Is Google Secretly Sabotaging YouTube Creators?

[@krisbroholm]

I'm not sure you're correct. I recently tested the new beta layout of KZbin and the description is still there, it's just been moved to the right hand side of the video (which the screenshot doesn't show.)

[@telluwide5553]

Since many niche website builders are pivoting towards newsletters and Substack, perhaps KZbinrs will create newsletters with embedded video content or someone will come up with a Substack like platform for video...

[@WPEagle]

You could be right. That would be cool.

[@johnnny9]

i have also notice youtube search have been worst for quite some time now they will put non related youtube search results in your search

[@Starship737]

if person gets any sort of income from google, amazon,facebook, twitter or any other tech company...he shud consider it just as luck...but relying on these evil big tech to be fair can hurt oneself really bad..they shud ever ever ever be trusted

[@WPEagle]

So true. I think we've all been burnt at some point.

[@BetterNeurodivergentTravel]

Geez why don’t they just push Premium more? I have it and love not seeing ads, and creators still get their cut. What’s frustrating is I’m still learning how to create on KZbin and now anticipating the rules changing 😅

[@markuserikssen]

No video descriptions? What the actual heck. How do they manage to continuously make so many things worse for the end-user? One more reason to become less dependent on Google.

[@ToshLubek]

That doesn't surprise me. I did a test at the end of June into July where I put links to my website from Card links in some of most popular videos. The idea was to try and get some traffic going to related articles that go into more depth, but what actually happened was that my KZbin views went down. After removing the links my KZbin views have stabilized and shown an uptick again. Funny that!

[@WPEagle]

So no links = more views?

[@ToshLubek]

@@WPEagle Looks that way. Since I took the links to my website out of my cards, my channel views have returned to an upward trend. I've not tested taking links out of the description, but I must try that.

[@WPEagle]

@@ToshLubek interesting. Correlation isn’t always causation though right ?

[@ToshLubek]

@@WPEagle Very true. I'd need to repeat it on a few channels before I'd be confident it's a thing.

[@CraigUnfiltered]

This is pretty odd... Why would they completely remove descriptions, which also have a lot of SEO value and is actually used by KZbin to gather data on the video? Why wouldn't they just make it impossible to add clickable links. This feels like more of a glitch than a feature change... at least, I hope it's that!

[@WPEagle]

I think KZbin is smart enough to determine what a video is about from the transcript. It basically watches the video. Clickable links encourage people to leave the platform. Google shareholders only want clicks within Google.

[@conormartinai]

hhhmm yeah, it does make sense for them to keep people engaged and on platform. I put all my affiliate links in the first comment now as I feel that is where people are more likely to go.

[@WPEagle]

Good idea!

[@mikeshuey]

@@WPEagle Does anyone definitively know if this strategy is against any KZbin terms of service regarding affiliate linking? (Obviously, you'd want to add the affiliate disclaimer in the pinned comment, but it would be nice to know if this is an issue or not.)

[@LiLaLizzy8]

​@@mikeshueyyeah, that's an interesting question. Do you notice KZbin going against links in (pinned) comments?

[@dinorossi6611]

First comment rather than description? You should make a video tutorial on it .

[@OneHourProfessor]

Interesting thoughts, Alex. I think one of the reasons they may be testing dropping the descriptions is that so many people watch videos on TV now. Myself, I see that roughly 60% of viewers are watching on TV, which doesn't work well with descriptions so maybe they're just testing to see if it's even worth having or if they should push everyone towards cards. Then again, Google has made many perplexing decisions in the last year so who really knows the reasoning at this point.

[@dinorossi6611]

People watch more Tv? That must be some new statistic. I haven't owned a Tv set in 15 years almost. Nobody in my building does. Old people watch YT on Smart TVs yes but young ones no.

[@WPEagle]

60%! Wow. My analytics say 5% - are you sure?

[@TheColossalBlanket]

It's all growth at any cost now. They're just trying to ring as much as they can out of this now all to just keep making their stock price go up. Ed Zitron covers all this beautifully on his better offline podcast, highly recommend it. I think there's a realignment coming to big tech soon.

[@trendtradertrender4328]

Hi Alex, in relation of removing cards , I doubt that this will happen. KZbin Focus is that the user stays as long as possible on the platform, so it wouldn't make any sense. Video Description removal, I can see...but I guess they are just testing it yet. I wouldn't be too much concerned about it yet, as with content, there will always be some room for new tools, new ways of monetization etc. , Keep you your work, I really like following you!

[@WPEagle]

But if the card directs to an external website, why would they keep them?

[@simplifygardening]

They wont get rid of cards, but they will remove the ability to link out

[@footykit]

I've noticed the description sometimes appears on the right of the video for a few weeks now.

[@WPEagle]

Yeah, I see this sometimes. I hate that layout.

[@BarryLivingstone]

Saw all these, KZbin want us to sign up for "KZbin Brand Deals" I think it now wants a cut of any brand deals it's getting greedy as always. Ive been asked to do it on two channels. You can set the amount you want to be paid for brand deals and it gives you stats to show brands how your videos do, and Any PAID Content you already have on the channel. In all this year my payments for youtube are up and way more than external earnings. I just need to think about what the heck to do with this channel!!!

[@WPEagle]

I'm glad your payments are up. I've seen the brand deals. Google a certainly looking for cut of everyones sponsorship deals.

[@BarryLivingstone]

@@WPEagle Yip just started Membership on one YT channel also, they take 30% of that. But my thinking is 100 members = £346 extra per month and no added work

[@jessefireninja]

Met you on the beach

[@WPEagle]

nice to meet you!

[@SandraRees]

I've noticed alot of changes the past few months and the main one for me is "comments". I love to read comments and think they are very important when making a decission to sign up or purchase anything. I see more and more comments being hidden and its getting rediculous. In time we will only be allowed to comment using emoji, all because of googles obbession with "people saying the wrong words". 🙄

[@WPEagle]

Censorship everywhere.

[@SandraRees]

@@WPEagle Exactly!!!

[@Trinergy-Livewire]

I subconsciously noticed but attributed to Creators I think. Better get the word out! FB has too many Fibbies on staff which keeps me away. What's left? Vimeo?

[@WPEagle]

Rumble?

[@Trinergy-Livewire]

@@WPEagle That was a thought actually. I should familiarize myself with Rumble. It seems to be where KZbinrs go for fairness...

[@Perpetuallearner1]

@@WPEagletoo much of a political brand

[@BarryLivingstone]

They also ask me every day If i want ads on the live streams. NO, it puts subscribers off. But I do add them after the live is done.

[@WPEagle]

Me too

[@peakminute]

Hey, Alex, IMHO Google / KZbin wants you to use Adsense for content monetization. In this case all the money flows through their system. If you wish to sell something again they want you to use KZbin ads to sell and again all the money would flow through "in house" system... Several days I saw design changes, when all video descriptions moved to the right side, another day was at the bottom of the video (on desktop/laptop). Yeah I hate it too as you do, because people used to know where is the video description, but looks like the changes on the platform coming. Might be Google is split testing design,- visitor heatmap, CTR and etc for a time being, but be sure they will do whatever they see more profitable for the company.

[@WPEagle]

They want to keep you and the money within their system.

[@garyw.1643]

Greed, greed, and greed! All you talk about in this video is part of the game, right? That's why KZbin is the best video platform. But nothing lasts forever; one day we will use another platform. TikTok is proof of that!

[@TecTimmy]

Maybe I’ll start a blog instead. No wait… 😮

[@WPEagle]

yeah, erm.

[@jonathanrice2568]

Noooo please noooo!

[@WPEagle]

It's happening...

[@jonathanrice2568]

@@WPEagle this would seriously be the end for me.. two yrs working on my odys/NWB site for nothing, now pivoted to YT working on an affiliate marketing model mainly, just starting out. I have until the end of the year max, make or break. This has me worried because I also had descriptions missing on Firefox a couple months back, for a week or so.. Sails, wind taken out of.