YouTube's "Adpocalypse" - What Now?
By Emaad Alvi, '21
In recent years, YouTube has become one of the biggest names on the Internet. The Google-owned site allows anyone to upload videos, and allows anyone to view them. However, since mid-2017, concerns about advertisements being placed on inappropriate content have caused many advertisers to pull their ads from YouTube, causing what some creators and viewers call the ‘Adpocalypse’. On Thursday, CNN reported that more than 300 advertisers unknowingly ran ads on YouTube videos endorsing pedophilia, white supremacy, and other extremist positions. Given that 300 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute, the only tools that Google could develop were AI algorithms that decided whether to place advertisements on certain videos. The boycott of YouTube by advertisers, the demonetization of creators’ videos, and the reactions of the creators’ fans have been volatile for over a year now. There is little prospect of the situation improving.
The trouble began with YouTube placing normal ads, for products from companies like Procter & Gamble, on unsettling videos such as videos with hate speech, extremism, and violence. After companies started pulling their ads from the platform, YouTube’s response was a vague expansion of “Age Restricted” video designation, and the demonetization of videos for any reason they deemed appropriate. The reasons for demonetization included: “Vulgar language, violence and disturbing imagery, nudity and sexually suggestive content, portrayal of harmful or dangerous activities”. These criteria seemed reasonable on the surface, but YouTube’s implementation of them has received plenty of criticism from both creators and viewers.
YouTube implemented algorithms that hit creators with a wave of demonetization issues. People who report news on YouTube, like Philip DeFranco, started getting demonetized when they discussed stories involving police brutality, religion, adultery, and anything else mildly controversial. It set a dangerous precedent in the YouTube community, which meant that creators had to be very careful if they wanted to get paid. One of the biggest points of criticism received by YouTube about permanently demonetizing videos was recently explained by Felix “PewDiePie” Kjellberg - YouTube’s most subscribed personality with 62 million subscribers. He said, “Every time I upload a video, I sort of have to guess, ‘OK, it went yellow. Why? Why was it demonetized?’” Kjellberg said. “I just think this could be solved so easily if we just knew what the rules were and the system was more clear, and we had better guidelines as a creator.”
This shows one of YouTube’s biggest problems: creators don’t know why they are getting demonetized on certain videos.
Last Monday, Philip DeFranco - YouTube’s biggest news personality - released a video titled “Tired, Frustrated, But Also Excited.” The video was meant to tell viewers about how along with demonetization, DeFranco’s videos were being hit with ‘View Suppression’ which meant that his videos would never show up on his subscribers’ YouTube homepages, nor their ‘trending’ and ‘suggested’ tabs. Given this information, DeFranco has started preparing to shift his operations to a new website, and perhaps even starting his own news network. Other YouTubers are also likely to follow suit by not keeping all their eggs in one basket and moving to other platforms. While advertisers are getting more optimistic with regards to YouTube’s ability to place ads on relevant and appropriate videos, creators and fans are increasingly frustrated. Thus, it’ll be interesting to see whether YouTube can win back subscribers, or whether creators overwhelmingly move to other platforms, which will likely cause the downfall of YouTube.
Sources:
https://www.polygon.com/2018/4/17/17246948/defranco-patreon-casey-neistat-youtube-ceo-demonetized
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_jkeWgtZ18
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