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VG247: YouTube updated terms give it free rein to terminate channels deemed "not commercially viable".

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Kthulhu

Kthulhu

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Oct 25, 2017
14,670
I'm sure this is just to cover their ass if they decide to do it.

Part of the appeal of YouTube is the user generated content, and I think even with their monopolistic status they'd be foolish to kill off unviable channels as a huge chunk of their user base would watch less.
 
Molecule

Molecule

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Nov 2, 2017
1,691
I'll be sad if that means my channel will get purged. I don't have many videos and most are private or delisted. I use YouTube to save videos of my games that I'd want to share with friends. Not sure what a good alternative would be for my use.
 
LiK

LiK

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Oct 25, 2017
32,246
Molecule said:
I'll be sad if that means my channel will get purged. I don't have many videos and most are private or delisted. I use YouTube to save videos of my games that I'd want to share with friends. Not sure what a good alternative would be for my use.
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Machinama deleted all their videos when they went out of business and even some creators didn't have backups and we may never see them again. Def sad.
 

Moltres006

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Jan 5, 2019
1,818
Blizzard, youtube, Bethesda and Pokemon fucked up IN THE SAME YEAR.

2019 has been an interesting year indeed.
 
Icarus

Icarus

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Oct 26, 2017
633
Youtube is a business model like any other. They can pick and choose whatever they like, the sooner folks realise that Youtube is not a right and instead a business model which brings in a lot of revenue from advertisers and the like for Google the sooner you'll come to the realisation they can dictate whatever they like at you.

Now, of course there is competition but I imagine the marketshare of Youtube is massive for video consumption so they can take bigger gambles with actual people here.
 
Komo

Komo

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Masterspeed said:
Please for the love of god can someone make a new alternative to YouTube. Fuck YouTube.
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Financially impossible and the only player in the game right now that has the servers, and infrastructure to do so is pornhub.

Past that it's nigh impossible for someone to do without billions invested already or a stroke of luck getting bought out. This happened to vid.me, and almost every other site out there. Vimeo gets around it because they make you pay for a subscription and daily upload limits.
 
JayWood2010

JayWood2010

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Oct 27, 2017
3,120
Im just going to take this comment from the URL posted.


"This article is wrong. Use the Wayback Machine for YouTubes ToS and you will find out, that the rule was in place befor 2015."
 
brb

brb

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Oct 31, 2017
142
My channel has already been suspended without warning or reason. Been trying to contact Team YouTube on Twitter to no avail, of course. A single customer like me trying to get in contact with a giant corporation looking for answers is impossible and so defeating. Don't know what to do next...

I was a YouTube Premium member too for crying out loud, it's all just been so frustrating.
 
Dixie Flatline

Dixie Flatline

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WillyFive said:
There are a ton, from TikTok to Instagram Video to Facebook Video to Twitch, but the people that use YouTube don't want to leave YouTube.
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TikTok is for short contet like Snapchat. Instagram is the same thing but it's in a better environment and you can save/browse videos easier. Facebook video is a failed attempt to grab the irl Twitch streamers.

None of them are direct competitors to YouTube and don't try to be.
 

Deleted member 18944

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Dixie Flatline said:
So now they can remove anything they want and point to an intentionally vague rule for justification.
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No. The article is incorrect. They have a provision that states they can shut their service down if it's not financially viable. NOT THE CHANNELS. THE SERVICE. AKA YOUTUBE.

Edit: actually, before I say it is incorrect and act like I'm 100% correct, I'm message a couple of mutuals and find out.
 
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LiK

LiK

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Oct 25, 2017
32,246
brb said:
My channel has already been suspended without warning or reason. Been trying to contact Team YouTube on Twitter to no avail, of course. A single customer like me trying to get in contact with a giant corporation looking for answers is impossible and so defeating. Don't know what to do next...

I was a YouTube Premium member too for crying out loud, it's all just been so frustrating.
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Why were you suspended? Can you still watch videos?
 
iamaustrian

iamaustrian

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Nov 27, 2017
1,291
I think youtube turning down the resolution of older videos was the first sign of this.

They probably got too big. I mean, how many Terabytes get uploaded every day?

Just to make it clear: I hate both, ' downgrading' the res (to save space, I assume) and these new terms.
 
Jaypher

Jaypher

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Dec 8, 2018
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While I see the scare in this, I figure they updated it so if a channel is abrasive or bordering ToS issues with ad partners, they can cut ties.
 

Deleted member 18944

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Hobbes said:
No. The article is incorrect. They have a provision that states they can shut their service down if it's not financially viable. NOT THE CHANNELS. THE SERVICE. AKA YOUTUBE.

Edit: actually, before I say it is incorrect and act like I'm 100% correct, I'm message a couple of mutuals and find out.
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Update: they gonna look into it further to confirm or not.
 
Update on the original article.
  • Index
    • skullmuffins

    skullmuffins

    Member
    Oct 25, 2017
    7,456
    the article has been updated to say this provision isn't actually new - it's simply revised wording


    Update: The line in question has actually been part of YouTube's terms of service since last year, but the most recent update changed the wording.

    "YouTube may terminate its legal agreement with you if the provision of the service to you by YouTube is, in YouTube's opinion, no longer commercially viable."

    That line has now been changed to the harsher and clearer, "YouTube may terminate your access, or your Google account's access to all or part of the Service if YouTube believes, in its sole discretion, that provision of the Service to you is no longer commercially viable."
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    • honorless

    honorless

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    Oct 28, 2017
    439
    What Hobbes said initially sounded reasonable, but the exact quote seems pretty clear: "YouTube may terminate your access, or your Google account's access to all or part of the Service if YouTube believes, in its sole discretion, that provision of the Service to you is no longer commercially viable."

    If this is truly about the service in general, this wording, especially the updated version, is REAL strange. There's no need to address any kind of individual in that case. They could use the same boilerplate everyone else uses giving them the right to flip the off switch on the whole service at any time.

    This really is about cutting off an individual's access if servicing them in particular is "no longer commercially viable", IMO.

    ...I have to admit my first thought was "Then why tf are you constantly nagging me to create a channel when all I want to do is comment?!" but whatever. The clause doesn't surprise me. I'm curious if anything new enforcement-wise will eventually be traced back to this.
     
    brb

    brb

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    LiK said:
    Why were you suspended? Can you still watch videos?
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    I wish I knew! My entire channel has been deleted as if it never existed. I had no copywrite strikes, always followed the TOS, I don't use ad-blockers since I was a Premium member...

    Everything just up and gone.

    The only thing I can think of is I accidently got caught up in some automated system? This all happened about a week ago and no word from YouTube.
     
    Sumio Mondo

    Sumio Mondo

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    Oct 25, 2017
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    This is the problem with having full control and no viable alternatives/no competition. They can turn into monsters like this that dictate everything that people hate.


    I knew Google would run this amazing part of the internet into the ground.
     
    honorless

    honorless

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    Oct 28, 2017
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    brb said:
    I wish I knew! My entire channel has been deleted as if it never existed. I had no copywrite strikes, always followed the TOS, I don't use ad-blockers since I was a Premium member...

    Everything just up and gone.

    The only thing I can think of is I accidently got caught up in some automated system? This all happened about a week ago and no word from YouTube.
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    ...Did you, uh...happen to participate in Markiplier's recent stream?
     
    Dogui

    Dogui

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    Oct 28, 2017
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    VariantX said:
    Wouldn't this put channels who support themselves via other means like patreon in the crosshairs?
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    I wonder if it's not their main motivation. Like, youtubers are getting money that youtube can't tax with patreon stuff.

    After algorithm changes and actual YT monetization being worse every day, more and more youtubers are trying patreon or similar, which is great, except for Youtube itself.
     
    snail_maze

    snail_maze

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    Oct 27, 2017
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    I've always been curious but are there actual financial numbers regarding youtube? I imagine that they must be losing staggering amounts of money each year but maybe I'm totally wrong
     
    LiK

    LiK

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    Oct 25, 2017
    32,246
    brb said:
    I wish I knew! My entire channel has been deleted as if it never existed. I had no copywrite strikes, always followed the TOS, I don't use ad-blockers since I was a Premium member...

    Everything just up and gone.

    The only thing I can think of is I accidently got caught up in some automated system? This all happened about a week ago and no word from YouTube.
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    dang
     
    Ruisu

    Ruisu

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    djplaeskool said:
    With the allowances of content beyond games slowly expanding, Twitch might be the only viable alternative.
    Ya know, if you want to go team Amazon instead of Google...
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    For some reason Twitch really takes a lot more of my internet than Youtube, video buffering happens much more frequently on twitch's 720p compared to youtube's 720p
     
    maximumzero

    maximumzero

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    Oct 25, 2017
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    I already scrubbed my Google Account a few months back. They don't offer anything I need and I'm completely fine with them not having any of my information.

    It's scary to watch the internet slowly creeping towards the dystopian future we all feared.
     
    The Albatross

    The Albatross

    Member
    Oct 25, 2017
    39,469
    YouTube adding this to their terms does not mean they're going to terminate channels or videos that aren't commercially viable. They're just legally protecting themselves if they terminate a channel and someone sues them for it.

    "YouTube may terminate your access, or your Google account's access to all or part of the Service if YouTube believes, in its sole discretion, that provision of the Service to you is no longer commercially viable."
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    Google wants all of your content, especially the content that isn't commercially viable because Google has made a multi-billion-dollar company by making stuff commercially viable that was always considered not commercially viable.

    Scott Lufkin said:
    "if I use ad blockers on YouTube they will ban my Gmail account so I'm moving all my services off @gmail and using a different email address"
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    THat's uhhhh. a hell of a leap from your buddy
     
    Ă„lg

    Ă„lg

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    May 13, 2018
    3,178
    Legit question: haven't they always reserved the right to delete any account, at any time, for any reason? That seems like a pretty common part of an EULA; it's not like Google are legally bound to provide their service to you indefinitely.
     
    Pargon

    Pargon

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    Oct 27, 2017
    12,213
    AizĹŤ said:
    You don't have adblock? I can't imagine having to go through the ads on youtube.
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    The reason everyone is trying to push their users to use apps is because they can do more in-depth tracking and push ads to them easier.
    Adblock may work in your browser, but not your Smart TV app (guess why they killed leanback last month).
    DNS-based solutions such as pi-holes can work as a temporary workaround, but may require updating or manual intervention if they block content that you do want to see or fail to block ads that you don't.

    iamaustrian said:
    I think youtube turning down the resolution of older videos was the first sign of this.
    They probably got too big. I mean, how many Terabytes get uploaded every day?
    Just to make it clear: I hate both, ' downgrading' the res (to save space, I assume) and these new terms.
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    Have they actually been doing that?
    I do know that they've been re-encoding older videos using newer codecs, at a lower quality than the originals, but didn't know they were also lowering the resolution of older videos.

    Scott Lufkin said:
    It was more the realization that if something happened to his Google account how fucked he'd be trying to get into services he has tied to that account, so he moved it to something he has more control over and less concern of being randomly locked out of it.
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    This is why I use separate accounts for each Google service. But no-one should have to fear that they may be locked out of their account like that, and it makes me want to move to another provider entirely (Microsoft, I guess?).
     
    ¡Hip Hop!

    ¡Hip Hop!

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    Nov 9, 2017
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    I run two YouTube channels, with hundreds of videos. I kind of hate what Google has done to YouTube. It's a shell of what it was envisioned to be.
     
    Robochimp

    Robochimp

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    Oct 25, 2017
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    This seems more about nuking channels like Infowars without having to go through the strike process. That was probably an ongoing nightmare for them to deal with. That took a few months right?
     
    Bjones

    Bjones

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    Oct 30, 2017
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    It's just a loop hole they are putting in to be able to get rid of any channel they want. They could literally say that anything is a topic that would push people away from YouTube. Hence not viable.
     
    RoninStrife

    RoninStrife

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    Oct 27, 2017
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    The more I hear the Corporate Incumbents beat their drum expecting us to dance like animals for their entertainment, the more I realize Elizabeth Warren is right in wanting to split these corporations up. They've become monsters.
     
    LakeEarth

    LakeEarth

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    Oct 27, 2017
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    I wonder what this means to those that are popular but don't monetize their videos (e.g. supplemented by Patreon money). Will it no longer even be an option in the future?
     
    spman2099

    spman2099

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    Oct 25, 2017
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    Masterspeed said:
    Please for the love of god can someone make a new alternative to YouTube. Fuck YouTube.
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    I'm not convinced it is going to happen, as YouTube has quite the strangle hold. However, if it DID happen, and that alternative was picking up steam (and more importantly, was eating into YouTube's share), it would be delicious to see YouTube start to panic and desperately try to stop the bleeding. Better yet, companies never act quick enough, so they would probably be too late.
     
    WillyFive

    WillyFive

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    Oct 25, 2017
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    Vimeo redesigned itself to be as un-Youtube as possible because they don't want to become one.

    Dailymotion seems to be trying to compete, but they ask you to pay for stuff Youtube gives for free, like analytics.

    Dixie Flatline said:
    TikTok is for short contet like Snapchat. Instagram is the same thing but it's in a better environment and you can save/browse videos easier. Facebook video is a failed attempt to grab the irl Twitch streamers.

    None of them are direct competitors to YouTube and don't try to be.
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    You are thinking of Facebook Live. Facebook video seems healthy (as in popularity, not content). Biggest issue (other than it being Facebook) is that clickbait is a bigger issue than on Youtube.
     
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