THIS is why you don't trust Youtubers

[@TravisMCP]

FTC disclosures for influencers: www.ftc.gov/system/files/documents/plain-language/1001a-influencer-guide-508_1.pdf Disclosures for UK creators: www.asa.org.uk/news/new-guidance-launched-for-social-influencers.html?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjw8J6wBhDXARIsAPo7QA-dmKJdkjzvH8yeSsNHutvi77fvjjMzRFn6desRGjJtW3SxWzmwaRgaAjVDEALw_wcB

[@0LoneTech]

The EU Influencer Legal Hub may also be of interest.

[@scooter5480]

One thing I cant’t stand is when you’re a paid channel member and the channel owner doesn’t interact with you at all in the comments section. This isn’t about preferential treatment, it’s about good business practices.

[@richv1893]

I like certain KZbinrs, but I don't trust any of them. Being entertaining is one thing, but trusting someone is a different story.

[@hellaguapo]

I love these "keeping it real" type videos from you, Travis. Also, The Rock cameo made me LOL

[@HeySaintPatrick]

😂😂😂😂😂 that Hollywood Rock clip just took me out

[@stuartmeek763]

You’re right, as per. Mr Mobile is brilliant in his disclosures along with most in tech community that I’ve come across

[@franklingoodwin]

"I wrote them a letter..." Travis went full Karen? 😉😂. I agree and am glad you gave a shout out to Michael Fisher. He was the first KZbinr I thought of when you started speaking on this.

[@TravisMCP]

I had to pull out the Karen card

[@TheMasterSifu1]

Well said Travis! Always good to see you pop up in my recommendations.

[@SharpeTech]

“Bruh!” The set is dope! I remember when you started this project!! 🔥🔥🔥

[@Htiy]

I noticed The same thing! Sometimes theyll mention that people should buy a product like an ad when its clearly an ad…, but never explicitly state it

[@Lance.planes.and.more1]

I'm with you 100%. You can see right through certain people.

[@ChantelleHills]

So glad to see you talking about this, I have been seeing it so much lately, and not just youtube creators, but also celebs. Not knowing the FTC rules, is not an excuse.

[@tubedude92]

not sure if I'm more blown away by creators not disclosing products given to them or track made by ai explaining it ..either or appreciate the vid Travis

[@SeptienPatterson]

Travis woke up and chose violence

[@nivinhanna]

I 100% agree. It is the honest thing to do. I would unsubscribe from any KZbinrs that don't disclose when they should.

[@spectors69]

Thanks for sharing such a nice information ❤❤

[@jeffhale1189]

Thanks for sharing. Disclosure is essential. Blessings on your day.

[@FaceFamous]

Imbstill doing youtube. Thanks to youre advice we spoke 4 years ago when i first started i do music breakdowns now im one of the elite rap breakdown people. I havent been as consistent because life. But im back on. Im glad you still doing your channel. Well the grind never stops. And im going to catch my "competition" but somw of its on me spending too much time scrolling not enough recording..so its time to redirect my discipline if i want to do this full time along with a clothing brand. No excuses!! (Mostly) because things to come up😂

[@TechOutAdam]

I've had quite a few embargos and ones I'm working now and people don't understand that there's serious lawsuits and consequences if you don't follow the rules.

[@tannyn4460]

This is a great topic! And yes, it is oh so important that people are upfront about the products they are reviewing. I would be gone in a heartbeat if I thought a reviewer was not letting us know the truth about how they acquired the product.

[@docholliday1811]

Travis, you are awesome. You clearly have set a standard. Thank you.

[@NomadOutdoorAdventures]

Totally agree it is the law that you’re supposed to disclose that I have always done that whenever I was sent a product I see the same thing there’s tons of KZbinr’s doing that

[@jalabi99]

This is why I rock with you Travis. Keeping it really real, all the time!

[@blacar3270]

What up Travz. Good to have your voice back if only every now and then.

[@marcinkowalczyk647]

@TravisMCP as always laying it down how you feel it - not beating around the bush - just the way i like it - as always respect for being candid!

[@allenhuffman]

Thank you for your service.

[@ConcernedPublic]

Indeed, honesty is the best policy.

[@mawhiuk]

Just wondering if your a regular high volume customer to an independent model shop that gets stock in a few days before the “release” date. They might sell you it early because you are a good customer and they know you won’t break embargo and just want to get content ready for day of release.

[@TravisMCP]

This doesn't explain how they release their videos on the same min as the manufacturer.

[@RandomVideoCircus]

This is exactly why I keep to myself, everybody in KZbin Land wants the same exact thing, and so-called friends will become Frenemies, and try to take away what you have.

[@LifeAfterLosing]

100%. I don’t have a lot of followers but am slowly growing. I’ve been asked to do collaborations by much bigger channels, but I don’t think I will. I like doing my own thing and don’t want to make videos to chase viewers. I will only end up hating the process and will stop doing it.

[@EnglishDanReviews]

This is an excellent video. I only ever really see these disclosures in tech videos and never really noticed anything outside of tech ever mentioning it

[@janskitech9966]

Thanks for pointing this out publicly. It’ been going on for years now. Nice to see you back great man. Always nice to see your qualitative vids. TC😊😊

[@DJKennyMan]

Another excellent video sir. You had me laughing with the old school "nara word" reference.

[@TravisMCP]

😁

[@denniscarlson9297]

Great video! Important topic! Blessings from Sweden!

[@TravisMCP]

Thank you!

[@joanwerthman4116]

This is another reason I love the Fountain Pen community. KZbinrs go past telling you when they were sent the pen. They will let you know if they are sending it back or (more rarely) buying it instead of sending it back.

[@TischTosh]

i think the backback/"bag" community is the same....e-ink folks too. (I spend way too much time on YT 😂)

[@leapnlarry]

This is the reason why we dont take free product most of the time, we get offered 10 products every time i open my email. I never knew it was called an embargo. We only accept a free product if it is something we really want to review and cant afford to buy it, rare. But we need to make the point when we review products that we paid for it ourselves, vs the other 10 youtubers that got it for free. I love doing reviews on stuff that other YTers are reviewing for pay, and crush the product, haha. That Ai song at the end was insane, love it, what a world we live in now. Larry

[@tech4u680]

Glad your back Travis we missed you

[@ThePunkyTaco]

Your audio is amazing. Besides having your great voice, what software/settings do you use?

[@TravisMCP]

Just using my Rodecaster Duo and Procaster. Thanks!

[@c.daubz.5386]

6:48 this doesn’t matter unless it’s enforced and for the most part is not, just like all the false advertising is supposed to be illegal but it’s everywhere and everyone knows it, people do your own do diligence and research from multiple sources & locations, 👍👍 on video talking about the issue

[@michaelcorcoran8768]

Yeah, it does get a little exhausting when KZbinrs try to use FTC guidelines to claim that even their sponsored content is not biased. Like I'm sorry but I don't think in the history of digital media has that ever been enforced. It's a completely unenforceable law. It's not like the FDC is auditing random videos and going to check your emails to make sure you're not secretly admitting that you hate the products you're shilling.

[@Gameboyreaper]

Yeah I remember some influencers promoting ftx and look how that affected some investors out there.

[@JimKanaris]

Travis!!! I miss ya, bro, in this space. Loved your content, especially the iOS/Android switch videos. Fun! Anyway, good to see you on here spreading truth. Good job! Truth matters! FTW! 😁

[@DreyWatson]

Uh oh ! He’s back! Great video bro glad to see your content 💯

[@LeMansZamboni]

As an old man who yells at clouds and is an IT professional, I just assume all KZbin videos about products are commercials. However, in my line of work it does allow me to support and train end users about products I don’t use regularly. On a side note, I would love to hear your opinion on the Apple Antitrust case as I immediately thought about your video of the sneaky/clever way Apple brings people into their ecosystem.

[@TravisMCP]

Yeah I need to marinade on that subject for a while first.

[@roguewavecreative]

@@TravisMCPpersonally would love to hear your thoughts. I did at some point buy into the ecosystem and probably would never change that. Some of what they do protects that BUT it also creates other issues.

[@Prolificposter]

Not that MSFT has not forced any of us who worked in Corporate America into their ecosystem or anything like that. For instance, being old and old school, WordPerfect was miles better than Word but, by bundling, WP was pretty much pushed out.

[@Anamae5451]

Would like to know your thoughts on Apples new watch getting banned in US for stolen tech...

[@vcom]

there is another youtuber where he says iphome x, 8, 7 all are getting ios 17+ and its all fake and hes trying to get views there are literally so many of there vidoes on his channel.

[@BrianGlaze]

I hate that this happens because as you says, it undermines what the process is supposed to be. I see so many comments saying, "X is paid off/this is just a commercial/they were paid to say that".... Its said dognmatically and assumed to be true and the unfortunate part is that there are a lot of influencers doing it the right way but they are assumed to be bad actors.

[@YuzimaPhilip]

Facts, it's called corruption, and it's not good for anything.

[@Ka_T_ya]

That’s a huge issue in any YT sub community . Like i got into the 1/6 collectible action figures hobby and the first YTers i started following were the big ones ,one of them was sponsored by one distributor company for such figures ,and he was heavily promoting them , got a lot of new people ( myself included ) to order stuff there ,and that company just stopped sending people their stuff ,refusing refunds and a whole bunch of bad stuff . You can’t trust especially larger YTers . They might be entertaining ,but don’t trust them for advises.

[@TravisMCP]

Yikes! I am sorry to hear that :(

[@siggi9240]

Floss carter is the best youtubers.... He buys it from store with his own money and no holds bar review unlike some you tubers who looks fake like Ijustine and MKHB, to a certain extend

[@TheMasterSifu1]

Floss is one of my favorite KZbinrs. I’ve been watching him for years! But if you think Floss is buying every single product he reviews, then you don’t actually watch his videos or you aren’t paying attention. He buys a lot of stuff but I know for a fact he gets a lot of free products from companies. Same as most other KZbinrs with over 100K subs. He’s even said as much in his videos.

[@darrenmason4412]

No always

[@Soto-Tech2020]

That's a good call-out. How did you make that song using AI? It sounds good.

[@Starry_Night_Sky7455]

Call 'em out Travis. I like this.

[@artinbakhan]

Thanks man, this vid educated me ❤

[@jeromegold3216]

Great content. It doesn't surprise me. Fortunately all the KZbinrs I watch say this product was sent to me by so and so.

[@ewi57ty]

Because of this video i subscribed you. Good job !!

[@andrewriggs9808]

Been awhile! I’m glad you’re back 😊

[@Vyyyper2]

I need you to come on the vidiq podcast and talk about this with me! Good video!!!

[@TravisMCP]

Deal

[@BoomInTheSky]

@TravisMCP - Thanks for the heads up... I've passed it along to some of my friends that might be breaking the rules in my industry...

[@TheMainCal]

Sounds like to me if we see we report it to you tube and the ftc.

[@tomcrown69]

Unfortunately there are you tubers that run ads without stating their being 5:52 paid to do so. Unfortunately a lot of this happens in Tech space. I saw a video on AR product from China that this influencer claim was like Apple VR glasses. The product is worse than Galaxy 3. I wish the few you tubers that don’t disclose gets outed.

[@AngeliqueStidhum]

That is exactly why people aren't saying it. They are afraid that it will influence the value of their "opinion" or recommendation. There's someone who's doing this RIGHT NOW with a $4k product and not disclosing that she gets a $500-$1500 Affiliate commission. To get around this, the agreement the company has made is to call it a "marketing fee". This is the new category to avoid having to disclose. It's disgusting.

[@TravisMCP]

and it undermines an otherwise great way for people to get reviews on products they would have to save up to buy.

[@AliexFolgueira]

I get a lot of kayaks and products in for review, I mentioned it on the first video, since many of those products stays with me for years and i use the all the time, i dont mention on following videos it would be too reectivive boring and serve no purpose

[@TheStreetMechanik]

The ones I watch usually tell you that they got the product from the company and/or they bought the product outright. I usually feel comfortable with the KZbinrs I watch and haven’t felt like they were not disclosing anything.

[@saulgoodman2018]

Not everyone in the tech space does it.

[@NOT_A_TOP_FAN]

“The right thing to do”….people all seems to agree, until $$ takes hold of them. Oh the greedy society we live in.

[@chrisbarber1020]

Miss the content on your other channel too nice to see you

[@RirtyDascal]

4:44 Gotta love Michael Fisher. His writing skills are spectacular too. He's one of only a few KZbinrs I trust quite a bit. Juan Bagnell and TK are great too. And of course yourself good sir.

[@TravisMCP]

Thank you :)

[@colinhart01]

Hold up where is the intro. Glad you dropped another video!

[@PizzlesTechTime]

I have taken a change of heart when it comes to reviews on my channel. If I don't need it I'm not going to take it. If it's bad I'm going to let people know and I'm not going to do it in a sarcastic or mean way. Unfortunately every time I criticize one thing about a product I get an email from the company stating all the reasons why they did a b and c. Then I don't hear from them again and it really is unfortunate. Especially when companies make all these promises for sponsored videos or content in the future. So it is better to be direct and honest with your audience in the long run.

[@charlesvonscott5925]

Unboxing Therapy was the first YT'er that comes to mind but I am not 100% sure.

[@grafxdesigner93]

Point taken. I had got to the point that I don't even be on KZbin too often. I do my own research and come to my own conclusion. Realized that most KZbinrs can't be trusted.

[@Player_Zhirow]

That A.I. song was kinda tight. I can bop to it.

[@chrisbarber1020]

I agree with your opinion I want to know that information I personally like the honesty part

[@DougHewsonYT]

Travis spitting facts

[@TravisMCP]

🙏

[@PizzlesTechTime]

I also watch the Samsung monitor review that literally said review but it sounded like a sponsored video. Turns out the guy was just trying to do a good job and was new at it he did not receive anything for free. So sometimes yes perception is off.

[@AngeliqueStidhum]

ummm creating a bop for delivering a message to scammers or people who need to do better is my new fav thing I never knew I needed. Thx, people are gonna hate that I found this LOL. Bout to make a song for my son not cleaning his room as a warm up.

[@TravisMCP]

LOL do it!

[@MarineX]

Do you have any specific examples? This was a good video on the "right" thing to do. But whether they legally are not doing it is grounded in case law that goes back nearly two decades. The ftc states "the disclosure should be in the video and not just in the description uploaded with the video." I teach at Texas A&M School of Law from time to time. It isn't the best, but if it is in the video description without the viewer having to push "more" it has been argued that they are compliant. You are right, it is sus. I disclose with my voice and in the video description but that doesn't mean I'm doing it "right." I'm going above and beyond. But there are literal cases where the ftc sued content creators and appeal courts found that a written disclosure is enough. That's why the ftc changed the language from "shall" to "should." The lowest level is "may" which the ftc doesn't use

[@TravisMCP]

Nope, it isn't in the description either. If it was, I'd give it a pass.

[@MarineX]

@@TravisMCP welp in that case, they should have creative lawyering if the ftc ever takes up the case. The only argument they would have is IF disclosure is super imposed somewhere in the video, whether on a shirt, a watermark, or a hashtag. There is a case where a content creator used #ad within their video tags, which are viewable and they won their case. This is a good issue you raise. But ftc often gets roasted by appeal courts because this is a first amendment issue and defendants argue the ftc can't mandate the manner speech is disclosed. I agree with you that it should be how you and I do it. But this won't change. The ftc is pretty toothless

[@TravisMCP]

Good points. I think honestly the threat and costs of going to court are more than enough for most creators to get in line.

[@Chitown84]

I learned about embargos from Justine and MKHD because they have to wait until it’s lifted to post the product

[@TheRogueAttraction]

Theme Park side is full of this, It caused the "#hosted" tag to exist.

[@cherrymoon58]

This is a big problem in the beauty community even though other KZbinrs and watchers will bring it up. Those across the pond are very good at disclosing and those in the US just don’t. I think if the FTC really start fining them it would stop.

[@TravisMCP]

Interesting. I was pretty sure other niches were problematic as well....

[@adegbenroagoro5180]

Shout out to Flossy Carter. 👍🏾

[@bigrexj4078]

Flossy's one of my fave TechTubers.. 💪🏾

[@rustychain9518]

I watch a lot of mountain bike videos, I would say the creators I watch are very good at disclosing what they bought and what was given to them. My favorite videos are when a rider of high end equipment is given a budget bike, beats the snot out of it and loves it.

[@TravisMCP]

Yeah my favs are the creators who take expensive products and use them like they aren't. :)

[@vincentpolisi]

First, your video is 100% on point. Second, that AI song was 🔥🤣

[@michaelcorcoran8768]

Can you name a single time where The FTC has actually enforced something like this to a KZbin Creator? It's a law in name only. And even basic KZbin terms of service for disclosure are routinely ignored and nothing ever happens.

[@TravisMCP]

One time? Sure. Here: www.loeb.com/en/insights/publications/2017/12/ftc-approves-final-settlement-with-social-media-__

[@PizzlesTechTime]

I don't think people are doing it maliciously I just think so much can go into content creation that they may forget. Also the pressure for a video to do good can make someone not want to disclose a certain fact that they received a product. That being said even if I get a product for free and I don't get paid which is true for 99% of my content like that, I mark the video as sponsored and take that hit. It's not only KZbinrs though it's also product marketing it is really a shame how companies try to be vague in their descriptions and everything is misleading. Like televisions 240 Hz crystal clear refresh rate then you get the TV it's actually 60 Hz refresh rate. Colorometers that say up to 2000 nits brightness brand new monitor then you get it and it can't calibrate HDR. The consumer must be smarter and people as a whole must come together.

[@doobeedoo2]

Id like to see reviewers go a lot further than this and disclose all of their sources of income related to their channels.

[@Cully97218]

Top 10 tech reviewers are cleverly advertising or working with companies pretending they’re fair and balanced. One scenario would be worth a deep dive is if some of these large influencers are being paid to trash companies by the competitors of said companies.

[@CheckGoCheck]

totally agreed !! they are big and what if they got huge sponsor from competitor to speak bad on the other! thats crazy

[@seawallbreeze9616]

Man i miss your AMZ renewed videos

[@TheBamaChad-W4CHD]

What you said in the opening of this video got me thinking. You said you watched KZbin before you became a KZbinr. I guess that's kinda a "duh" statement but I wonder how many KZbin creators there are out there that weren't KZbin watchers to begin with. There surely has to be a few if not many. It's such a profitable business platform that there have to be folks who heard someone talking about how popular and successful people making millions from KZbin. Folks that had never really used KZbin before? Am I alone in this? Am I crazy? Are there KZbinrs that were not KZbin watchers beforehand? Just a 4 am mind fluttering for me lol

[@RideOnTimePH]

What I noticed especially with the more successful youtubers are they tend to humble brag. Mr Mobile however, is still the capt 2 phones that we knew since the pocketnow days. The others that I watch nowadays are juan bagnell and painfully honest tech although both are not reviewing that much anymore.

[@JeffBourke]

All they do is say “Company X gave me this product but they don’t get any say in my review”. That is basically a shill disclosure.

[@saulgoodman2018]

Linus shadow banned me just for saying he gets sent free stuff.

[@Sabundy]

Not surprised. A lot of the big KZbinrs do. Most are essentially paid shills. I don't trust Marques Brown because he has a literal deal with Apple. Which for me makes anything he says about other products by comparison very suspect.

[@saulgoodman2018]

@@Sabundy He also talks a lot of crap about Apple.

[@phobicx5999]

Nothing new remember tv listen to talk radio😀nothing new😂

[@jerryebner7582]

I take it for what it is see it in action etc. watch a series of people using it . but its just research to me

[@AverageDadOfficial]

Not calling them out by name is a cop out.

[@TravisMCP]

Hardly. If I'm wrong, then I'm liable for defamation.

[@Resist4]

I wish the TFC would go after bad KZbinrs but they can't even stop all the scam robo calls. So whatever happened to you doing some Quest 3 stuff?

[@cesramm1120]

im so tired of youtubers gas lighting and lying to people unfortunately people are not smart enough to see through most of the bs

[@MrJimmi1970]

First time to watch you again. Refreshing.

[@GameroomGuru]

I always take any product mention with a grain of salt and do my own research because just because you like it doesn’t mean I will.

[@astroworfcraig9164]

Being the masochist I am, I called out a content creator for not identifying an obvious in-video promotion and was crucified by commenters. I wasn't vilifying him, just calling it to his attention as he had been identifying such promotions in the past.

[@latingringo89]

Call'em out Kat Williams! Hahaha ! miss you Trav.... plz make more content and dont give up!

[@gamers-generation]

AYO, that AI song slaps! So does your video! Thanks for bringing this to light!

[@richhead1999]

Are you telling me I can't trust all of the flat Earth KZbinrs!?!?! 😂🤣

[@dmandman9]

I think it matters. And it matters even more when they fail to disclose it. If they disclose that they received it free, I’ll still take the review seriously. But I’ll understand if they tread lightly with the negative comments as long as they mention them . But If I find out they received free merchandise and failed to disclose it, I’ll find the entire review suspicious.

[@anthonytaylor8672]

Your talking about Kevin Talbot lol!

[@TravisMCP]

Actually he's one I'm NOT talking about.

[@Chad_KBH]

The "AI" song. 😂😂