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Has advertising on YouTube changed forever?



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Has advertising on YouTube changed forever?

So as we all know, earlier this year the popular video sharing website YouTube had gone through what is now being dubbed as the "Ad-pocalypse." For those out of the loop, the "Ad-pocalypse" was an event where multiple big name companies such as Coca-Cola, Verizon, McDonald's, Volkswagen and dozens of others pulled their advertisements off of YouTube, resulting in Google losing millions of dollars and content creators experiencing a massive drop in revenue. This all occurred as a result of massive controversy involving the platform, consisting of allegations that content creators were profiting off of these advertisers by featuring their ads on potentially anti-semitic, radical, or other extreme, unsavory content.

After Google's promises of changing and regulating the platform to prevent such content from being profitable on YouTube, advertisers have been hesitantly returning and content creators have reported increases in revenue. However, anyone who has frequented the website since its inception can notice that there is still a stark contrast in advertisement. Channels that once had full-blown video advertisements now feature one or two mere in-video texts ads, and rarely do you see any big name video advertisements as you would during YouTube's heyday.

Do you think that YouTube is going to jump back from this controversy and the resulting effects? Or is it possible that this will leave a permanent mark on the site and could signify the downfall of content creation on YouTube?

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Cristian
No! I think YouTube, being part of Google, is completely sold out to the extreme left agenda. Most of the channels I'm subscribed to are stating YouTube isn't profitable anymore and some have even quit Youtube and moved on with their lives looking for other sources of income. I've been a subscriber on this channel I'm talking about for years now and every year Youtube policies become more and more extream, excluding monetization of videos, banning people without reason and even unsubscribing people from certain channels.

I agree there should be some limits on what YouTube can allow on their website, but let's face it if you don't publish videos about cats and puppies and other stupid irrelevant subjects and you take on social subjects or political problems, you are most certainly faced with you ad-revenue cut down or eliminated.

Some Youtubers just moved off the platform or relied on their subscribers for making extra money, like having a patreon account.



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Corzhens
I think the main reason for people to say that Youtube is not profitable anymore is the recent policy on the limitations. You can only avail of the monetization by Adsense for your Youtube channel if you have at least 1,000 subscribers and also a prescribed minimum number of monthly viewing hours to 400 hours, I think. Our Youtube channel that used to earn $100 every year is not earning anything now because our subscribers are just over 300 for now.



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wiseagent
To use the word "forever" in this question would be a little bit of an exaggeration, so... I would answer NO. It hasn't changed forever. However, there is a misrepresentation along the way.

The big problem with YouTube is that the space for marketing is extremely excessive and I particularly find it very annoying. I understand that there is all the financial reasons behind it (which are translated into lots of money), but I think for everything there must be a limit.



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augusta
I don't think so because we can't be so sure about how things will span out tomorrow. Those big companies might still male a uture tomorrow and the controversy Will cease to exist and YouTube return back to how it has been.



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overcast
The way new videos are automatically flagged for no ads. I think Google surely got sold out to the left wing advertising companies. That's not all they are now spending the resources and making sure that every channel and the videos are in compliance with the content that is meant for the left wing politics. And if you know what I meant by that you can check out some of the recent "google boycott" content from the advertisers itself.

So I don't think it's the algorithm change. It's more of Google giving up to the advertisers pressure that is something one can surely work on as well. That being said, youtube is going to be a bad investment for many in near future.



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DenisP
I don't exactly know if they "sold out" to left wing advertising companies. I mean YouTube is a business, and Google obviously wants to keep it alive. If advertising companies don't want to be associated with right-wing hate speeches and controversial content (not saying that all right-wing content is hateful, by any means) and Google wants to keep making money, they are going to have to separate the advertisers from the content they don't want to be seen on. Problem is that I think it has gone too far and way too much unnecessary content in being flagged and demonetized.



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DarthHazard
Yeah, I read up on this issue and it seems to be a bit of a problem. A lot of these big brands that you listed will definitely not want to be advertised or connected to any extremist videos so I understand why they have dropped their advertisements from YouTube. They were basically funding these extremists which they definitely would not want to be doing. I think this is a google wake up call for sites like Google and some social media sites like FB and Twitter who need to do more to get rid of hateful and extremist content from their sites.



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Judas2018
I think YouTube cleaning house was a good move because the last thing you want to see is a Folgers coffee ad appear before a neo-nazi propaganda, drug cartel beheading or jihadist drive by shooting video. It makes it look like Folgers is in support of said ideas, ideals or behaviors...And I imagine if that belief seeps deep enough into the public space it'll be damn hard for them to sell any coffee. I do think however this sort of thing can be taken to the extreme. Like when a teenager has an animation video up that shows a shootout or sword fight depicting two stick figures and there's blood and limbs lost, then YouTube flags it for no advertising and the kid can't make any coin from his videos any longer. Gotta draw the line somewhere.



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Authord
Well, with what I have experienced and seen, YouTube advertising, does not convert well, and this big name companies pay a lot of money and it's likely that they don't get the expected result, which is really the main reason for big name companies to pull out.



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DenisP
I don't think it's so much about the results as it was about the kind of content that their ads were being displayed on. The most popular of YouTube videos get millions of views at a time. I think anyone would agree that is more than a decent amount of exposure. And it's not like this is just a select few channels with those numbers, as dozens of channels get millions of views daily. Obviously those sorts of numbers are going to benefit the company, and they know that. The problem is that they need more control over which channels get their business, as they want to control the image of their brand and the kind of audience it is associated with, understandably.



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kgord
Youtube is so popular with a variety of individuals that I don't see it going anywhere anytime soon. I think it is here to stay and will give individuals what they need to do on the site. It is just one of the quality marketing ideas that are out there. However, Big name companies probably have a variety of sources they can use.



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Soulwatcher
What I think has happened is we're in internet 3.0 now. And everything has changed from advertising to the way we get information and how we make money on the internet. And a lot of people are trying to hold onto the old tried and true methods and they just don't work anymore. These days its all about adaptions and if you fail to adapt your going to be one of the people who end up giving up and quitting. And for me myself I am still looking for internet 3.0 methods of making money!



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Baburra
I don't think it is that surprising considering this has always been present in TV and even on Google. This is why Adsense has never catered to sites that contain violence or porn. I don't think it is that bad, although, to be honest, I think companies are too careful about these things, but understandably so. Even if they would like to allow some controversial content, it's just not practical for them to have to cherry pick what controversial topics can be let through and be possibly associated with them. It's easier and more practical to just put a blanket statement on everything controversial and say that they want nothing to do with it. Those content providers that want to remain free can just find their support elsewhere and from their fans.



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Judas2018
Society itself is based on hypocrisy though. People in public or out in the open - don't want their names or ads or companies and brands attached to what they see as decadent content, vice or any non-mainstream behaviors. Although much later - you find out these company execs are or were involved in all manner of things in private. The very same things they didn't want their clothing or soda brand in cahoots with. Go figure.



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Corzhens
Pardon me if this comment is out of line but I find that YouTube has become discriminatory in their latest policy about revenue sharing. Where before anyone can earn from the views of their videos, now there is a minimum of 1,000 subscribers before you become eligible. And that’s also a minimum when it comes to viewing hours of all the videos in your YouTube channel. It means only the big creators will now earn and small creators will just be fence-sitters.



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cash90
Google own YouTube. Google bought it back in 2006.



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