Kotaku: YouTubers Say They Can't Make Money Covering Call of Duty: WWII

NeonBlack said:
Why shouldn't this be a long time job? What standards should be held up for a career?

I'm pretty sure you can use whatever you're thinking for a lot of careers out there.
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YouTube has proved time and time again that you really cannot make money long-term on the platform since they can pull the rug under your feet at any time.

These video creators need to be thinking of revenue outside the YouTube atmosphere. Merchandising, donations, etc.
 
RedToad64 said:
YouTube has proved time and time again that you really cannot make money long-term on the platform since they can pull the rug under you at any time.

These video creators need to be thinking of revenue outside the YouTube atmosphere. Merchandising, donations, etc.
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Why more of them don't use Patreon I don't understand.
 
Google has really fucked their user base so hard with this. The absolute worse part is no one saw this coming. They decided it wasn't important for their creators to know that if your videos at all talk about anything slightly controversial or political, you will be demonetized. It just happened and there is no fighting it. That is what gets me most. Time and time again they refuse to let their user base know of changes before they happen. Since the beginning it's been this way and I hope these people who work making content on YouTube can get by, and maybe other streaming services will eventually be able to pick up the slack that YouTube has now stop doing.
 
Do not rely on a third party for pretty much everything. When you hit it big on Youtube, diversify your revenue streams so stuff like this hurts less. It's pretty basic business really.
 
It's never a smart idea to consider YouTube as a main means of revenue. Trying to make a living on a platform you have no control over and having to rely on shoddy policies, are these situations where you're panicking over lost income bound to happen. Always good to have a back up plan. Even the most successful Youtubers, some of which I watch that are associated with a company as large as Rooster Teeth, will tell you to have a back up plan.

The restrictions coming down on the freedom of making whatever content on YouTube was inevitable.
 
This is so hilarious.

Youtubers played video games they liked for fun and then later on they knew they could make money with it then they started playing games they didn't even like. And now they won't even play games on their channel they like, because they won't make money with it.
 
YoRHa No.2 Type B said:
This is so hilarious.

Youtubers played video games they liked for fun and then later on they knew they could make money with it then they started playing games they didn't even like. And now they won't even play games on their channel they like, because they won't make money with it.
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Exactly most of these dude are shills anyways especially in the cod community. I don't feel bad for them at all. They had a free ride making videos for years hopefully they saved and invested all that cash.
 
Vital Tundra said:
The absolute worse part is no one saw this coming. They decided it wasn't important for their creators to know that if your videos at all talk about anything slightly controversial or political, you will be demonetized.
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Nobody saw this coming?
Literally every other creative field has professional standards and codes of conduct that youtube does not, and literally every other creative job that is funded by advertisement money have to adhere to certain criteria of acceptability that their paymasters set, and nobody saw this coming?

Is this like "nobody saw this coming!" when the FTC stepped in and made paid shills have to disclose that they are paid shills?
 
Mannn some of you's are salty as anything..

"Good. Now they need a real job. YouTube is not a career"

I suppose Hollywood actors or musicians are also not working "real" jobs?
Lol. Grow up.
 
falcs said:
Mannn some of you's are salty as anything..

"Good. Now they need a real job. YouTube is not a career"

I suppose Hollywood actors or musicians are also not working "real" jobs?
Lol. Grow up.
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How dare they break programming and not work dead end jobs 9-5 like us real people.
 
falcs said:
Mannn some of you's are salty as anything..

"Good. Now they need a real job. YouTube is not a career"

I suppose Hollywood actors or musicians are also not working "real" jobs?
Lol. Grow up.
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I think it's pure hatred and jealousy. How dare he earn money on a hobby! Making Youtube content and building a community isn't easy. If you think it is, go ahead and try it.
 
YouTubers didn't know how good they had it these past years. They are not entitled to ad-money just because that's what they're used to. Other media has entire departments dealing with advertisers.

Besides, there are loads of people willing to make videos for free, always have been, always will.
 
falcs said:
Mannn some of you's are salty as anything..

"Good. Now they need a real job. YouTube is not a career"

I suppose Hollywood actors or musicians are also not working "real" jobs?
Lol. Grow up.
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These jobs actually have standards and are not designed to screw their employees over.

Vital Tundra said:
Google has really fucked their user base so hard with this. The absolute worse part is no one saw this coming. They decided it wasn't important for their creators to know that if your videos at all talk about anything slightly controversial or political, you will be demonetized. It just happened and there is no fighting it. That is what gets me most. Time and time again they refuse to let their user base know of changes before they happen. Since the beginning it's been this way and I hope these people who work making content on YouTube can get by, and maybe other streaming services will eventually be able to pick up the slack that YouTube has now stop doing.
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Yeah, when videos were pulled seven years ago for baseless copyright strikes and reporting, leading to banned channels... nobody saw it coming...
 
This is a weird one. Not sure anyone can be blamed for this, from the advertiser's perspective there is no guarantee to the content that is being offered on the channel. There is no "rating board" or something similar for YouTube content. You don't want to attach your product to a channel that does COD gameplay, but one day the commentary happens to be inflammatory, bigoted, or have references to sex or violence etc. The game they cover can have a rating, but how do you rate the commentary and other content that comes with these channels? It's smart of the publishers to be risk-averse in this situation.

One solution could be a sort of rating system for channels, like with movies and video games, then channels who are found to be in violation of their rating can have those videos demonetized.

So in this case, the burden really is on the content creators and YouTube to come up with guidelines for content rating and adhere to them.

I understand that certain channels require you to have an account to view content that is deemed as mature, but that doesn't seem to cut it I guess. Or maybe the advertisers already stay away from that content and these YouTubers weren't under that rating.
 
Scotch said:
YouTubers didn't know how good they had it these past years. They are not entitled to ad-money just because that's what they're used to. Other media has entire departments dealing with advertisers.

Besides, there are loads of people willing to make videos for free, always have been, always will.
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I'm not even sure what you mean they are no entitled to ad money?
 
What's happening with YouTube right now is a shining example of why Libertarianism will never work for a society with more than a few thousand people. Google's initial laissez faire approach to managing content on its platform created this situation. When Google first started monetizing channels, it was like the wild west. People flocked to it, lots of people got rich, or made more money than they ever thought they would. It didn't take long until people started to ruin it for everyone, people like Keemstar, the "prank" channels, and other creators of toxic content caused the alarm bells to be rung.

I think a lot of you will change your tune about what's happening with YouTube when you have kids of your own. It's a nightmare trying to keep track of what your kid is watching on there. So many toxic personalities have a direct line to your kid's impressionable mind on YouTube. When shitstain channels like Daddyofive can claim to kid friendly content to get by YT's absolute joke of parental controls, a parent has to pay extra close attention to what their kid is watching, and unfortunately it doesn't seem like many parents are savvy enough to do it. It's much more time consuming as well, as before YT, a parent just had to make sure their kid was watching a channel that was deemed ok. Now kids have their phone and tablets, plug in their headphones, and a parent could have no clue their little angel is slowly being turned into an alt-right punk.

Also, companies spend a fuck ton of money building up and protecting their brand. If a brand gets tarnished somehow, it could spell the end for an entire company. Advertisers have every right to pick and choose that kind of content their brand is associated with.

I welcome the changes, channels like Wisecrack, Smarter Everyday, History Buffs, etc will be fine. The people who just enjoy making videos, and aren't out to get rich will keep making videos because that's what they want to do, and the profiteers looking to make a buck off millions of clicks from 10-14 year olds with questionable content can fuck off into the sunset.
 
falcs said:
Mannn some of you's are salty as anything..

"Good. Now they need a real job. YouTube is not a career"

I suppose Hollywood actors or musicians are also not working "real" jobs?
Lol. Grow up.
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Hollywood actors (the smart ones) take all the work they can get, because they know there's a real possibility that work is going to dry up, and they also don't do things like get real drunk and start shouting about niggers while being filmed because thats real fucking bad for your career and getting associated with that is going to hurt your income.
They also pay for a variety of people to do things for them like secure work, promote their brand, do legal due dilligence and manage their image.
 
I would think the bigger problem for advertisers would be the language some Youtubers use on their channels.

For instance, take this forum... I'm certain there are advertisers that won't allow their ads on NeoGAF due to some of the language and/or content that appears in the off topic forum.
 
LordRaptor said:
Hollywood actors (the smart ones) take all the work they can get, because they know there's a real possibility that work is going to dry up, and they also don't do things like get real drunk and start shouting about niggers while being filmed because thats real fucking bad for your career and getting associated with that is going to hurt your income.
They also pay for a variety of people to do things for them like secure work, promote their brand, do legal due dilligence and manage their image.
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Yeah actors never get drunk and do crazy shit do damage their image. Never ever! And you think Youtubers don't hire people to promote their work and do legal due dilligence.

Come on people. Everyone can start a Channel, but now everyone can make a Career out of Youtube by simply uploading content. I doesn't work like that.
 
RedToad64 said:
These jobs actually have standards and are not designed to screw their employees over.


Yeah, when videos were pulled seven years ago for baseless copyright strikes and reporting, leading to banned channels... nobody saw it coming...
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It's a shit show all around. At this point, if you're someone who bases a good part of their income in Youtube ads, it's best to jump ship to Patreon, sponsors or other monetization methods. Being an entirely independent content creator who relies on a middle-man as big and as faceless as Youtube is always going to be a risky business.

It doesn't help that, from what I've seen, independent Youtubers (as opposed to those such as Digital Foundry & Linus Tech Tips who are business in and of themselves) are not good at professional PR, business admin and communication which are necessary in defending one's self from problems such as this. Youtube/internet video creation is still a very, very young medium and compared to others such as music and film it's a practical wild west. It still hasn't got over the "don't be blatantly racist and/or sexist" part of PR 101, to get to a level in line with something like Hollywood with its guilds, agents and agencies it's going to take a long time. Until that happens it's best to keep your income as far away from purely ad-based as possible.

As for people saying it isn't a real job; of course it is. Once something becomes a main source of income for you it's as legitimate a job as any other. Though those replying with "enjoy your 9-5 dead-end McJob" aren't exactly helping either.
 
UziTheBeast said:
Yeah actors never get drunk and do crazy shit do damage their image. Never ever!
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Of course they do; and they take an earnings hit as a result.
And the smart ones work on fixing that image and getting their earnings back on track.

The stupid ones go on tirades about "the press" and "the system" and every other damn thing being to blame for their reduced income, except their own actions.

And here we are in a topic about Youtube revenues, after high profile scandal about Youtube celebrities and nazism that made it into the mainstream press, and some people are blaming youtube for their lack of earnings.

e:
Because if you don't want to clean up your act and play ball to get ad revenue, then secure your own revenue, or stop whining about it.
You can't play the "advertisers are infringing my creative freedoms!" card when you make a living off of advertising revenue. You already sold the fuck out. Deal with it.
 
falcs said:
Mannn some of you's are salty as anything..

"Good. Now they need a real job. YouTube is not a career"

I suppose Hollywood actors or musicians are also not working "real" jobs?
Lol. Grow up.
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Holywood and the music industry have a decades long track record to fall back on when it comes to expectations of income and employment. Youtube has, what, 5 years as a platform people have made a living on?

Even if you get into the acting business or become a musician, that doesn't mean you'll be successful, and even if you are successful, that doesn't mean your success will last forever. Failed actors and musicians are everywhere. Failed musical and film genres are everywhere.

Some Youtube superstars thought they were on the gravy boat for the long haul, and now they're learning that life might not be that easy. Tastes change, advertisers and financiers are fickle. Money talks and money walks.
 
Rocco of MEGA64 had a good discussion on one of their recent podcasts regarding this. He says that even though they are only a few guys, they have to hold serious business meetings every morning since they cannot rely on YouTube, it simply isn't reasonable. He went on to say that they have other streams of revenue to keep them afloat and that other popular content creators simply have trouble adapting. They fail to look for business opportunities to fall back on within their entertainment atmosphere.

The main point is that it was never reasonable to completely rely entirely on YouTube.

Mashing said:
I would think the bigger problem for advertisers would be the language some Youtubers use on their channels.

For instance, take this forum... I'm certain there are advertisers that won't allow their ads on NeoGAF due to some of the language and/or content that appears in the off topic forum.
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This was the case in the past.

Well, I'm out of this discussion.
 
RIP 80% of gaming YouTube personalities.

Unless you're covering a game rated E for everyone you're video isn't gonna make ad money.
 
I appreciate the fact that YouTube is one resource to find out if a game is worth buying.

Educational and informative analysis of a game's features and mechanics are what I'm interested in.

Just my opinion, but I have no particular interest in walkthrough commentary, which is what most YouTubers do. "Hey guys.. I'm going to play this game, watch me react..." Some of them out there are incredibly obnoxious.
 
ITT: Lots of people who don't understand what it takes to put out quality content on Youtube day after day. I'm not sure sour grapes is a worthy addition to the discussion.

Youtube has made a number of decisions over the past year or two to push away a lot of content creators. I've seen some transition to twitch.tv and/or those who were already on both not bothering with youtube anymore. The 1-2 man shows are mostly going to leave YT or find an external revenue stream for their YT content.

From the viewer standpoint all of this means less content, and less of the content you're likely to find interesting. If you think that is a good thing, then there really isn't any point in discussing it further. :)
 
To those saying being on YouTube is akin to being a musician or an actor is a bit of a skew.

YES there are genuine channels on YouTube doing good stuff but a very high amount abuse the system soo damn much with their clickbait titles, rainbow borders, huge red arrows in the thumbnail, reacting to every single thing. To compare those people to actors or musicians would be as if an artists released a new song every 8 hours commenting on what's in the news, or if an actor released a short film every week just mentioning things that's going on:

Nicholas Cage stars in "The Pepsi Protest"
Nicholas Cage stars in "Trumps Decision Part #298"
Nicholas Cage stars in "Retirement at Buckingham Palace"
Nicholas Cage stars in "Losing the Revenue to Live (A YouTube Story)"
 
Woo-Fu said:
ITT: Lots of people who don't understand what it takes to put out quality content on Youtube day after day. I'm not sure sour grapes is a worthy addition to the discussion.

Youtube has made a number of decisions over the past year or two to push away a lot of content creators. I've seen some transition to twitch.tv and/or those who were already on both not bothering with youtube anymore. The 1-2 man shows are mostly going to leave YT or find an external revenue stream for their YT content.

From the viewer standpoint all of this means less content, and less of the content you're likely to find interesting. If you think that is a good thing, then there really isn't any point in discussing it further. :)
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Based on what you just said, it doesn't mean less content, it just means content is in other places, right?
 
frontovik said:
Just my opinion, but I have no particular interest in walkthrough commentary, which is what most YouTubers do. "Hey guys.. I'm going to play this game, watch me react..." Some of them out there are incredibly obnoxious.
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"Let's Play" walkthroughs have become a blight.

There was once a wonderful time where when you wanted to see gameplay footage on Youtube, it wasn't 90% "HEY GUYS WHAT'S GOIN' ON!"
 
Woo-Fu said:
ITT: Lots of people who don't understand what it takes to put out quality content on Youtube day after day. I'm not sure sour grapes is a worthy addition to the discussion.

Youtube has made a number of decisions over the past year or two to push away a lot of content creators. I've seen some transition to twitch.tv and/or those who were already on both not bothering with youtube anymore. The 1-2 man shows are mostly going to leave YT or find an external revenue stream for their YT content.

From the viewer standpoint all of this means less content, and less of the content you're likely to find interesting. If you think that is a good thing, then there really isn't any point in discussing it further. :)
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The problem with this standpoint is that it assumes that Youtube is super profitable, so theres money for everyone forever.

Not the actual fact that Youtube is probably still making fuck all on its own merits, and that advertisers literally just pulled funding en masse due to the behaviour of youtubers.

e: Because if you want to claim Youtube as a legitimate job, then things that affect all people with legitimate jobs will also affect you.
If advertisers don't want the product you offer anymore, you change your product, or you lose money.

Welcome to "its a real job".
 
xrnzaaas said:
Well a lot of people, myself included, don't like to change jobs. ;) And I imagine it's even harder to start thinking about mixing things up when your current job seemed perfect up till not long ago.
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Should always have a backup plan no matter what you're doing. The signs were always there that the bubble was going to pop eventually.
 
Etrian Oddity said:
"Let's Play" walkthroughs have become a blight.

There was once a wonderful time where when you wanted to see gameplay footage on Youtube, it wasn't 90% "HEY GUYS WHAT'S GOIN' ON!"
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You know the great thing about YouTube? You can choose to watch the gameplay footage with no commentary because out of the 20000 videos of that game, it exist.
 
Crazy. So if CoD had jetpacks and space wars it would be cool huh? Sucks for the streamers. Especially since CoD brings in big numbers.
 
Woo-Fu said:
ITT: Lots of people who don't understand what it takes to put out quality content on Youtube day after day. I'm not sure sour grapes is a worthy addition to the discussion.
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Just because it takes a lot of time and effort to create a video on CoD or some other video game, doesn't mean it's quality content in the eyes of an advertiser.

Also, a lot of people seem to be forgetting that Let's Play videos were popular before YouTube monetization. In my opinion they were much better back then, way less "Heeeeeyyyy guys don't foget to subscribe and like the video!" and yelling back then.

Anth0ny said:
If they demonetize GTA I'm fucked
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Better get the lube ready.
 
Saganator said:
Just because it takes a lot of time and effort to create a video on CoD or some other video game, doesn't mean it's quality content in the eyes of an advertiser.
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ITT: People who think they'll get more interesting content when it is targeted to please advertisers more than viewers.
 
I think this marks the downfall of YouTube as a free form of media. Bending over for advertisers like this will prevent important content from ever being profitable enough for people to post on Youtube. It will trigger a death spiral. It's really sad, but I hope other platforms take this opportunity to fill in the gap.
 
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