You Should Know Why People are Angry with YouTube.
Update (12/6/2016): Google has made further changes to YouTube functionality, altering the way users see content they are subscribed to. Among the most controversial of these changes is the fact that subscribing to a channel no longer guarantees that a user will be served that content. Much like Facebook, YouTube now serves users a stream of recommended videos based on algorithmic choices and trending topics, with the subscription feed hidden in a side menu. Further, many popular channels are reporting that users are automatically being unsubscribed from channels without their knowledge, leading many users to assume that their favorite channels have simply stopped producing content.
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In case you haven't been following the most recent news surrounding YouTube (and unless you're a content creator, you probably haven't), Google has made some changes to their advertising policies that are severely impacting some of the most popular channels on the network. Now, content creators are protesting the changes, and if things continue as they are, advertisers are about to feel the pain.
For quick background, YouTube's advertising model is built to reward content creators that provide popular videos to the network. Essentially, creators receive a specific percentage of ad revenue for every view an ad on their channel receives. This incentivizes creators to create content that attracts the most possible views, and that means more money for Google, more money for the creators, and more ad impressions for advertisers.
But recently, this relationship has been causing friction. Because young teens and 20-somethings make up such a large portion of YouTube's audience, the most popular topics for videos tend to be... less than wholesome. Sex sells, and content creators are not dumb to that fact. The highest-ranking videos on the channel (once you get beyond staff-picks and promoted videos) tend to deal with drug culture, sex, violence, and profane humor. Unfortunately for advertisers, that means that your ad may be running in the middle of a video of a woman in a bikini hanging off the arm of a guy vaping on camera. Or it may pop up in front of a controversial video discussing rape, as in the case of popular creator Phillip DeFranco.
This video contains profanity, and probably a bunch of other stuff you don't want to watch in your office, FYI.
Long story short, YouTube has begun punishing content creators by removing monetization options from videos deemed "not advertiser friendly." Videos that include trigger phrases like "drugs," "rape," or "sex" in titles, descriptions, or tags, are no longer viable to display ads, even if those videos are positive and beneficial in nature. For example, another popular YouTuber known as 'Boogie' is unable to monetize a popular video he created specifically to talk people out of committing suicide, because the phrase "how to kill yourself" appears in the video's tags.
So, good news for advertisers, right? We no longer have to worry about our brands appearing alongside controversial content.
Except for one big problem: those millions of views your ad gets on one of the internet's most popular and well-targeted platforms? Those all go away if these content creators can't keep their channels going. As soon as YouTube stops being a place where these creators can profit, they will move on to something else. Many of the larger Multi-Channel Networks have already made backup plans, pushing users to subscribe to their own websites, or to Patreon, to fund future video creation.
There is also the issue of brands in certain industries finding it harder and harder to find an audience. Pharmaceuticals, the funeral industry, sex-related nonprofits, even medical fields may find that the tightening leash of "advertiser friendly content" is impacting their appearance in casual discovery options like YouTube Suggested Videos. How can Pfizer be expected to maintain a presence without using the word "drug" anywhere in their content?
Is this change going to kill YouTube? No, of course not. But every time Google tweaks these policies and pushes bigger wedges between users and advertisers, it puts the balance at risk.
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These comments reflect the opinions of Tim Howell alone, and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of his employers, partners, peers, or family members. Opinions or advice in this blog should not be taken as direct recommendations or suggestions. Any statistics, information, or metrics provided are linked to referenced source material, and are not sourced from any current or past clients, customers, or related brands.