Youtube has begun closing Air Rifle channels at a very fast pace

[Zak33]

Lo people

I sat down last nght with a cuppa ready to catch up on my favourite YouTube channels, most of which are based around AIRGUNS.

And the first one was empty....
so was the next one.......

and then I started finding disturbing amounts of my favourite stuff....gone!

Years and years, and hundreds of thousands of views, down the bog.

Ted, from Teds Holdover, one of the remaing channels explains it best
https://youtu.be/kVVP5KNbCII

Many of you know I love my shooting sports. A few of you guys disagree with shooting- i understand that.

What is tricky to understand is why the Air gun scene is getting it up the strasse, and not so much the main gun sites could be a connection to a Google/Youtube libne of code.

Either way, my best loved channels are empty

[DanceswithUnix]

Can't watch your link at work, is this grief from the public or pressure from YouTube?

[Zak33]

Can't watch your link at work, is this grief from the public or pressure from YouTube?

seems to be a Youtube thing.

because there's so much removed it's hard to see why or how it's happening though.

I'm not sure it#s entirely knee jerk.. it feels like an algorythm has been tweaked to hard and it's utterly ruined multiple people's income streams and hard work

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Its obvious why - there was that mass shooting in the school in the US recently.

I am not sure if people are aware of what is happening to YouTube now. After media sites showed that YT was inadvertently putting ads on certain questionable material,loads of advertisers threatened to leave YouTube,so Google ended up giving advertisers more say in exactly what they permitted to have their ads on,whilst Google tweaked their automatic mechanisms to draconian levels.

It means videos which even have a mild swear word,even cartoon violence,more adult themed stuff(probably politics,etc) now can have their monetisation removed,and if happens enough times whole channels can have it removed. Even many times the algorithms get it wrong and flag stuff which is just innocuous. It also means many videos and channels don't show up on the front page for relatively minor "issues" many of which are just Google overreacting.

I have seen so many gaming channels,etc now begging people for to donate a few dollars via Patreon,and it seems to be getting worse.

So what do you expect,with the issue in the US,that YT now is getting scared that Airguns=AR15 rifles and to placate any potential backlash from advertisers they are proactively defunding or deleting channels.

Honestly some of these advertisers really need to stop treating their customers as 10 year olds,and Google really needs to grow some balls too. But thats not going to happen and eventually YT is going to probably start slowing go downhill IMHO OFC.

[peterb]

But of course YT is a free to use service, so those posting don't have any recourse - other than to stop using it. Of course if they do, the appeal to advertisers will dwindle leading to lower revenues for Google. But the advertisers pay for facility for people to post.

But this is typical (anti) Social Media - small pressure groups can currently wield undue influence. In this case it is the payers for the service (the advertisers) wielding there influence, in others it is consumers pressuring advertisers to boucott certain channels because they dont like the opinions expressed.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

If YT does not fix its issues,I can see plenty of other platforms coming in to replace it - lots more channels seem to be now supported by alternate funding sources like Patreon,etc and lots of game streamers are now moving over to Twitch due to YT totally screwing up on monetisation. As many older YouTubers have said - Google is forgetting the people who made YouTube the success it was. Its the same thing with EBay who was built on the backs of small sellers,who increasingly EBay started to screw over.

[Ttaskmaster]

Its the same thing with EBay who was built on the backs of small sellers,who increasingly EBay started to screw over.

They no longer matter any more.
Companies (including Scan by the way, as I found myself) can sell stuff cheaper in their eBay/Amazon shop and still make a profit, so they'll bring in far more money than little bric-a-brac sellers.

Things like YT will still continue, but they'll be more company-centric. Smaller services like Craigslist and Gumtree will emerge for the little people, even though they'll eventually be owned by the giants...

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

They no longer matter any more.
Companies (including Scan by the way, as I found myself) can sell stuff cheaper in their eBay/Amazon shop and still make a profit, so they'll bring in far more money than little bric-a-brac sellers.

Things like YT will still continue, but they'll be more company-centric. Smaller services like Craigslist and Gumtree will emerge for the little people, even though they'll eventually be owned by the giants...

Gumtree is owned by Ebay and Ebay profits are in decline:

http://uk.businessinsider.com/ebay-earnings-q2-2017-7

They basically became greedy and in the end even for smaller commerical sellers,other platforms have started to appear.

[DanceswithUnix]

Its obvious why - there was that mass shooting in the school in the US recently.

Does that usually cause this? There is a good comment on the article:

https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2018/...ng-conference/

which says:

Given the widely accepted definition of shooting where 3 or more people are injured including at least 1 fatality and at least 1 victim with no intimate connection to the shooter, Facebook would find it statistically impossible to present this demo more then 31 hours from a mass shooting.


So when exactly did they think was a "respectful" time to show this?

[Ttaskmaster]

Gumtree is owned by Ebay and Ebay profits are in decline:
They basically became greedy and in the end even for smaller commerical sellers,other platforms have started to appear.

And I fully expect the giants to start buying those other platforms at opportune moments, too.

[Zak33]

allegedly, rather than the mass shootings, it has more to do with one Logan Paul.. and his in ability to make choices on what is right or wrong to boradcast on YT
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwZT7T-TXT0

see that

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Does that usually cause this? There is a good comment on the article:

https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2018/...ng-conference/

which says:

Most likely yes as the shooting happened a while back,and you need to realise Google has been so spooked about advertisers leaving they might actually be proactively doing this.

People keep saying Logan Paul but the YT adpocalypse has been a slow motion trainwreck for nearly a year and that utter tool and PewtyPie just added oil to the fire,and its been happening for ages now. So many largish channels have been affected by Google being worried that advertisers being spooked by any kind of controversy,and then advertisers being spooked by being paranoid any kind of controversy that might tarnish their brands after Google screwed up the first time,ie,when ads appeared on some less than desirable videos.

I subscribe to some pretty big tech and gaming channels,and a whole lot of smaller more independent ones,and the revenue and strike outs for minor little things are ridiculous. Why do you think so many streamers are just moving towards Twitch?? Even people like SovietWomble,etc. This is why so many channels are now loosing so much ad revenue,Patreon is now essentially supporting more and more channels,even ones which are just doing tech reviews of hifi,etc.

[Zak33]

its worth knowing that YT stopped monetizing gun sites ages ago.

these Youtubers aren't earning like they were anyway.......this is more an issue of community.

I for one have lost my best and favoured channels

When I sat down last night to watch, it was with genuine excitement. I love catching up on all the news.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

its worth knowing that YT stopped monetizing gun sites ages ago.

these Youtubers aren't earning like they were anyway.......this is more an issue of community.

I for one have lost my best and favoured channels

When I sat down last night to watch, it was with genuine excitement. I love catching up on all the news.

Because they are probably worried by the fact that gun channels EXIST on YT,it might scare away advertisers from YT as a whole,so better to just get rid of them,or restrict them. The only way for them to come back is if people make a big deal of it,and Google fears more negative publicity than keeping them on YT.

Its ridiculous when one minor swear is enough to demonetise a whole video,and that can flag up whole channels in theory,as YT will be less likely to advertise said content from affected channels.

Google seems to think the only people watching YT are kids under 16 years old. They are more likely to ban half the BBC if they had the choice,or all the channels which have Alaska shows,etc.

And I fully expect the giants to start buying those other platforms at opportune moments, too.

Up to a degree,and then probably more people will use foreign owned ones,which they won't be able to buy(think Chinese companies with government links).

[SeriousSam]

Virtually anything "counter narrative" is demonetised on YouTube, hence the rise of Patreon based shows.

https://www.theknifemedia.com/world-...uadrant-model/

[Ttaskmaster]

its worth knowing that YT stopped monetizing gun sites ages ago.

Is monetisation just the 6-second unskippable adverts, or does it also cover the little banner ads at the bottom?
Forgotten Weapons (starring my secret brother Ian) still has banner ads, as of yesterday, and they're pretty firearm-centric!!

Up to a degree,and then probably more people will use foreign owned ones,which they won't be able to buy(think Chinese companies with government links).

Only if the support is still there. If it's a PITA to use, or routes through foreign systems, people will just go back to eBay, Shpok and whatever else, or take it down the jumble/car-boot.