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The INSANE Truth About YouTube — Transcript

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0:00YouTube, YouTube, YouTube.
0:03>> How did YouTube go from a failed dating
0:06site on the edge of bankruptcy to the
0:08second most viewed website in the world
0:11worth hundreds of billions of dollars?
0:13YouTube's rise is a wild underdog
0:16success story. But this video is also a
0:19journey through the different eras of
0:21YouTube. From the rise of the creator
0:23economy to the ad apocalypse to all
0:26kinds of scandals and drama. And trust
0:29me, this story gets crazy. Welcome to
0:33the insane history of YouTube.
0:51The story of YouTube begins in a
0:53surprising place. The headquarters of
0:57PayPal.
0:59It's 1999 and three early PayPal
1:02employees are Steve Chen, Chad Hurley,
1:05and Javit Karim. These three guys found
1:08they made a great team together, but
1:10they also had something else in common,
1:12too. Often, the three of them would meet
1:15for lunch at a coffee shop outside of
1:17PayPal's headquarters and talk about all
1:19the interesting ways the internet was
1:21evolving and all the different business
1:24ideas this gave them. Their dream was to
1:27start their own internet company and get
1:29rich.
1:31However, their dreams quickly fell
1:33apart.
1:35In 2002, PayPal was acquired by eBay.
1:38Its CEO was replaced and the company
1:40focus changed. The new workload became
1:44unbearable and boring.
1:46So, Chad left PayPal to become a design
1:48consultant. Jav went back to finish his
1:51degree. And Steve eventually left for
1:53Facebook. But the trio kept in touch and
1:57by 2005 they were paying close attention
2:00to a popular website called Hot or Not
2:03which allowed anyone to upload a photo
2:05of themselves for other people to rate.
2:08The guys wondered what if instead of
2:10pictures they built a site where users
2:12could upload videos of themselves.
2:14People could get rated and also reach
2:16out to each other to connect. And they
2:19even had a name for it. YouTube.
2:23You because users were showing
2:24themselves off and tube in reference to
2:27old analog TV sets. And thus YouTube's
2:30first slogan was tunein, hookup. So
2:34YouTube was intended to be a video
2:36dating site. Coincidentally, they
2:39registered the domain for YouTube on
2:41Valentine's Day 2005.
2:43After months of tireless work, on April
2:4623rd, 2005, YouTube entered a public
2:49beta and Jav uploaded the first ever
2:52YouTube video, which was just him at the
2:54zoo. All right, so here we are in front
2:56of the uh elephants. Um, cool thing
2:59about these guys is this is that they
3:01have really, really, really long um bump
3:06and that's that's cool. At the top of
3:08the site, you could enter if you were
3:10searching for videos of men or women and
3:12at what age range.
3:14However, the problem was YouTube's
3:17dating scene was a ghost town.
3:20At one point, the founders tried to pay
3:22women on Craigslist $20 to upload videos
3:24of themselves.
3:27But still, nobody was using it, and the
3:29founders felt like months of work had
3:31gone to waste.
3:33At that moment, it was hard to imagine
3:36they were about to change the internet
3:38forever.
3:52YouTube's dating angle wasn't working,
3:55but the guys had accidentally created
3:58something entirely different.
4:00Every day, new videos were uploaded to
4:02YouTube, but instead of dating profiles,
4:05they were snowboarding fails, cat
4:07videos, back flips, and all kinds of
4:09other homemade clips.
4:12People were using YouTube to store
4:14videos they had lying around on their SD
4:16cards or computers.
4:18And so, a month after launch, around
4:2030,000 people were visiting the site
4:22every day.
4:24This hadn't been their plan, but the
4:27founders figured they should run with
4:28it. basically turn YouTube into a
4:31database for people to store their
4:32videos. When YouTube was a dating site,
4:35we received zero video uploads for a
4:37week, right? And then let's just make it
4:39into a generic video site where you can
4:41upload anything. And that's when we
4:43really started seeing the videos. Steve,
4:45Chad, and Jav worked tirelessly to
4:47upgrade YouTube with new features like a
4:49five-star rating system, a top videos
4:52page, and the ability to embed videos
4:54onto other websites.
4:57However, a video sharing website was not
5:00exactly an original idea. The first one
5:03launched in 1997, and many others tried
5:06breaking into the market ever since. But
5:08the technological barriers these
5:10websites faced were simply too high.
5:13For starters, hosting and sending large
5:16video files was really expensive. So,
5:18websites either limited people's uploads
5:20and downloads or they made them pay for
5:22extra bandwidth.
5:24And even then, every camera recorded
5:27dozens of unique video formats, and
5:29different websites and devices only
5:31supported certain ones. Not to mention
5:34that internet speeds back then meant
5:36even small videos would take ages to
5:38download. So, even though online video
5:40sharing was clearly a good idea, none of
5:43the early companies succeeded.
5:45But YouTube had one key advantage over
5:48everyone else.
5:50Timing.
5:52When building the first version of
5:53YouTube, the founders made a smart
5:55decision to use a free browser plug-in
5:57called Flash Player. Flash converted any
6:00kind of video to a single format. And
6:02when coupled with their simple and
6:04effective user interface, this made
6:06YouTube way more accessible than other
6:08sites.
6:10Flash also compressed files and came
6:12with a video playback system that
6:14streamed the video in small chunks. This
6:16meant that on YouTube videos loaded
6:18fast, completely for free, and you
6:20didn't need to download them. To share
6:23videos, you just sent a link. And this
6:25changed everything.
6:28What's interesting though is at this
6:30point, the founders still saw YouTube
6:32just as a way for people to store videos
6:34that were relevant to them and share
6:36them with friends and family. But then
6:39something curious started happening.
6:42Someone would upload a video with a
6:44universally funny quality, and it was
6:47only a matter of time until someone else
6:49found the video and shared it with their
6:51friends. At this point in 2005, MySpace
6:55was the biggest social network site. And
6:57so, if someone found a funny video on
6:59YouTube, they'd post it on MySpace and
7:01it would get re-shared over and over.
7:04With the combined power of MySpace and
7:06YouTube, early viral videos like David
7:09After Dentist, the evolution of dance,
7:11and Charlie bit my finger spread across
7:13the internet like wildfire, getting
7:15millions of views. And for YouTube,
7:19viral videos meant more visitors, which
7:21meant more uploads, which then led to
7:22even more viral videos. It was a
7:25snowball effect.
7:27However, whilst this situation looked
7:30great from the outside, inside the
7:33company, they were in a state of panic.
7:49Any website that hosts videos needs
7:51somewhere to store them. But until now,
7:54this hadn't been a problem for YouTube.
7:56When starting out, Steve hired a data
7:58hosting company called Server Beach, who
8:01were offering unlimited bandwidth for
8:03$129 a month. This was a good bargain
8:07initially, but when the number of videos
8:09uploaded to YouTube suddenly
8:11skyrocketed, Server Beach quickly
8:13realized their unlimited plan was not
8:15going to work. So, they said YouTube
8:18would have to start paying them
8:19proportionally for the amount of
8:21bandwidth they used. and the YouTube
8:23guys had no choice but to accept.
8:27This was a major issue as suddenly
8:29Server Beach started charging thousands
8:31of dollars to Steve's credit card every
8:34month. And the even bigger problem was
8:36YouTube still wasn't a functioning
8:38business. They didn't even have a plan
8:40for how they were going to make money.
8:43So all of the initial excitement of
8:45seeing their user number grow was
8:47replaced by a panic. Every one of those
8:49users was costing them money.
8:52Around June 2005, Steve, Chad, and Jav
8:56felt like the walls were closing in, and
8:58they quickly started looking for
9:00investors.
9:02Unfortunately, though, it seemed like
9:03nobody wanted to invest.
9:06People thought YouTube's concept was
9:08great, but most investors didn't see it
9:10as a viable business. They felt even if
9:13YouTube could be monetized, the returns
9:15would be mediocre at best, as video
9:17hosting was just too expensive. And so
9:20after months of unsuccessfully pitching
9:22investors, things were looking bleak for
9:24the three founders.
9:26Every day close to a million people were
9:28now visiting YouTube. But every month,
9:31Server Beach was charging Steve many
9:33thousands of dollars to host YouTube's
9:35videos.
9:37This was unsustainable.
9:39If they didn't find an investor soon,
9:41Steve would probably go bankrupt and
9:43that would be the end of YouTube.
9:46However, one day Jav was at a barbecue
9:49with one of his old co-workers from
9:51PayPal. He just got married and said he
9:53couldn't find a way to share the
9:54honeymoon videos with his friends and
9:56family. Obviously, Java jumped at this
9:58opportunity and helped him upload his
10:00videos to YouTube. But that guy just
10:04happened to now be working for Sequoia
10:05Capital, one of Silicon Valley's biggest
10:08venture capital firms.
10:10and he was so impressed with YouTube
10:12that he connected the YouTube guys with
10:14his partners at Sequoa who agreed to
10:16invest.
10:18And thus in November 2005, YouTube got
10:20the influx of cash they so desperately
10:23needed, $3.5 million.
10:27The founders breathed a sigh of relief,
10:30and they used this money to hire more
10:32employees and then crammed them into a
10:35tiny office above a pizza restaurant.
10:37Sure, it wasn't perfect. In fact, their
10:41new office was literally infested with
10:43rats. But the main thing was that
10:46YouTube seemed like it had a future.
10:49Unfortunately, this optimism didn't last
10:52long because just a few weeks later,
10:55YouTube's single biggest traffic source
10:57declared war on them.
11:13For most users, YouTube was a way to
11:15store videos for personal use or to
11:17embed them on their websites.
11:20But a handful of people were taking a
11:22different approach. They were actually
11:24making videos for YouTube consistently.
11:29This was new and it was interesting. So
11:31to help these people out, Steve, Chad,
11:33and Jav updated YouTube with a new
11:36feature, the subscribe button.
11:39It seems simple, but this button would
11:41actually save the company in a few
11:42months and end up changing millions of
11:45lives. For now, though, the subscribe
11:48button had one immediate effect. More
11:50people started uploading on a regular
11:52basis. By November 2005, more than 2
11:56million people were visiting the site
11:58every day. By mid December, that was
12:00closer to 8 million. YouTube's growth
12:03numbers were doubling every week, and it
12:05hadn't even left beta. YouTube launched
12:08officially on December 15th, 2005.
12:12But whilst they were busy celebrating,
12:15others were conspiring against it. You
12:18see, YouTube's viral hits were largely
12:21because of MySpace. But MySpace wasn't
12:24exactly happy about this.
12:26Every time someone clicked a YouTube
12:28link, they spent less time on MySpace.
12:31So MySpace had no mercy. They started
12:34removing posts with YouTube links,
12:37censoring any mention of it, and they
12:39even started their own video sharing
12:41project called MySpace videos.
12:44So the week after YouTube's official
12:46launch, their main source of traffic was
12:48gone.
12:50The biggest social network was now their
12:52competitor. And they weren't the only
12:54ones.
12:55Google, Yahoo, and Facebook all wanted
12:58the video sharing market for themselves.
13:02But even though YouTube had far less
13:04resources, it did have something the
13:06rest of these companies could only dream
13:09of.
13:102 months after introducing the subscribe
13:12button, YouTube was no longer a simple
13:14video repository.
13:16Thousands of people were now uploading
13:18videos to YouTube for YouTube's sake,
13:21and millions of people were watching
13:23them every day.
13:25It didn't matter if you were a musician,
13:26a filmmaker, friends making comedy
13:28skits, or whatever else it was you
13:30wanted to share with the world. Now,
13:33anyone anywhere could build a community
13:35with people who shared their interests.
13:38And so, when MySpace shadowbanned
13:40YouTube, it didn't actually matter.
13:43By January 2006, YouTube's daily
13:46viewership had more than tripled to 25
13:48million. By March, there were 25 million
13:51total videos. And every day about 20,000
13:54more were uploaded.
13:56And with such staggering growth, YouTube
13:59became the breeding ground for a new
14:01kind of celebrity. Someone who was
14:03accessible, relatable, and human. A
14:06YouTuber.
14:08Early popular YouTubers emerged like
14:10Smosh, Brookers, I Justine, Fred, and
14:13Lonely Girl 15. What's interesting is
14:16back then there was a team at YouTube
14:18dubbed the call hunters who would
14:20manually find interesting videos to put
14:22on the YouTube homepage rather than
14:24using algorithms.
14:27However, it would soon become hard for
14:28the YouTube team to manage the huge
14:30influx of videos they were getting.
14:33Initially, moderation was all done by a
14:35small team who would manually watch
14:37every reported video and they were
14:39exposed to all kinds of horrific
14:41uploads. In fact, many of the team
14:44started having nightmares.
14:46And as the uploads just kept coming
14:48faster and faster, YouTube would soon
14:51have an even bigger problem.
15:06Since anyone could upload pretty much
15:08anything for free, people were using
15:11YouTube to upload copyrighted music,
15:13movies, and TV shows. And this pirated
15:17content was getting lots of views.
15:20Newsweek called YouTube the video
15:22version of Napster and questioned if it
15:25would get sued into oblivion.
15:28Even a random video with a song as
15:30background music counts as copyright
15:31infringement. So all three major record
15:34labels filed a barrage of lawsuits
15:37against YouTube.
15:39Not just that, but videos of an SNL skit
15:42were uploaded to YouTube and watched
15:44millions of times. So Viacom, one of the
15:47biggest media companies in the world,
15:50threatened YouTube with another massive
15:52lawsuit if they didn't somehow remove
15:54all of them. YouTube simply did not have
15:57the tools to deal with all of this. And
15:59to make things even worse, each day
16:01around 65,000 new videos were now added
16:04on top of the 25 million YouTube was
16:07already hosting. And they still hadn't
16:09figured out a good way to make money.
16:13They had started running a small amount
16:14of banner adverts or occasional ads on
16:17very select channels. But at this point,
16:19they didn't have a good ad system, and
16:22they didn't know if either advertisers
16:23or viewers would accept ads on these
16:26short homemade videos. Not to mention
16:28that they were concerned about running
16:30ads on content when they had no idea if
16:32the material was copyrighted or not, as
16:34that can invite even more lawsuits.
16:37So basically, YouTube was in a very
16:40strange position. On the one hand, it
16:43was one of the fastest growing websites
16:44in internet history. On the other hand,
16:48they had no meaningful revenue, were a
16:50magnet for piracy, and were getting sued
16:52by the biggest media companies on the
16:55planet.
16:56In its current state, in the summer of
16:582006, it seemed like YouTube simply
17:01couldn't succeed. And so, many prominent
17:04business people thought YouTube was
17:06practically worthless. But then to
17:09everyone's shock, the YouTube founders
17:11uploaded a video to YouTube's official
17:13channel to say they'd been acquired.
17:16>> Hi YouTube, this is Chad and Steve.
17:18We're the co-founders of the site and we
17:21just want to say thank you. Today we
17:22have some exciting news for you. We've
17:24been acquired by Google. Two kings have
17:26gotten together.
17:29The king the king the king of search the
17:31king of video have gotten together.
17:32>> Just 18 months after its launch, Google
17:35bought YouTube for 1.65 $65 billion.
17:39But why had Google suddenly decided to
17:42buy YouTube?
17:44Well, Google had attempted their own
17:46service called Google Video, but it only
17:49had around 10% market share. Whereas
17:51YouTube had over half of the video
17:53market. Google figured if you can't beat
17:55them, buy them. However, Google buying
17:59YouTube actually meant more copyright
18:02holders piled on even harder. Viacom
18:05announced they were suing YouTube for a
18:08billion dollars.
18:10So, how on earth would Google turn this
18:12mess around?
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19:17[Music]
19:30Even after Google acquired YouTube, Chad
19:33stayed on as CEO and Steve stayed in
19:35charge of developing new features. So
19:38the original vision for YouTube stayed
19:40very much the same. The difference now
19:43was that YouTube had the resources of
19:44Google at their disposal. So, Google
19:47began building a tool called Content ID.
19:50This allowed copyright holders to upload
19:52their content to a giant database and
19:54YouTube would then be able to find
19:56identical matches on its site. This
19:58meant the copyright holder could then
20:00remove the content or make money from
20:01it. This was a massive breakthrough in
20:04dealing with YouTube's copyright
20:06problems. And so, that just left one
20:09other big problem to solve, making
20:11money. Of course, Google's biggest
20:14strength has always been advertising.
20:17And so, soon after Google acquired
20:18YouTube, advertisements began playing
20:21widely across the site. But this would
20:24lead to a truly historic announcement.
20:28You see, up until this point, most
20:30YouTubers were making videos purely for
20:32fun, to connect with people who shared
20:34their interests, and to share their
20:36lives with others. But what if they
20:39could do all of that and get paid for
20:42it?
20:43In 2007, YouTube rolled out the YouTube
20:46Partner Program, which paid YouTubers a
20:49share of the revenue from the ads
20:51running on their videos. The creator
20:53would get 55% and YouTube would take
20:5645%.
20:58It sounds simple, but it was
21:00revolutionary at the time. People had
21:02just been happy YouTube let them host
21:04their videos for free, and now they
21:06could get paid for their hobby. This
21:09immediately incentivized people to
21:11create more videos and create even
21:13better videos. If you wanted to make a
21:15short film now, you didn't need
21:17permission from a producer. If you
21:19wanted to publish a song, you didn't
21:20need permission from a record label. Or
21:22if you wanted to give a lecture, you
21:24didn't need permission from a university
21:25board. All gatekeepers were removed. So
21:28whatever your idea was, anyone could now
21:31broadcast themselves to the world and
21:33make money from it.
21:35This began a golden age for creativity
21:37on the internet with thousands of new
21:39creators joining YouTube and this led to
21:42whole new formats of video content on
21:44the site. Pranks, comedy sketches, video
21:48essays, vlogs, tutorials, reviews, ASMR,
21:52animations, stunts, the list goes on.
21:55And because YouTube allowed for more
21:57niche content than TV, there was
21:59something for everyone. Meanwhile,
22:01YouTube was also making stars.
22:04In 2007, a proud mother uploaded a video
22:07of her son singing, who'd later be
22:09signed by a record executive after he
22:11found him on YouTube.
22:14Around this time, YouTube also began to
22:16see videos with more editing and higher
22:18production channels emerged. KSI, MKBHD,
22:21Ray William Johnson, Dude Perfect, Jenna
22:24Marbles, PewDiePie, the list was
22:26endless, and the viral videos just kept
22:29coming.
22:30However, whilst YouTube opening
22:32monetization to its creators had led to
22:35all kinds of new content, it had also
22:37caused a major problem. Since people had
22:41realized that views equal money, YouTube
22:44had become filled with clickbait.
22:47Creators would lie in the title of their
22:49videos just to get people to click, and
22:52thumbnails of girls with low cut tops
22:54suddenly filled the site. This would
22:56lead YouTube to make a major change to
22:59its algorithm.
23:01Instead of prioritizing views, videos
23:03would now be promoted more if they had
23:05higher watch time. The idea was that if
23:08someone spent a long time watching a
23:10video, they're more likely to have
23:11enjoyed it than if they immediately
23:13clicked off it. This also meant people
23:15spent more time on YouTube and saw more
23:17ads. While some creators suffered from
23:20this change, it also gave rise to longer
23:23content from reaction videos to
23:25documentaries to let's plays.
23:28This coincided with games like Minecraft
23:30exploding in popularity, and soon the
23:33gaming genre of YouTube became more
23:34popular than ever. By 2010, the world
23:38watched more than 2 billion YouTube
23:40videos every day. By this point, Steve
23:43had left YouTube to become an investor,
23:45and Chad, who was YouTube CEO from day
23:48one, decided that it was time for him to
23:50move on as well. Since Jav had left,
23:53too, this meant all three of the
23:55original YouTube founders had gone, and
23:58things at YouTube would soon take a dark
24:01turn.
24:15By 2014, YouTube surpassed 1 billion
24:19active users, and YouTube even invested
24:22100 million to make original content.
24:25Creators continued to build strong
24:27connections with their audience. Whether
24:29it was through daily vlogs like Casey
24:31Neistat and David Dori, video podcasts
24:34like Joe Rogan and Hot Ones, or kids
24:36reviewing toys, there were channels
24:38where you could get your news,
24:39education, gaming, and so much more. The
24:43creator economy was here, where becoming
24:45a YouTuber went from being seen as
24:47something kind of weird to the most
24:49desired job in the world. It was also in
24:522014 that Susan Wajiski was brought in
24:54as CEO.
24:56Susan had one main objective. Turn
24:59YouTube into a state-of-the-art
25:00advertising platform. And initially,
25:03this helped everyone. As YouTube became
25:06a better place to advertise, more
25:08companies saw its potential to reach
25:09their ideal customers, which meant both
25:12YouTube and its creators made more
25:14money.
25:15YouTube reinvested that into becoming an
25:17even better ad platform and creators
25:19reinvested into making even better
25:21videos. This drew in even more
25:23advertisers and the cycle repeated.
25:27Because of this, YouTube ads brought in
25:296.7 billion in 2016.
25:32So, YouTube was becoming seriously
25:34profitable for Google. But beneath the
25:37surface, things weren't as perfect as
25:40they seemed.
25:42Mainstream companies like Apple, Nike,
25:44and Coca-Cola are very picky about what
25:47they associate their brands with. But
25:50since anyone could upload pretty much
25:52anything to YouTube, bullying, violence,
25:55conspiracy theories, and extremism could
25:57spread unchecked, and advertisers soon
26:01began realizing their ads were being
26:03displayed right next to this kind of
26:05content.
26:06Starting in 2016, some major companies
26:09began pulling their ads from YouTube.
26:12This was bad. So, YouTube's response was
26:16to make their advertiser friendly
26:17content rules stricter.
26:20But this was a controversial decision.
26:24Many creators suddenly found their
26:25videos weren't earning money anymore.
26:27And if they wanted to fit within
26:29YouTube's new rules, they had to avoid
26:31certain topics completely, which they
26:33argued was the complete opposite of what
26:35YouTube stood for. But this was just the
26:38beginning. In February 2017, major
26:41companies like Verizon and AT&T
26:44complained that their ads had been
26:45placed on videos uploaded by Islamic
26:48extremists.
26:50This news story went viral and suddenly
26:52thousands of major advertisers pulled
26:54their ads from YouTube. Journalists
26:57realized if you just searched for any
26:59vile videos, you'd be able to find
27:01YouTube ads playing in front of them,
27:04which made for a great news story.
27:07And as a result, pretty soon almost all
27:10of YouTube's largest advertisers were
27:12boycotting the sites.
27:15with far less ad money circulating
27:17through YouTube. This meant creators
27:19revenue dropped significantly and this
27:22became dubbed YouTube's ad apocalypse.
27:26YouTube was fundamentally an ad
27:28business, but advertisers had lost faith
27:30that YouTube could control where its ads
27:33would run.
27:34The problem was by this point around 400
27:37hours of content was uploaded to YouTube
27:40every single minute. Combing through all
27:42of it manually to ensure it was safe for
27:44advertisers was impossible.
27:47So, YouTube conducted an algorithmic
27:50blanket sweep of the entire platform to
27:53identify inappropriate content.
27:56Millions of videos were demonetized, age
27:59restricted, taken down, and sometimes
28:01even entire channels were deleted or
28:03removed from the YouTube partner
28:05program. And whilst this certainly
28:07helped recover some advertisers, YouTube
28:10made a crucial mistake, they didn't let
28:12creators know about any of these
28:14changes.
28:16And since the blanket sweep of YouTube's
28:18content was done by an algorithm, lots
28:20of videos that didn't break YouTube's
28:22policies got flagged, and thousands of
28:25creators previous videos simply stopped
28:27generating revenue. Many innocent
28:30creators found their ad revenue
28:31basically disappeared, and some were
28:34forced to quit YouTube.
28:36Considering many of these creators
28:38relied on ad revenue to pay for their
28:40teams, their homes, and even to feed
28:42their families, this was a dark time for
28:45YouTube.
28:47So, it was hard to believe next year was
28:49about to be much worse.
29:05Pewdiepie, who was at the time YouTube's
29:08most subscribed creator, came under fire
29:10for uploading anti-semitic content.
29:14While some would argue it was edgy jokes
29:16taken too far, it didn't help that a
29:18neo-Nazi website rebranded itself as the
29:21number one PewDiePie fan site. As
29:24mainstream media ran the story, YouTube
29:26began to realize that negative press
29:28surrounding its biggest stars would
29:30impact them, too. The clearest example
29:33of this was on December 31st, 2017, when
29:37millions of people watched a vlog by
29:39Logan Paul, where he and his friends
29:41found a dead body in Japan. Due to
29:44YouTube's algorithms, the video made it
29:46to YouTube's trending page, which
29:48basically meant YouTube was promoting
29:50the video. And even though Logan chose
29:53not to monetize it, this caused a
29:55massive backlash.
29:57Not just because it was disrespectful,
29:59but the fact this type of content was
30:01being served to a fairly young,
30:02impressionable audience.
30:05And around this time, advertisers and
30:07parents concerns about YouTube's safety
30:09for kids would be taken to a whole new
30:12level.
30:13You see, YouTube had created a YouTube
30:15for kids app where its algorithms would
30:17filter videos to content aimed at
30:19children. But the problem was some
30:22seriously disturbing videos using
30:25popular characters like Elsa and
30:27Spider-Man were getting hundreds of
30:29millions of views on YouTube kids.
30:32Whether it was Elsa giving birth or
30:34being kidnapped, these viral clips were
30:37often violent and nightmarish.
30:40But the algorithms just saw kids
30:42characters and pulled them into the
30:44YouTube Kids app that was supposed to be
30:46safe for children. When the news went
30:48viral about this, the scandal became
30:51known as Elsagate and it led to yet
30:54another ad apocalypse as advertisers
30:56abandoned YouTube again.
30:59And as if this wasn't bad enough, just a
31:02couple of years later, they would be
31:03facing an even more disturbing scandal.
31:07You see, children were uploading videos
31:09like them doing gymnastics or bikini
31:11halls where they would try on clothes,
31:14but child predators were found
31:16timestamping revealing frames in the
31:19comment section. It turns out there was
31:22an entire network of predators on these
31:24kids videos, sharing links and
31:26timestamps.
31:28When this was finally discovered,
31:29YouTube went into crisis mode and ended
31:32up shutting down all comments on all
31:34kids videos.
31:36This would have unintended consequences
31:38where many legitimate kids channels
31:40suffered badly as a result. And it
31:43wasn't only kids channels who were
31:45unhappy with YouTube. Around this time,
31:48many political creators claimed that
31:50YouTube was actively censoring them, and
31:52many felt certain opinions were now
31:54actively repressed on YouTube.
31:56Meanwhile, YouTube had become flooded
31:58with clips from late night shows and
32:00traditional news networks, and some
32:02started to feel YouTube was losing its
32:04soul of what YouTube had once been. Not
32:07to mention many creators still dealing
32:08with demonetization or copyright issues.
32:11So, basically, for a whole host of
32:13different reasons, the sentiment towards
32:16YouTube from its community had been
32:18growing increasingly negative.
32:21And in 2018, they would make that known.
32:29As YouTube grew, the quality of content
32:32increased further. And this was partly
32:34thanks to services like Story Blocks,
32:36which gives creators access to
32:38everything they need all in one place.
32:40Video clips, templates, music, sound
32:43effects, images, and more. In fact, I've
32:45used Storylocks for years to help make
32:47my videos, and they've been supporters
32:50of this channel, like sponsoring this
32:52video. So, if you're creating content
32:54yourself, instead of paying individually
32:56for stock footage and music, with Story
32:58Blocks, you can just get unlimited
33:00downloads for one set price and
33:02streamline your workflow to save
33:04valuable time each week. And everything
33:06you download is royalty-free, so you can
33:09still monetize your video. Plus, you get
33:12two extra months free when you sign up
33:14for an annual plan. So, go to
33:15storyblocks.com/magnates
33:17to take advantage of this limitedtime
33:20offer.
33:30Every year, YouTube released a rewind
33:33video, basically looking back over the
33:35past year.
33:37And to someone not familiar with the
33:39platform, YouTube Rewind 2018 would have
33:41seemed like any other. But instead, the
33:45video became the most disliked video in
33:48YouTube history. There were many reasons
33:51for this. Firstly, the video emphasized
33:54old media stars like Will Smith, John
33:56Oliver, and Trevor Noah, seemingly
33:58focusing more on celebrities than native
34:01YouTubers.
34:02It also featured many creators who
34:04didn't produce videos in English,
34:06meaning many viewers had no idea who
34:08half the people in the video even were.
34:11The video also glossed over big moments
34:14from the year, like beauty guru feuds or
34:17the breakout of YouTube boxing. and
34:20instead it felt more ad friendly and
34:22corporate. And so the YouTube community
34:25picked this moment to unleash their
34:26dissatisfaction with YouTube overall.
34:30The truth was that whilst YouTube Rewind
34:32had started as a fun tradition, YouTube
34:34had simply grown too big now. YouTube
34:36was so diverse with so many different
34:38channels that it'd be impossible to
34:40encapsulate everyone's favorite creators
34:42and keep everyone happy. However, the
34:45reality is that throughout YouTube's
34:47entire history, it's faced one big
34:50ongoing struggle inside YouTube. They
34:53have always described the platform as an
34:55ecosystem with three main parties:
34:58viewers, creators, and advertisers. They
35:01compare it to a stall. You have to keep
35:03all three legs equal and sturdy. But in
35:06reality, keeping all three groups happy
35:09is never easy.
35:12For example, if you only show ads on
35:14family-friendly videos, advertisers are
35:16happy, but creators are not happy. If
35:20you remove dislikes, advertisers and
35:22some creators are happy, but viewers
35:24aren't happy. Making choices that keep
35:27everyone happy is surprisingly
35:29difficult. And yet, YouTube needs all
35:32three groups to survive.
35:35So, you may think with all these
35:36problems, YouTube would have struggled.
35:39But weirdly, in the last few years, it's
35:42been the total opposite.
35:44[Music]
35:48If you want to grow your own successful
35:50YouTube channel, I've spent years
35:52learning everything so you don't have
35:54to. If you'd like to skip all the years
35:56of mistakes and just see exactly what
35:59actually works, check out the link in
36:01the description to get help directly
36:03from me. I'll see you there.
36:15In 2019, PewDiePie became the first
36:17creator to hit 100 million subscribers
36:20after an ongoing battle with T-Series.
36:23But as for YouTube, by 2020, their own
36:26competitor had emerged. Tik Tok became
36:29the fastest app ever to reach a billion
36:31users, and YouTube saw it as a genuine
36:34threat. So, in 2021, YouTube rolled out
36:37Shorts, their own version of Tik Tok.
36:40And it's fair to say it worked with
36:43Shorts views reportedly now surpassing
36:45Tik Tok. YouTube also then identified
36:48Twitch as a threat and started paying
36:50streamers to come over to YouTube live.
36:53Meanwhile, YouTube was growing rapidly
36:55on TVs, surpassing the big streamers
36:58like Netflix.
37:00Somehow YouTube was competing on all
37:02fronts and winning. With over 2 and a
37:06half billion active users, YouTube is
37:09the second most frequented site in the
37:11world.
37:13However, in recent years, what being a
37:15YouTube creator actually means has
37:17evolved again.
37:19Instead of someone in their room talking
37:21to a camera, YouTube creators are now
37:23making truly insane productions. The
37:26most obvious example is the world's new
37:28biggest YouTuber, Mr. Beast, with
37:31multi-million dollar videos like
37:33recreating Squid Game in real life. And
37:36there's been a clear shift of many
37:38creators essentially becoming production
37:40companies with bigger teams and bigger
37:42budgets and even building separate
37:45brands that can become billiondoll
37:47companies.
37:49This has made some people feel nostalgic
37:51for the old days of YouTube when things
37:53seem simpler and more personal. But the
37:56reality is you can still post more
37:58personalized lower effort videos. And so
38:01I think on the whole it's a good thing
38:03that as a viewer you now have access to
38:05higher quality content. And as a creator
38:08it's a good thing that you can build
38:10huge businesses through YouTube.
38:12For me personally as a creator YouTube
38:14has completely changed my life. The fact
38:17I can make money creating videos about
38:19whatever I want is crazy. And it's easy
38:22to forget YouTube pioneered that before
38:24other platforms.
38:26They've made being a creator a
38:27legitimate career path and paid out
38:29billions to creators.
38:32And look, YouTube has had plenty of fair
38:34criticism against it. But you could take
38:36away other content platforms and I don't
38:38think it'd have much of a negative
38:40impact on me. But I think losing YouTube
38:43would be really sad. Many of us use it
38:45for everything from news to
38:47entertainment to music to instructions
38:49to relaxation to education and so much
38:52more. I'm not saying it's perfect, but
38:55if you're here right now, YouTube has
38:57probably given you a lot of joy over the
38:59years, and the data suggests it's still
39:02got many great years to come. So, it's
39:06really kind of crazy to think back to
39:08where it all started.
39:11However, if hearing about YouTube's
39:13history has made you want to grow your
39:14own YouTube channel, I've made a video
39:17explaining how YouTube is basically an
39:19online game. And this is the strategy of
39:22how to win and become a YouTube
39:24millionaire. I think you'll really like
39:26this one. So, click the thumbnail on
39:28screen and I'll see you there. Cheers.
39:33[Music]

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