<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><h3 class="post-title"></h3><p id="posttext" class="">Hello,<br class="">
<br class="">
Allow me to preface first with a few things before we get into this. I
am a YouTuber. I am posting this anonymously because I feel the
information should get out, as it could benefit creators with insight,
but I also am concerned by the potential repercussions sharing these
things could bring about. <br class="">
<br class="">
I was contacted some time ago by a person who was a viewer of my work.
This person (henceforth known as “my contact”) worked for a company that
ended up being connected to Google/YouTube. I will not provide too many
details about this person in order to protect them, but they became my
“eyes and ears” behind the scenes on what was going on with YouTube’s
new policies and policy enforcement (things they’ve refused to be
upfront or direct about). In the midst of “codes” and creators trying to
further figure out how to tell if their content is at risk, I felt the
need to release this with my contact’s blessing. <br class="">
<br class="">
Google, some months ago, put out a job posting which required a number
of different people to work on one project. Google claimed in the
posting that they needed a third party company to work as “web search
evaluators.” My contact worked for the unnamed company that put in for
the job and was accepted by Google. My contact didn’t know what to
expect from the job, but was told to sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement in
order to be a part of it. My contact accepted and signed the NDA. That
is when things changed. <br class="">
<br class="">
Once the NDA was signed, my contact found that they weren’t working as a
“web search evaluator.” They were demonetizing YouTube videos. They
would be given YouTube videos to review and had a checklist of sorts to
go through to be sure the video fit (or didn’t fit) certain criteria.
You can see screenshots from my contact’s end in this post via Imgur. <br class="">
<br class="">
One of the most important things to take away from this is that if the
person reviewing the video wouldn’t feel comfortable watching the video
in public, it should automatically be demonetized. My contact stated
that the company told them that if they were on the fence about a video
and didn’t really know if it violated any of YouTube’s new “rules,” to
demonetize the video anyway. Also, if the reviewer doesn’t find anything
listed that’s wrong with the video, they are allowed to insert their
own personal belief on something that is sensitive or inappropriate and
can have the video demonetized that way, as well. <br class="">
<br class="">
Here are the screenshots from the third party company’s viewpoint:<br class="">
<br class="">
DEMONETIZATION LEAKED SCREENSHOTS: <a href="https://imgur.com/a/uTLTS" rel="nofollow" class="">https://imgur.com/a/uTLTS</a><br class="">
<br class="">
This will hopefully provide insight for creators who are confused on how
YouTube decides what is okay and what isn’t. Truthfully, it’s not
really YouTube who is deciding it. It’s the employees at the company
they hired to review the videos. It’s my belief that anytime you request
a manual review, these people are the ones conducting it, and they can
demonetize for whatever reason they see fit, even if they personally
disagree with the content or message. This could explain why many videos
that don’t violate any known criteria can still be demonetized by
manual review. Because the reviewer thought it should be based on their
own reasoning. <br class="">
<br class="">
Now, as for the secret meeting, which may or may not tie into this whole issue (you decide if you think it does)... <br class="">
<br class="">
This all started to take effect after YouTube held a private meeting
with select creators. Obviously the media issues gave this all a violent
shove into reality, but YouTube had been ramping up to make changes
before this all came to pass. A different contact of mine was involved
in the secret meeting with YouTube, which took place around mid 2016 at a
Google office in Los Angeles. The meeting had one purpose: to discuss
what should be done with unwanted creators on their platform. Some
unwanted channel names that were mentioned were Leafyishere,
GradeAUnderA, Keemstar/DramaAlert, Scarce, and Onision.<br class="">
<br class="">
In attendance were a number of higher ranking individuals from a few
different departments at YouTube. CEO Susan Wojcicki was not in
attendance. <br class="">
<br class="">
All the creators in attendance were made to sign NDAs. The creators were
asked what they felt should be done about the more toxic channels on
YouTube. There was no conclusion from YouTube’s end, but it was agreed
upon that no censorship or channel deletion should occur and that
something else should be done. Months later, demonetization began
sweeping the platform and hindering the growth of countless channels.
Now many of us know the reasons for this. Ad companies got spooked by
offensive content that was monetized. However, I am unsure as to whether
or not the demonetization is enforced as strictly as it is to also help
drive certain unwanted players off the field, in keeping with what
concerns were discussed at the meeting. <br class="">
<br class="">
I hope this information proves useful to some of you. That’s all for
now. If we can get this information around, I feel it will at least help
creators get a better grip on what they’re up against. Share the
screenshots, make videos discussing it, or simply observe, whatever you
feel is best for you. <br class="">
<br class="">
I wish you well,<br class="">
<br class="">
-TD</p><div class="">—</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Temp. URL of this document: <a href="http://www.twitlonger.com/show/n_1sqbsph" class="">http://www.twitlonger.com/show/n_1sqbsph</a></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><br class=""></div></body></html>