the past 12 months and have at least 1,000 subscribers. YouTube will enforce the new eligibility policy for all existing channels as of February 20th, meaning that channels that fail to meet the threshold will no longer be able to make income from ads.
Previously, the standard for joining YouTube's Partner Program was 10,000 public views — without any specific requirement for annual viewing hours. This change will no doubt make it harder for new, smaller channels to reach monetization, but YouTube says it's an important way of buying itself more time to see who's following the company's guidelines and disqualify "bad actors."
[...] The new, stricter policy comes after Logan Paul, one of YouTube's star creators and influencers, published a video that showed a dead body in Japan's Aokigahara forest. Last week, YouTube kicked Paul off its Google Preferred ad program and placed his YouTube Red original programming efforts on hold.
Anyone under 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 total hours watched annually would probably be making a pittance anyway. This change could allow YouTube to put more human eyes on the unruly but popular channels, so it can censor suicide forest vlogs (NSFW) in record time.
Today Youtube sent out the following message to a number of customers:
Today we are announcing changes to the YouTube Partner Program (YPP). While our goal remains to keep the YPP open to as many channels as possible, we recognize we need more safeguards in place to protect creator revenue across the YouTube ecosystem.
Under the new eligibility requirements announced today, your YouTube channel, [Name] is no longer eligible for monetization because it doesn't meet the new threshold of 4,000 hours of watchtime within the past 12 months and 1,000 subscribers. As a result, your channel will lose access to all monetization tools and features associated with the YouTube Partner Program on February 20, 2018 unless you surpass this threshold in the next 30 days. Accordingly, this email serves as 30 days notice that your YouTube Partner Program terms are terminated.
Apparently niche content and low volume community channels, is not as profitable as hosting porn.
Who knew?
Previously: YouTube Changes its Partner Program -- Channels Need 10k Views for Adverts
Related: YouTube's "Ad-Friendly" Content Policy may Push one of its Biggest Stars off the Site
Google Fails to Stop Major Brands From Pulling Ads From YouTube
In Attempt to Achieve YouTube Stardom, Woman Accidentally Kills Her Boyfriend
YouTube Cracks Down on Weird Content Aimed at Kids
1600 Vine Street
Related Stories
http://www.vox.com/2016/9/2/12746450/youtube-monetization-phil-defranco-leaving-site
Prominent YouTube star Philip DeFranco is known for his candid, often satirical delivery and his willingness to cover everything from celebrity gossip to memes. As his audience has grown, he's won awards for his informal news series and formed partnerships with major platforms like TMZ and SourceFed.
But on August 31, YouTube disabled monetization for at least 12 of DeFranco's videos. The official reason provided to DeFranco was that his content was either not "advertiser-friendly" or contained "graphic content," or "excessive strong language." DeFranco frequently swears in his videos, and regularly refers to his followers as "Beautiful Bastards." The demonetization means DeFranco will not be able to run ads (read: make money from ads) on any of those videos, and also means his channel is considered to be in violation of YouTube's community guidelines.
"I've seen channels dinged now for talking about depression and anti-bullying. And I've also seen channels like CNN include footage of a Syrian boy covered in blood, after his house was reportedly bombed, and right next to the video is a nice little ad for sneakers. So you get the question, 'Why me and not them?'" he said.
DeFranco pointed out that internet fame doesn't lead to a sustainable full-time income for the vast majority of "celebrities." If YouTube starts cracking down on content for not being "ad-friendly" enough, it could hurt these middle-tier vloggers far worse than a more major figure like DeFranco.
Google has failed to convince major brands (such as AT&T, Verizon, Enterprise Holdings, Volkswagen, and Tesco) to continue advertising on YouTube, following the "revelation" that ads can appear next to extremist, homophobic, anti-Semitic, raunchy, etc. content. From Google's Tuesday response:
We know advertisers don't want their ads next to content that doesn't align with their values. So starting today, we're taking a tougher stance on hateful, offensive and derogatory content. This includes removing ads more effectively from content that is attacking or harassing people based on their race, religion, gender or similar categories. This change will enable us to take action, where appropriate, on a larger set of ads and sites. We'll also tighten safeguards to ensure that ads show up only against legitimate creators in our YouTube Partner Program—as opposed to those who impersonate other channels or violate our community guidelines. Finally, we won't stop at taking down ads. The YouTube team is taking a hard look at our existing community guidelines to determine what content is allowed on the platform—not just what content can be monetized. [...] We're changing the default settings for ads so that they show on content that meets a higher level of brand safety and excludes potentially objectionable content that advertisers may prefer not to advertise against. Brands can opt in to advertise on broader types of content if they choose.
The growing boycott started in the UK:
On Friday, the U.K. arm of the Havas agency, whose clients include the BBC and Royal Mail, said it would halt spending on YouTube and Web display ads in Google's digital advertising network. In doing so, Havas UK CEO Paul Frampton cited a duty to protect clients and "ensure their brands are not at all compromised" by appearing alongside or seeming to sponsor inappropriate content. The decision by a global marketing group with a U.K. digital budget of more than $200 million to put its dealings with Google on "pause" followed a recent controversy over YouTube star Felix "PewDiePie" Kjellberg, who lost a lucrative production contract with Maker Studios and its owner, Walt Disney Co., over "a series of anti-Semitic jokes and Nazi-related images in his videos," as the Two-way reported. As the BBC reports, "Several high profile companies, including Marks and Spencer, Audi, RBS and L'Oreal, have pulled online advertising from YouTube."
Google's Chief Business Officer Philipp Schindler also promised to develop "new tools powered by our latest advancements in AI and machine learning to increase our capacity to review questionable content for advertising".
The YouTube Partner Program (YPP) has changed its rules, and two Soylentils wrote in to tell us about it:
YouTube Channels Need 10,000 Views for Adverts
New channels will have to get 10,000 views before they can be considered for the YouTube Partner Program, the firm announced in a blog post.
YouTube will then evaluate whether the channel is adhering to its guidelines before letting it carry adverts.
It will help clamp down on content theft and fake channels, YouTube said.
"After a creator hits 10k lifetime views on their channel, we'll review their activity against our policies," wrote Ariel Bardin, vice president of product management at YouTube.
"If everything looks good, we'll bring this channel into YPP [YouTube Partner Program] and begin serving ads against their content. Together these new thresholds will help ensure revenue only flows to creators who are playing by the rules."
Stay on message, Citizen. Wrongthink is not allowed.
YouTube Makes Changes to Partner Program
YouTube is making changes to the YouTube Partner Program. YouTube will make it easier to report a channel impersonating another channel. It will also stop serving ads on channels with less than 10,000 views:
Starting today, we will no longer serve ads on YPP videos until the channel reaches 10k lifetime views. This new threshold gives us enough information to determine the validity of a channel. It also allows us to confirm if a channel is following our community guidelines and advertiser policies.
[...] In a few weeks, we'll also be adding a review process for new creators who apply to be in the YouTube Partner Program. After a creator hits 10k lifetime views on their channel, we'll review their activity against our policies. If everything looks good, we'll bring this channel into YPP and begin serving ads against their content. Together these new thresholds will help ensure revenue only flows to creators who are playing by the rules.
At first, I thought the 10,000 view limit was per video. But it's actually the total amount of views on all videos on the channel. It remains to be seen whether the channel review that takes place after the 10,000 view threshold will be "hands on" enough to actually identify the content YouTube wants wiped away... before it can be used to scare advertisers away from the platform.
Also at The Verge.
Previously: Google Fails to Stop Major Brands From Pulling Ads From YouTube
A Minnesota woman has been charged with manslaughter after she shot and killed her boyfriend as part of the pair’s attempt to become YouTube celebrities.
According to court documents, Monalisa Perez called 911 on June 26 at around 6:30pm local time to say that she had shot Pedro Ruiz III. The two had set up two video cameras to capture Perez firing the gun at Ruiz while he held a book in front of his chest. Ruiz apparently convinced Perez that the book would stop the bullet from a foot away. The gun, a Desert Eagle .50 caliber pistol, was not hindered by the book.
[...] A video filmed the day before the shooting features Perez excitedly imagining what would happen when the couple reached 300,000 subscribers on their YouTube channel.
According to a Star Tribune report citing a nearby television station in North Dakota, the shooting took place near the couple's home as their three-year-old daughter was nearby. An aunt of Ruiz, who was not named by WDAY-TV, was quoted as saying that she knew what they planned to do and that she tried to talk them out of it.
The aunt said Ruiz replied, "'Because we want more viewers. We want to get famous.'"
Perez, 19, was released on bail on Wednesday. She is pregnant with the couple's second child.
Further details from The New York Times:
Ms. Perez told investigators that she had shot Mr. Ruiz from about a foot away while he held a 1.5-inch thick book to his chest, the authorities said. She described using a firearm that matched the pistol that was found at the scene.
Mr. Ruiz had been “trying to get her” to fire the gun “for a while,” Ms. Perez told investigators, according to court documents. They state that he had set up one camera on the back of a vehicle and another on a ladder to capture the stunt.
To help persuade her to pull the trigger, Mr. Ruiz had even shown Ms. Perez a book that he had previously shot himself, she told investigators. In that case, she said, the bullet had not gone all the way through the text.
See also: CNN.
-- submitted from IRC
YouTube to crack down on inappropriate content masked as kids' cartoons
Recent news stories and blog posts highlighted the underbelly of YouTube Kids, Google's children-friendly version of the wide world of YouTube. While all content on YouTube Kids is meant to be suitable for children under the age of 13, some inappropriate videos using animations, cartoons, and child-focused keywords manage to get past YouTube's algorithms and in front of kids' eyes. Now, YouTube will implement a new policy in an attempt to make the whole of YouTube safer: it will age-restrict inappropriate videos masquerading as children's content in the main YouTube app.
[...] Also, all age-restricted content is not eligible for advertising, which will undoubtedly hit the wallets of the creators making these videos. While it's hard to understand why anyone would make a video about Peppa Pig drinking bleach or a bunch of superheroes and villains participating in a cartoonish yet violent "nursery rhyme," it's been a decent way to make money on YouTube. Some of these videos have amassed hundreds of thousands (and sometimes millions) of views, gleaning ad dollars and channel popularity.
Check the related videos to see some bizarre clickbait. Some are even live action skits performed by adults.
Are we doing enough to traumatize our kids?
Related: YouTube's "Ad-Friendly" Content Policy may Push one of its Biggest Stars off the Site
Google Fails to Stop Major Brands From Pulling Ads From YouTube
What happens when you stuff millennial online celebrities into an apartment complex? Let's peep this out:
Inside the Hollywood Home of Social Media's Stars. (Don't Be Shy.)
On any given day, something crazy is likely to be happening at 1600 Vine Street, a 550-unit apartment complex in Hollywood. A scary-looking clown might be shimmying across a narrow ledge eight floors above the sidewalk, or a young woman dangling from a balcony while a masked man wields a knife. A husky dog with pink ears, a pony, a baby monkey and other exotic animals also call it home.
But you don't need to live there to experience the high jinks, because they are available for anyone to watch on YouTube, Instagram and whatever social media platform comes next. The building at 1600 Vine functions as dormitory and studio lot for some of the internet's biggest stars. Videos shot there have been watched billions of times. The common spaces — a spacious gym, walkways lined with beige blocks and a courtyard surrounded by lush plants — are so recognizable that it's like walking onto the set of a popular TV show.
The list of current and former residents is a who's who of social media celebrities: the brothers Logan Paul and Jake Paul, Amanda Cerny, Juanpa Zurita, Lele Pons and Andrew Bachelor, known as King Bach. Some are comedians, some are models, and some are famous for being famous. But all are so-called influencers, social media speak for people with a huge digital audience.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Apparition on Thursday January 18 2018, @03:46AM
... Am looking forward to seeing more "If you liked this content, please subscribe to my Drip/Hatreon/Liberapay/Patreon" blurbs at the beginning and/or end of YouTube videos.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 18 2018, @04:11AM (4 children)
The change from youtube was not in response to that clown; it was in response to all of the ElsaGate spammy channels aimed at children, so that they cant earn any money before they are discovered and shut-down. They have automated systems for reposting questionable content constantly, this gives the killer bots some time to weed them out first.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 18 2018, @05:20AM
Indeed, considering how many views he had been getting prior to showing the body and all the joking around, this rule wouldn't have applied to him anyways. He gets at least that many views in a week.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by cubancigar11 on Thursday January 18 2018, @05:43AM (1 child)
Yes, thank you. In fact, this current move encourages people like Mr. Paul by making them more desperate.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 18 2018, @12:56PM
Good. Maybe somebody can film his dangling corpse.
(Score: 2) by meustrus on Thursday January 18 2018, @04:58PM
I'd like to mod you +1 Informative because that makes a lot more sense, but I believe in my sig so I went digging instead.
Unfortunately, both TFA and Google's top [techcrunch.com] two [theguardian.com] news results for the rule change clearly flag Logan Paul's "suicide forest" video as the reason behind these changes.
But it still makes no sense why. Google's announcement [googleblog.com] doesn't flag any specific incidents as the reason behind the change.
So I'm going to guess that you're probably right, and the news sites are all probably wrong. One thing is for sure: the specific reason behind the change is definitely open to interpretation.
If there isn't at least one reference or primary source, it's not +1 Informative. Maybe the underused +1 Interesting?
(Score: 2) by WalksOnDirt on Thursday January 18 2018, @04:43AM (4 children)
This seems rather tough. As a user, I've never seen a need to subscribe to a channel and never expect to.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by DannyB on Thursday January 18 2018, @02:50PM (3 children)
I subscribe to some channels merely as a way to "bookmark" them. I consider "subscribe" to be "bookmark". It makes it easier for me to locate certain channels. It also seems to have he effect that YouTube will put new videos from those channels in my face. But I don't consider "subscribe" to have the meaning of "like". Of course I don't know the subtleties of "like" on FaceTwit because I've never used them.
Similarly, I do "thumbs up" certain videos in order to steer YouTube to show me similar videos. I rarely "thumbs down" unless I really want YouTube to know that I don't want to see offensive political claptrap that doesn't fit into my closed mental echo chamber impenetrable to facts and logic.
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
(Score: 2) by captain normal on Thursday January 18 2018, @05:52PM (2 children)
Why not just use "bookmarks"? That's why they put them in the browser.
Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not to his own facts"- --Daniel Patrick Moynihan--
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 18 2018, @06:04PM
Subscribing ends up with getting notifications when that channel posts new content. I find this useful so that I don't have to go to the user pages to see if anything new came out.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Thursday January 18 2018, @06:22PM
On a browser I would do that.
However I do the vast amount of my YouTube viewing on a big TV in my living room on a RoKu. It's a comfortable way to watch lectures, conferences, or just browse how-to videos. Even for just browsing junk on YouTube. Way better than on a computer. I have a nice computer, but I spend all day at work in front of a computer.
(all the TVs in the house have RoKu's attached, with several pay channels subscribed. no cable tv service. Only internet service.)
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
(Score: 2) by captain normal on Thursday January 18 2018, @04:50AM (3 children)
Seems to me there are going be a shit load of jobs watching YouTube submissions. Wonder what Alphabet is paying?
Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not to his own facts"- --Daniel Patrick Moynihan--
(Score: 2) by Lester on Thursday January 18 2018, @08:35AM (1 child)
Having in mind what youtube pays, those jobs are going to be 0.5$/month. Maybe for students in Ethiopia.
(Score: 1) by anubi on Thursday January 18 2018, @10:21AM
I get the idea they are crowdsourcing the work.
By having US do it. You know, like Microsoft has us doing product testing. We still can't open email attachments without risk.
So, if a content creator is doing nothing but wasting all of our time with catchy clickbait, the ones so influenced may click onto the content, only to find its a load of filler, and click away, making it really hard to get someone to spend their time on the channel. This will drop the bottom out of incentives to upload clickbait crap.
I can't tell you how many times I have clicked onto something on YouTube, only to be faced with first several minutes of useless head bobbing, followed by endless waiting for little nuggets of info reminiscent of trying to watch the news on TV. Many senile old men will outdo them on a useful information transfer per hour basis.
However, given the power of JavaScript, I can see JavaScripts showing up in ads, whose sole purpose is to "watch" a YouTube content, directing the video stream to dev=null, so the content creator will get his brownie point, and will go undiscovered until the hapless user, wondering why his internet is so slow and his caps are reached so fast, discovers that his problem is that he hasn't implemented a Script blocker yet. While some script writer gets paid a fortune for use of his copyrighted and secretive work running in the background of countless machines, wasting bandwidth.
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
(Score: 3, Funny) by DannyB on Thursday January 18 2018, @02:51PM
What is the minimum wage in Elbonia these days?
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by iru on Thursday January 18 2018, @01:05PM (5 children)
The whole “top YouTuber fucks up therefore we will punish the small guys” logic makes no sense.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 18 2018, @02:06PM (3 children)
so who is logan paul? is he the northern equivalent of that aussie with the knife?
yeah i guess I can search for it but fuck i have no concept who this clown is and why I'd care he isnt making money anymore for a website that probably needs a login filter so that most of this shit is prevented anyway.
it is no longer what it used to be in 2008. it got googled
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Thursday January 18 2018, @02:56PM
Yep. Where do these people come from? I never heard of them. I don't care about them. Yet they become big news. Thrust in front of my face. First PewDiePie now Logan Paul. They don't do anything valuable or educational. No links to GitHub. No demos. No parts lists or instructions. Nothing cool to see that makes my jaw drop in awe.
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
(Score: 2) by Webweasel on Thursday January 18 2018, @06:40PM (1 child)
The kids know who he is.
My son (14) linked me to his "2017 year wrap" video. I got 2 seconds in and closed the tab with a big NOPE!
Twats like that are not aimed at you, they are aimed at kids. Which makes even less sense as kids don't have money... so how the fuck does the advertising pay off?
Priyom.org Number stations, Russian Military radio. "You are a bad, bad man. Do you have any other virtues?"-Runaway1956
(Score: 2) by maxwell demon on Thursday January 18 2018, @07:57PM
Kids have parents. And parents have money.
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Thursday January 18 2018, @09:47PM
It makes sense. Or it makes cents.
YouTube wants to look like a "good" space for advertisers to promote their junk. Advertisers, at least their marketdroids are sometimes more conservative about what kind of advertising space looks like a good place to invest money to get eyeballs. Or are those eyeballs worth getting?
Wot!?!?!? This place is full of people watching video gamers, skateboarders, hikers and related low life criminal activities? Cat videos. Urban exploders. Making metal castings of ant colonies by pouring in molten metal.
But when you look at what dreck is on cable tv (last I checked which was years ago) that probably doesn't look like such a great advertising space either.
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 18 2018, @02:55PM
The stated problem was some bad folks put up some evil videos.
The solution was to lower the compensation YouTube pays to less viewed content.
The 2 seem only minimally related.
YouTube needed all the content it could get to start so it left cash on the table.
Now that it is running well, it can pull back some cash.
Not unexpected.
Result, YouTube makes more profit and there is a less diverse collection of stuff to view.
Nice to have this fig leaf of an 'evil' problem to fix.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 18 2018, @03:19PM (4 children)
I've got 1400 subscribers, but very esoteric scientific content. I don't see a lot of traffic, because uber nerds are my primary consumer.
So people who are already least rewarded in society proportional to their contributions, are being punished by this decision. And it will directly result in less scientific and engineering content, because that content requires a lot more work per video, and generally sees a disproportionately low turnout.
IOW, because of dumb content, Youtube wants more dumb content. I have a nice video on an atmospheric condenser design I'd like to put up. But hey, puppies and kittens it is.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 18 2018, @03:49PM
And pink, fluffy unicorns, too! Don't forget them, or I will not watch.
(Score: 2) by meustrus on Thursday January 18 2018, @04:49PM
Dumb content sells. Or did you think that a multi-million dollar enterprise was going to somehow behave differently than the previous players in the multi-million dollar industry it "disrupted"?
"X, but on the internet with social media" is a great formula for starting a business that is more efficient than existing businesses in the same space. It is not at all effective at changing the fundamental realities of X.
If there isn't at least one reference or primary source, it's not +1 Informative. Maybe the underused +1 Interesting?
(Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Thursday January 18 2018, @05:17PM
Most people don't care about stuff like that, and want to watch mindless drivel instead, so the mindless drivel is what's profitable. Therefore, trying to buck this trend is really being anti-democratic and elitist, not to mention unproductive; you should instead try to find ways of maximizing your profitability, even if that means producing more mindless drivel and not bothering with science and engineering. Society will be better off with less (or even no) science and engineering, and more mindless drivel, because that's what society wants.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Thursday January 18 2018, @09:53PM
Actually there is plenty of smart content on YouTube. It is overwhelmingly drowned out by dumb content. But it is there. Lots of it. You have to search for it. You need to know what you are looking for. But without knowing what you are looking for, YouTube is going to pitch all of the most popular junk content. Just start searching for specific words. And uncommon words. Arduino. Raspberry Pi. C compiler. Microcontroller. Java. Eclipse. Node.js. Python. Fractal. SpaceX. Kubernetes. Clojure.
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
(Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Thursday January 18 2018, @03:46PM (1 child)
His numbers only prove there's no accounting for taste. If youtube really wants to help, they need to ban people who can't frame and hold a steady shot, or who spend 30 minutes leading to a half second anti-climax, or cut the video just before, or who point the camera at the ground while filming a car/plane/train wreck.
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 2) by meustrus on Thursday January 18 2018, @04:46PM
Actually, that kind of video is exactly what YouTube's video suggestion and monetization algorithms are favoring. The degradation of YouTube content isn't the fault of the video creators on the service. It's the fault of YouTube for rewarding longer, more click-baity videos at the expense of quality.
If there isn't at least one reference or primary source, it's not +1 Informative. Maybe the underused +1 Interesting?
(Score: 3, Insightful) by DannyB on Thursday January 18 2018, @09:59PM
I have a species of peeve that is suitable for domestication.
The title and / or image of your video attracted me to watch it. If you can't start getting near a point within 10 seconds, you're already wasting my time!
First I'm going to tell you what I'm going to tell you. Then I'm going to tell you something about how I'm going to tell you. Then I'm going to play a logo / musical lead in that looks pretty but is too long and only wastes time. But it makes me look cool, in my own mind!
Sort of like speakers at conferences. Sure, tell me who you are, what you've done, who you work for. But then start heading towards a point. I'm on the edge of my seat waiting to be enlightened about your new library for graph data structure manipulation, or whatever topic.
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.