Is YouTube Slowly Reducing Our Ability To Monetize?

KZbin has been making changes lately and some of them are a little concerning. It feels like each of these changes makes it just a little more difficult for creators to monetize off platform. With some of the changes it seems KZbin gets positioned as the monetization solution and it's making me uncomfortable enough that I wanted to talk about it. DISCLAIMER: The things I talk about in this video are just some things I've noticed that are concerning to me as it feels like a slow squeeze.
Sources:
Shorts links removal - support.google.com/youtube/th...
Blog post featuring jump ahead feature - blog.youtube/news-and-events/...
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[@YouTubeLiaison]

Thanks Nick, sincerely appreciate the feedback! For the links in Shorts, bad actors can make Shorts at much, much higher volume and velocity than long form, so KZbin felt it needed to address the abuse there (maybe why other platforms have never allowed for links in short-form video, only "links in bio"). For jump ahead, in a recent Creator Insider Newsflash, they mentioned KZbin hadn't seen any statistically significant change in watch time. Since you have to spam the skip button to get jump ahead, my guess is it's pretty much the same people who used to skip through the segment now just jumping ahead of it instead. (Putting on my creator hat for a moment, we know viewers value efficient watch time, we see that in our retention graphs already, which is also why for a long time now we've seen some creators put sponsor spots at the end of the video, or interweave high-retention action with the sponsor spots in challenge videos, etc.). I haven't heard the search rumors, but I'll pass along the whole video to the teams! Thanks for sharing your ideas with creators as well, and again for the feedback!

[@KevinNordstrom]

KZbin just needs to get rid of shorts all together imo. Or put them in an entirely different app

[@NickNimmin]

Thanks for the clarity Rene! I appreciate it. Definitely concerned about the way it looks like things are headed. And thanks for passing these along, I appreciate it!!!

[@KevinKolbe]

Regarding killing links in Shorts - the bad actors you mention may not create long form as fast but I don't see them going "oh well, links are dead, let's stop scamming people." They scam because sadly they do. They can find a way to create longer form videos easily to link off the Shorts...that they can still create...apparently fast too. This may be the reason given but the reasoning is lame at best.

[@LifeOfViette]

I’m sorry but as a viewer, the least I could do is watch the video and skip around on my own if I want to find out the information that the content creator went out of their way to make. It’s counter intuitive in supporting your creators. And the fact that I’m a new creator myself, it’s not very motivating to create content for the platform. Wow. Not a good business move at all.

[@mdtomchick1563]

Notice also how they upped the pay out for shorts but it's still Inconsequential for most creators? I agree shorta should be spun off onto a different platform cuz thwy are channel killers for long content creators. If they want things to be better they need to make a way for Roku and smart TV users to engage. Many people watch on their TVs and it's not easy whatsoever to leave a like or comment or anything --

[@JamesKerLindsay]

Something is going very wrong with KZbin. Like many others, my views are right down over the past few months and I have had several regulars say they are no longer being fed my videos. On top of that, there is horrific spam, trolls and bot activity at the moment. It is quickly getting to the point that it is increasingly becoming more effort than it is worth. I didn’t start YT to make money, but a lot of time effort and expense goes into making videos. Added to the advent of cheap mass poor-quality AI content, and it seems that many serious creators will consider their position. I’m already hearing about this happening.

[@XaviersBonsaiRetreat]

Interesting to see this comment. I am a small channel but have had a regular view count over several years. I am now recently noticing that my view counts have nearly halved for no obvious reason or change in content approach. A little frustrating :)

[@vespastar222]

but you have still a lot of views? I would be so grateful of having so many views. But also I am still learning and just starting. Bless you.

[@XaviersBonsaiRetreat]

@@vespastar222 You are right and I feel blessed for how much this has helped me get through some troubled times. My little community keeps me going. Thanks for your message 🙂

[@desertcats1496]

It's the beginning of the end. I'm no longer convinced about Nick's last comment: "KZbin is still a 'gigantic' opportunity.

[@YogaBlissDance]

Mine too, not sure it MAY be seasonal but it started early LOL, I think YT is fighting with the HUGE # OF AI created shorts and having to prune them out...plus trying to be TikTok which IS HURTING THE LONGER VIEWS and committed viewers who come to YT FOR DIFFERENT THINGS than Tiktok.

[@WhatchaGot2Say]

And viewers wonder why some of us are investing more time into platforms like Patreon. It’s because Patreon actually cares about the Creators and puts us first. When you do that everyone wins - including the viewers.

[@PetAdorn229]

If so, I hope Patreon stays this...far too many entities shifted their direction/focus for 'profit/scalability.'

[@AlejandroMonsivaisMarque-qb6cn]

I couldn’t agree more with you

[@s.h.6858]

"...Patreon actually cares about the Creators...". Provided you don't have wrongthink, that is.

[@animelodies-_-]

Yes they are! I was sailing along and then nothing. No video suggestions or impressions, or let’s say a 95% reduction. I give up. It’s like they use you until you almost get monetized and then they kick you to the curb. Totally discouraging and like I said, I just can’t put the time into it for nothing.

[@AmericanEnglishBrent]

Nick, thanks for bringing attention to this subject. In the short term, the viewer wins, but in the long term, they might lose if creators stop creating because it isn’t worth the time. If one can no longer make a living by creating on KZbin.

[@szewczyk_travel]

👍

[@EagleRun23]

they got us by the balls, id gladly leave if there was an alternative. only game in town, unfortunately.

[@LifeOfViette]

💯 facts

[@AmericanEnglishBrent]

@@EagleRun23 they do now, but if they start pulling this kind of stuff, it might even out the other platforms.

[@PetAdorn229]

I totally agree. I had to jump the ship with my channel of 11 years with 10k followers. The channel is very much dead. There is no need to maintain it or make videos on that channel. The result is to completely change the course of direction/contents. Content creators are also viewers!😊 Another challenge for YT is: pls promote high-quality niche channels, not the cookie cutter, copy cat with if you seen one, you have seen them all. Especially there are so many talented creators quit before they made to the finish line to get into the door!

[@SmartVideoTactics]

Thanks Nick, what was interesting while watching this video on my PC, I scrolled down and I couldn't see your description at all, all I could see wat "20k views 8 days ago" I though that was weird, and then I clicked on that by chance and your entire description opened up. So KZbin gives no indication and doesn't have the more option shown anymore. This is another blow to us creators that are looking to make money with links in descriptions.

[@BunnPlayzz]

It makes absolute zero sense that on a platform like youtube, youtube would add extra steps so you can view the descriptions of the video because the youtube devs also use those same descriptions, keywords and tags to use it for impressions to spotlight your channel also what Nick says nobody in their right mind wants to click 5 times to view a video description most of us would just give up after two clicks 😅

[@GoodWitchIntuitiveTarot]

Thanks so much for the info Nick! Honestly, If KZbinrs can no longer make a living they will go to other platforms or go work for companies that pay them a lot more. Being a KZbinr is a massive amount of work I work 80 hours a week. It’s truly a labor of love. I make most of my money by providing services outside of KZbin. if I make less due to this skip feature, I would consider going elsewhere or possibly take one of the job offers to work for a company and work regular hours. I also think KZbin takes much too much of our Super Chat $. I love KZbin but taking too much from creators will cause them to not want to work this hard anymore.

[@KarenColeUKLawyer]

You only make money when the video reaches a lot of views. under 500 is under $1... 1000 to 3000 is about $12 under 24,000 views is about $ 80 then 30% for KZbin and 30% taxes leaves not very much for all the hours it takes. But we don't pay for the platform and the opportunities and engagement with the world is wonderful. I ❤ that @NickNimmins helps us so much with tips. ❤

[@Jen-Chapin]

@@KarenColeUKLawyer not true. My RPM is much higher than that, I make $300-400 per video and I get around 20k views :)

[@leesureleetrippin7079]

Totally agree 💯

[@cryptoalchemist369]

ive experienced a 90% advertising revenue drop over the last year, while documenting youtube slashing my views and subscribers over and over and over again! it's straight up theft!

[@Marcus-pj4yw]

It's nice to see a channel talk about this instead of channels I see which try to make it seem as if KZbin doesn't control anything and we the creators are doing anything and everything wrong. When you have shorts and videos to do thousand on a regular basis and then out of nowhere they are doing less than 100, come on it's ridiculous and we are not slow and dumb. Like I've said before they really don't care. How many of us have gotten to 3900 watch hours or more just to have the rug pulled out from under us?

[@back2thenature2]

I have been making youtube videos for over 10 years and it just feels like as soon as I've learnt how things work, everything gets harder and changes. It's like I'm reaching for a golden apple on a tree and I almost reach it every year because I'm growing taller but the tree is outgrowing me so I can never reach it every year. Even for you reading this, imagine you could go back 5 to 10 years with the KZbin knowledge you have now, you would be earning loads of cash within a couple of months for sure. But everything changes all the time and people with MASSIVE budgets and CRAZY equipment make it difficult for some people to compete with. Anyway, we will push on and make it work. Just think things out carefully........ Think of things that AI can't answer, like "I tried XYZ for 30 days and here are the results" or whatever. Things that AI can't answer, that's the way forward. Also, sponsors will start telling us to spread their segment over the entire video in some way.

[@DarthShadie]

Sponsors aside, it can be a section someone might find interesting but others did not and that person might miss out, or it is after a most viewed section so it appears as less viewed. Either way, it's a loss for retention, hence a loss for our reach and ability to grow and succeed.

[@NickNimmin]

Ye0, that’s part of my concern as well.

[@fromdajump]

Not allowing KZbin Shorts watch time to count towards monetization alone is suss. Also forcing us to scroll past their forced recommendations before seeing the comments is anti-community-building. Not only that, but in this new design (which I hate, and share your feelings on) you don't even SEE the comments box beneath the video (even on desktop or laptop), instead, it's truncated to a vertical rectangle in the upper right and you have to click on the X in the upper right in the new design to even see the ability to scroll past the bs.The more steps you inject between search query and search result, only increases viewer drop off and clicks away from your content. Many KZbinrs (both creators and just the viewers) want to see the comments first before watching or commenting - this new design ruins that.Thanks for covering this topic.

[@lovestolaugh]

@@fromdajump did they just change that? Cause I get a lot more views on my shorts right now...and even though they're shorter, they're more engaging and fun. How do we know for sure yt is doing this?

[@fromdajump]

@@lovestolaugh change what?

[@lovestolaugh]

@@fromdajump is KZbin removing the ability to use watch hours from shorts to count towards your 4000 watch hours to get monetized?

[@fromdajump]

@@lovestolaugh they didn’t remove it, KZbin shorts never counted at all towards monetization ever. It’s easy to find on Google/KZbin’s website on KZbin Shorts when you read their terms. This ain’t new. I used to release 28 shorts a week after misleading info I saw from another KZbinr but it’s plain as day on google’s own website segment about shorts - if you are not already monetized - these shorts hours of watch time don’t count towards the 4K hours of watch time you need to be accepted in the KZbin Partnership program. Look it up

[@back2thenature2]

@@lovestolaugh It should count to watch hours IF it wasn't viewed on the shorts table. That's as far as I know. But I don't think they ever counted watch hours when it's seen in the shorts feed.

[@BeComingNyrell]

I could be wrong but the pre launch to this imo is when they added the "Allow Automatic Chapters" feature so AI could read your piece of content to distinguish each section of the video- using that data to help with this jump feature...

[@PlanetImo]

Something else I noticed recently was that my Amazon affiliate clicks had plummeted. I was baffled as I hadn't changed any of my behaviours. Then the other day I clicked on someone eles's affiliate link and a screen pooped up warning me I was navigating away from KZbin and did I wish to continue? I didn't of course, because I just wanted to a have a quick look in a second tab whilst still listening to the video. So I'm wondering if this is causing a drop in Amazon clicks. I don't remember it doing that before?

[@SarahStair]

it absolutely affects it. Google did this a long time ago to image search. I used to get tons of views from images on a website from google image search results, and they created this frame that keeps the image as part of the google viewing experience and you have to actively click "visit" to go to the website to get a better look at the image now. its exactly like the "youre leaving the youtube site" popup now. before when you clicked on the image it would take you directly to the website that had the image. needless to say. my traffic TANKED on that site. internet marketing is VERY unpredictable, and you always have to adapt and find a new way to reach people if your livelihood depends on it. it can get difficult at times, because the rules are always changing....like literally from day to day :/

[@ICECarOwnerDIY]

Being one that has clicked on these links in the past, I can tell you that this has been there for several years at least. Who knows why your affiliate clicks have dropped. I wish there was more data available so that you could figure it out and then adjust to compensate. It may just be that the economy is faltering and people are being more careful how they spend their money.

[@ALEXZOW]

I feel like a lot of people get scammed a lot so they give out a warning first so you don’t get hacked

[@jackl4laughs]

I stopped reading descriptions when they changed how to reach them, it was too many clicks to just see what was in the video. Made me watch less random videos the last few weeks honestly.

[@TBIJourney]

I'm already struggling. I don't need another reason to struggle. I'm learning a ton but it's definitely a struggle 😞

[@simple_naildesigns]

Same, it’s awful!

[@FadiOutdoorZ]

Same here im doing outdoor videos but struggling too

[@UseYourBrain00]

@@TBIJourney I can feel your pain

[@Mindfulmaven19]

KZbin wants to get paid but doesn’t want to pay or it seems 🤷‍♀️

[@FadiOutdoorZ]

@@Mindfulmaven19 sounds like you Right because all my videos got Ads but im not monetized yet so they get paid and im not

[@CoachSherri]

I appreciate the solutions that you provide. Thank you for keeping us updated.

[@SuzyTopAgent]

I really hope they don't take away links completely. I also don't like that they took away links from shorts. Thank you for creating this video Nick!

[@AliexFolgueira]

I've seen a huge slowdown in affiliate sales. I was blaming the brands I'm working with (they've changed their affiliate vendor so many times!), but it could be due to KZbin hiding the description. This isn't new; the "See More" button has been a problem for a long time! It could also be that people only have money for groceries that are 300% more expensive. It's not a loss of views - I'm still averaging over 8,000 long-form views a day. I think it's what you just said: an extra click! That kills conversion by about 30%, right?

[@dieselapegarage]

I can understand most of the changes you'd have to think there is almost everyone in the world that wants to be a content creator and make the maximum dollar off of creating content but it is a big competitive field out there for every time somebody works hard there's going to be somebody working hard to make a loophole so just stick with it it work out it work out if not figure out what it takes to make it work appreciate the tips and tricks Nick watching an learning 👀🍿💪

[@WhitepepperFarm]

One of my biggest headaches with trying to monetize my channel is people being able to find links, its terrible. Great video, Nick! I'm going to VidSummit this year, excited to see you speak!

[@NickNimmin]

See you there!

[@jaredmello]

How did you get 156k subs in 8 months? I’d be curious how you did it.

[@WhitepepperFarm]

@@jaredmello short form content. Short form and finding a format that people watch

[@jaredmello]

@@WhitepepperFarm gotcha

[@FoodFunDiary]

Mighty hugs thanks for this sharing, Nick🤗💜I agree with you on these points. If YT is aiming to be Shorts dominated, then it would be no different from TikTok, Instagram or FB. How would YT stand out then? It’s strange to watch Shorts on laptop & TV😅 “training” viewers to watch more Shorts does not help with longer concentration. How would we enjoy movies or documentaries in the future then?😂

[@YourDriverMike]

Firstly awesome video Nick per usual. Would DEFINITELY like (and need) a video explaining the link redirects. I have my main website but I see other creators like Think Media creating custom URL redirects that are easier to remember like you said and contain affiliate opportunities. How do we do this? Thank you!

[@sharkscrapper]

Thanks Nick - really appreciate you taking the time to research and share things like this about YT so the rest of us creators can concentrate on what we do best...which in my case is watching your live stream on Saturday 🤣🤣

[@NickNimmin]

🤓👊

[@NightBeastCars]

Yes.. someone needed to bring attention to this... KZbin needs to be more considerate to it's creators and make it easier to view descriptions!!!!

[@ClayDisarray]

Ugh! Thanks for getting on this so quickly, Nick!

[@collectingwithderrz]

Another great one, man, and something that made me think a bit. I have watched KZbin as one of my main forms of viewing, probably since it started up. In all those years, I think i have only gone out of my way to check the description, maybe once or twice. Have a great day man & much ❤

[@ErikWaitWhiskyStudies]

It seems to me a better alternative is to have product placement throughout the video rather than a segment. That said at a commercial cannot be skipped. This is how it is done in movies in which there is a bottle of champagne or whatever in the scene.

[@KarenColeUKLawyer]

👋 Nick I didn't know where to find description until I became a creator. When I show people in person how to find the description, no one knew, to get to the description, you had to push more. I started putting links in my chat, to make it easier. Thanks for great solutions to problems. ❤

[@mySeaPrince_]

When I first started watching YT the UI was a minefield to use... other platforms might be simpler but are mostly awkward or jumpy.. if they just sorted that out.. with a intuitive UI and put filters on the content that is not family viewing.. it would be easier to have a platform that is family friendly only.. there would be a competitor to YT.. even if the advert revenue was less.

[@CollinMichael]

I’ve started showing people at least in shorts where to click on my profile and to click the link “in my youtube channels bio” which is just a link list of my affiliates and my other products. I might start doing that in my long forms now after this video. I think if creators both verbally and visually show where to go can help make sure people get to the right spot.

[@homecookteresagreen]

I have listened to your video and I have just a few takeaways. Preface, I am not monetized yet but will someday be monetized. When something is presented to me, I immediately think to myself is there a better way. The “skip ahead feature” leads me to think this will affect watch time hours. Then there’s the in-ad situation. I would make sure I summarize at the end of the video and repeat the in-ad throughout and definitely at the end of the video. The key is to make quality content, so the person will want to watch the whole video. There are hour long videos that I watch without skipping anything. The videos seem to be of movie quality, the sound is perfect, and they are very informative. We got this! Just put out your best content with no fluff.

[@KevinKolbe]

Rant or no, dude so appreciate you sharing your insight, concerns, and ideas about this too. One reason I love KZbin as a creator is because, well, there is no platform that comes close to a way to reach people and make a living too. Having said that, I also get, KZbin is a business and in the business of making money first. Hey, if they don't, it will trickle down hard for all of us - viewers AND creators. The "Jump Ahead" feature along with the upcoming "Community Notes" are, in my opinion, horrible missteps for KZbin. Yeah, different but still not good. I too share concerns about what off-KZbin monetization using KZbin will look like in the (near) future but at least for now we still have a lot of opportunities to grow. Re: website and links. 100% agree and would add, I'd go the 100% website route. Own your name or specific domain and add pages from that. Better to own yourself than invest in too many URLs and such. Appreicate you dude!

[@griffinpaintingandhomeimprovem]

I signed up for the KZbin affiliate program. I already had 3 sales in the first two weeks. I was surprised my biggest sale was from a short.

[@NickNimmin]

Nice work!

[@CacklingChick]

Wait, what? YT has an affiliate program?

[@griffinpaintingandhomeimprovem]

@CacklingChick yes when I hit 10k subscribers i was able to apply.

[@ODBC_Catalina_Mod]

I also don’t think they should add that skip ahead feature… 😬

[@drmatthewhorkey]

Looks like we will all have to get more creative for ad reads. Spreading out the message throughout the video

[@dailyphilosophy]

@@drmatthewhorkey Or make the promotional segment worth watching. Some creators make them funny and original, so that they become enjoyable and one does watch them.

[@RaymondParkerPhoto]

I think so. It's difficult for those of us just reaching the point where we hold out the hope of actually seeing returns for the years of work we've put in to grow our channels.

[@smalltowntourist]

I have no interest in youtube shorts at all. No matter how hard they drive me to them, I will not watch them.

[@SummerSayre]

Completely agree

[@51Drones]

I guess it’s time for creators to do more product placements and highly creative integrated content. This might lead to more “topic-related” sponsorships instead of a tidal wave of “quare case” ads. 😊

[@NickNimmin]

Yeah it’s looking that way.

[@BeComingNyrell]

Thank you for always keeping us updated with unbiased and solution driven content

[@NickNimmin]

🤓👊

[@Don_Thomas_]

Yikes...im not even monetized yet..but this news is concerning.

[@NickNimmin]

Please don’t look at it as news. I’m just sharing my concerns as it seems these new updates are heading us in the wrong direction for creators who monetize off platform.

[@AndrewK]

Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts Nick! Agree with a lot of the ideas shared here. As always it's important to talk about these things. Espeically with the new layout discussion. Love seeing the KZbin Creator Liason has already acknolwedged a lot.

I was aware of some of these things, but not this much. AI will be a problem for all of us at some point. Thank you for expressing what all of us feel right now.

[@FreeggNinja3618]

Thank you for being real and honest about this, I feel like these things need to be discussed

[@HomeKeepingChannel]

Thanks Nick for making this video. This feels shady as hell from KZbin😡

[@GoFishOffice]

Thank you for updating us. Yeah i don't like when KZbin changes things when it was working fine before. Have a good day 😊

[@VoyagersRevenge]

Been keeping up since your first 100k subs! You've come a long way and I love to see it. Thanks for keeping up updated Nick!

[@NickNimmin]

🙏 Thank you! It’s been a long journey!

[@Kirkyeehee]

I remember hearing about this a few weeks back and I knew it was going to end up spelling bad things for creators. Let's watch time means less ad revenue for KZbin as well. I know personally I'm not going to put a crap ton of ads on the video that is going to have chunks of it skipped out on because KZbin's AI deemed it to not be important enough for people to want to watch. Not sure what they're thinking with this one because it's bound to hurt them in the long run.

[@SjDating]

Good luck with that. We can file a counter chargeback (and we would win), which would render youtube debanked. You cannot mess around with chargebacks and people's money. If thry tried that the government would fall down on them like a ton of bricks.

[@archvaldor]

It is actually possible to work an ad into a video without retention,loss. Difficult but not impossible. If you can show people something interesting about the product it can actually increase retention. Where a lot of youtubers go wrong is telegraphing their intent to deliver an ad and then sounding dead inside while they read out an unconvincing product description.

[@BeaverZer0]

I agree. I hate it. I saw this change on mine a few weeks ago and I hate it.

[@ReikiMasterCarlie]

Thank you for pinpointing the problem of the hidden description. It also affects my channel and promotion of my services because I don't do talking in the video. I mainly rely on viewer reading the description for more details. 🙏🏻

[@AaronBlox-h2t]

Ok so....why don't you just start talking then? Incorporate it into your narrative? Nothing wrong with that.

[@AnchorMoments]

Thanks for the heads up, Nick!

[@TUCOtheratt]

IMO the underlying unspoken big problem is that the KZbin audience is bored with zero budget TV. Every channel I watch is getting less views on longs and shorts. Creators are releasing more videos per week but not getting more total views.

[@NickNimmin]

So if the audience is bored, what signal does that send to creators? It means the expectations for quality content is higher, so we have to do better and make more entertaining and valuable content. Creators can no longer coast and expect big results.

[@TUCOtheratt]

@@NickNimmin Well said. On a related note, I wonder if the explosion of AI generated videos and KZbin's officially embracing of the practice is affecting viewer interest in the platform. AI videos have catchy titles, thumbnails and images but you can pick them out shortly after the video starts because of their shallow intellectual presentation.

[@NickNimmin]

The audience will vote with their views. What they don't like, won't get promoted.

[@MicroGlimpseTV]

Thank you Nick!! I appreciate you.

[@tracy419]

I use the fast forward option on only a couple of creators content, and only because they insert so many long sponsor breaks. Peter diamandis is one example where he puts in several breaks that are up to 2 or 3 minutes long. No thanks. Otherwise I just let them go. The skip function is something I won't use though, because I don't trust others to decide what I think is important to see.

[@RastaOnABike]

You inspired me to start my own channel. Love your content

[@NickNimmin]

Awesome! Glad you’re enjoying the videos!

[@shearfunsewing]

Thanks, Nick! Another fantastic video of yours. You can see how this will severely impact Information based channels that create tutorials, don't you! Harder on us I expect than it will be on Entertainment or Connection channels (although they'll be affected too). I love thinking about a day that we all just quit KZbin, on the same day (call it Black Friday) and leave the CEO and marketers there to have to create their own darned shorts - billions of them because we content creators left the platform, and left them in the dust after getting sick and tired of being treated like crap. Why don't they invite some of us to those meetings to get our imput before making these new changes which they make, over and over again.

[@neeneesway]

Thanks for always making videos about what matters 💖

[@NickNimmin]

👊 🤓

[@ClassicQuarterGamePlays]

😢 so, much change online now days anywhere Nick. I am a creator of few channels myself I worry about the future sometimes. But I enjoy the work u do. KEEP AWESOME NICK😎

[@RebeccaRohrHome]

Great information Nick. Thanks 😊

[@TexasPlugRiches]

Yes they are! I understand some channels buy subs and views, but YT shouldn't punish everyone for it. I lose subs, watch time hours, and have even lost a few views on videos. (I take pictures of all of this). It is irritating to say the least.

[@americanvoyager6318]

Nobody likes commercials, including creators. To say otherwise, would be disingenuous. KZbin has no choice but to deal with that reality first, or lose the game. Compared to that reality, creators who can't deal with change, and/or make a living based on said changes, would be easy to say goodbye to. Even "Nick" knows this is true, hence he walked back nearly his entire video at the end.

[@ScullyPopASMR]

Thanks for filling in the blanks.

[@ScorrFamilyAdventures]

Thank you Nick for helping us all stay in the loop!!

[@NickNimmin]

You bet!

[@TheMoneyProclamation]

I make business stories, and recently started to watch your videos. These are helping in many cases... but this video made me fall into some actual thoughts... if it gets overly biased towards viewers, it'll be difficult for us...

[@Worldwheelchairwarriors]

It will cut our view numbers as well.

[@NickNimmin]

They don’t cut view numbers. Think of KZbin like a competition. When some people publish great videos the good videos don’t do as well.

[@inspiringtone2975]

@@NickNimminthen mainly people who can spend lots of money on equipment and pay people to help them will get the majority of views so starting out with little money may not work any more as viewers expect more. AI is changing u tube a lot too. Thank you for your channel it really gives good solid advice

[@KktravelandEducationvlogkc3zk]

I love your videos and how you inform people about KZbin stuff it’s really amazing how you do that you’re doing an awesome job. Nick keep doing what you’re doing. You are an awesome person.

[@NickNimmin]

Thank you so much!

[@KktravelandEducationvlogkc3zk]

@NickNimmin My pleasure I hope you have a great weekend

[@PlanetImo]

Oh I don't like the sound of that skip ahead feature. I'm trying so hard to pivot my vlogging channel this year, targeting viewers who do NOT skip the certain sections that get consistent drops due to the topic type. I made a second channel for the most popular parts, which were taking my main channel in the wrong direction for me. That was a smart move, as it turned out. I'm hoping that one will help fund the main - very not commercially viable because of all the non-mainstream elements - channel. So yeah - not looking forward to AI guiding people to skip those parts without even checking them out to see if they like them or not.

[@EagleRun23]

whats their play for taking our money out of content? their brand connect is a major bust, their shopping is WILDLY limited and mostly just links to walmart. rarely can I even find the exact product I am showing. they NEED to put more of a focus on creators, i get that viewers come first. but i am feeling like they are hostile at this point to me.

[@TheOnlyTaps]

Cheers for the info and discussion as always 👊🏿

[@NickNimmin]

No problem 👍

[@MOONOVERMIAMI]

Hello great video information Nick

[@NickNimmin]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@cleacalisto2349]

Great video, thank you. I would like to know more about the implementations of the things that can help us

[@NickNimmin]

Noted! Thanks!

[@domehouse79]

Thanks for your transparency Nick

[@NickNimmin]

🤓👊

[@OfficerArsenault]

They certainly are, what’s worse is some channels who promote growth and monetize off that are not facing the new reality and pushing newer users to purchase older, outdated methods.

[@NickNimmin]

The methods to grow are still similar. This isn’t as much about growth as it is monetization.

[@Since1667]

Nice summary - thanks Nick. Seems terribly short sighted by KZbin.

[@StormySkyRailProductions]

Thanks for the info!

[@NickNimmin]

No problem!

[@derryXDINES]

I think you did a really good job here balancing constructive criticism with solution-based advice for creators. I imagine trying to navigate and optimize the 3d surface that social media is and maintain creator quality, viewer satisfaction, and platform safety can't be easy and at some point decisions need to be made where to compromise. On the topic of the new layout, one thing to note is that the behavior of the description in a live stream or premiere exactly mimics what has been happening on mobile for these types of video. When you click into these from the KZbin app, the whole title-descrption-suggested videos section are covered by the live chat. On desktop, it's more jarring because the video is side by side with this area. In my head, the team that developed the new desktop layout probably figured it would harmonize the experience across devices.

[@NickNimmin]

I think that’s happening as well with making features similar across devices. With that said, these things being covered or difficult on a phone is also a step in the wrong direction when it complicates the paths to action IMO.

[@derryXDINES]

@@NickNimmin I agree, I'm pointing out it's been happening for a while

[@tinamwrightbeautybabe]

KZbin is making it so hard for all of us to get monitized

[@UseYourBrain00]

Agree

[@pipecleanercraftsb]

Nick, is it only me, or all my OLD long-form videos are making a few cents per 1K views, and only the recent videos have the regular RPM?

[@NickNimmin]

If you break down your analytics correctly, you should be able to determine is that is in fact the case. I'm not seeing that myself.

[@pipecleanercraftsb]

@@NickNimmin yes, the break down is correct, 86% of views on a video from Browse features, and yet the RPM is a few cents per 1K, on old viral videos. The new videos are ok.

[@2good2mention]

'Thank you Nick, as always an excellent information.

[@samirazeefashion5662]

Wow! Am just hearing about it Now, thanks for bringing it to my notice.

[@Sotweetie]

If a creator doesn't want us to skip past sponsored segments, maybe they should not change their clothes or put logos and other things that make it so readily apparent by hovering over the video timeline where we want to jump ahead to.

[@NickNimmin]

True.

[@MistyKathrine]

Do you have any solutions to the invalid traffic issue that is absolutely destroying small creators? KZbin support just gaslights creators and offers them no solutions.

[@NickNimmin]

No. I’m dealing with the invalid traffic thing on my channel too.

[@MistyKathrine]

@@NickNimmin That sucks. :( Sorry you're going through that too.

[@DanElser]

Knowledge is power! Thank You Nick. In the old days I could download videos off KZbin, obviously I really need to upgrade to KZbin Premium. Any recommendations on downloading my Favorite videos would be greatly appreciated, thanks! PS The coffee video you made is the Shizle! "There is no life without coffee"

[@MagicFlyinPotato]

Thanks for putting this out for us Nick. Popcorn Distraction!!! 🍿🐶

[@NickNimmin]

🐶 popcorn is the best!

[@GoodnessinMotion-pg2ur]

Thanks very much, the tiny creators like me need to learn all we can!

[@NickNimmin]

Happy to help!

[@TacticalToolbox]

One solution is to use a QR code in the videos for the links

[@jeffsantos93]

The description thing really is annoying. It's really difficult to get to it now...

[@DidYouKnowNowYouKnow]

I appreciate the detailed explanation . Your tips are awesome

[@NickNimmin]

👊 🤓

[@DomAZ]

Thanks for sharing. It's accurate to say that the majority of individuals prefer to avoid additional tasks.

[@unclemick-synths]

One plus for me is the impact on sponsor ad reads - I always skip those because there are ways to do sponsored content that benefit the viewer and this will seriously be a disincentive from putting out videos with big chunks of blah-di-blah in them. Coming from the UK I've always thought mainstream TV sponsor ad reads to be so corny, "Today's weather is brought to you by Dodgy Doug's long term care emporium, you can depend on us to ship your loved ones to the back of beyond."

[@KevinNordstrom]

KZbin is not listening to creators.

[@NickNimmin]

They do. I pinned a comment from KZbin’s Creator Liaison where he shared the other side of the story and also mentioned he would be passing on my concerns. They listen. But they do have a business to run.

[@back2thenature2]

They sure do listen, but they will ALWAYS take steps to make more profit for the company and less for the creator. All this stuff happening is a clear indication of taking money away from creators. The same thing that has happened to bloggers in the last 12 months is going to happen to youtubers in the next 12 months, mark my words. Google is remodeling so that creators get less and Google gets more. I mean, when KZbin takes around 50% of your TIPS!!!!!!!!! That's not a good sign... It's the same as the bosses that take waiters tips, exactly the same. "Oh but youtube is free for you to use and that's why" oh ok, so the restaurant owners can also say that there is no charge for being a waiter and that's why he takes half of your tips.... it's unethical and immoral.

[@intuitivediane]

@@NickNimminas a business I’m surprised they don’t allow more people to get an income. If people can earn and so can KZbin. Just like tiktok it is easy to earn.

[@piggywahwah]

I worked in a shopping mall for years. Opposite was the sky tv stall with their sales team. They'd use every trick in the book to get ppl working as much as they can. They would offer them juicy incentives then remove them once they were settled. If billions and billions of views are coming from shorts and they pay you a fraction of the price then it's a no brainer they want all the views there.

[@piggywahwah]

​@@intuitivedianehow u earn off tik tok?

[@CollinMichael]

If you do make a domain name that redirects to your affiliate it could be possible for the AI search to pull up going to that website for a “free trial of opus clip” or something. If someone found a way to leverage AI search like that it would be nuts.

[@thelivingroomstudios]

Yes please - on the how-to videos question! Thanks Nick!

[@Basically.Bricks]

Im 6 subscribers away from 300!!! 😊

[@NickNimmin]

Congrats!

[@Basically.Bricks]

@@NickNimmin thanks! Still 6 away! 😀

[@UseYourBrain00]

👍

[@AliexFolgueira]

Finished the video. Now, I find myself just typing 'hey, how do you do this' into the AI chatbot to get my answer instead of going to Google and finding a video. This will be a problem, but many people still love to see things in action, not just read. Do we really want that viewer, the one who skips through to find what he needs and never comes back? I also want to add that the description as it is today is bad. The solution would be to send people to your site, as you mentioned, and burn that site into the video itself so KZbin can't block it. Well, they will. They may start limiting the reach of your video just because you mentioned a website in it! Don't believe me? Haha, you know they already limit the reach of a lot of stuff they don't agree with, sending traffic off-platform is one of them.

[@mrlotkuu]

Thanks for your tips Nick😊

[@DoctorKusanagi]

*making notes*

[@EYELEVELAwakening]

Wow….it really seems like building a channel on Rumble is far more worthwhile than KZbin.

[@NickNimmin]

All this being said, KZbin still has more reach and monetization opportunities than Rumble currently.

[@EYELEVELAwakening]

@@NickNimmin you are smart to say currently. Although I would say a direct link to locals would cast doubt on that. I seriously doubt your comment will hold any truth in 5 years. Not to mention Rumble is an actual free speech platform.

[@jayayadav909]

Nick, I am a great fan of yours. I have found my number of views going down which is hurting me. I am working very hard every day. I am not sure what to do. Please guide me. Thanks

[@Ovoworks]

Well I hope KZbin reviews this issues you've highlighted cause It will impact us creators hard rock...