YouTube Literally Just Changed the Algorithm — Transcript

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1. 0:00So, YouTube have literally just updated
2. 0:02the algorithm, and it's fantastic news
3. 0:04for everybody, but at the same time,
4. 0:06someone, somewhere, inevitably, right
5. 0:08now, is making a video titled "YouTube
6. 0:10Just Killed My Channel".
7. 0:12>> YouTube is updating the recommendation
8. 0:14system to further prioritize original
9. 0:16shorts.
10. 0:17>> To you and me, recommendation system
11. 0:19basically means algorithm. And honestly,
12. 0:21I can't remember YouTube ever doing this
13. 0:24before, announcing a specific update or
14. 0:26change to how it works. Usually, they
15. 0:28talk about running hundreds of tests
16. 0:30every year or showing this timeline on
17. 0:32the gradual evolution of the algorithm.
18. 0:34But this feels more urgent, like some
19. 0:36engineer at YouTube headquarters rocked
20. 0:38up to Gemini and prompted in a fix to
21. 0:40make an immediate and significant
22. 0:42change. Anyway, update one, prioritize
23. 0:45original shorts. Renee, please continue.
24. 0:47>> And reduce the reach of channels
25. 0:49primarily aggregating or re-uploading
26. 0:51other creators' clips without
27. 0:53significant changes.
28. 0:54>> And to you and me, reduce the reach
29. 0:56simply means,
30. 0:58dare I say it,
31. 1:00shadow banned. So, then, to all of that
32. 1:02into plain English and remove all of the
33. 1:04PR around it, YouTube have changed the
34. 1:07algorithm to promote original content
35. 1:10creators at the expense of clipping
36. 1:13channels. And let's be honest, that
37. 1:15sounds like a good idea to me. I've seen
38. 1:17enough of these ranking videos by now to
39. 1:19know that these channels are clipping
40. 1:20whatever they want from wherever they
41. 1:22can get it, and then expecting
42. 1:24forgiveness rather than permission in
43. 1:26the description. And that's just damn
44. 1:28annoying. And it looks like YouTube are
45. 1:29stopping there
46. 1:30>> either. If you're inspired by another
47. 1:31creator's clip and want to remix it or
48. 1:34use it as a launching point for your own
49. 1:36creative work, make sure you're adding
50. 1:38real, distinct value all your own, not
51. 1:40just VO descriptions of what's happening
52. 1:42on screen, minor technical edits, or
53. 1:44template-based bulk changes.
54. 1:46>> So, what Renee is basically encouraging
55. 1:47creators to do here is transformation.
56. 1:49If you do take existing material, then
57. 1:51you need to add new meaning, commentary,
58. 1:54context, creativity, enough that it
59. 1:57becomes something meaningfully different
60. 2:00from the original content. Now, when we
61. 2:02look at this algorithm change in a
62. 2:03little more detail, you start to realize
63. 2:05that it's flowing down the YouTube
64. 2:07stream. In a YouTube support page about
65. 2:09this change, it does mention that it is
66. 2:11in line with existing policies. And when
67. 2:13you click this link, it takes you to
68. 2:15spam policies, where it specifically
69. 2:17mentions scraped content. That being a
70. 2:20channel that takes popular clips and
71. 2:22re-uploads them in their entirety
72. 2:24without any transformative editing,
73. 2:26reaction, or educational breakdown. So,
74. 2:28we've got the algorithm, and we've got
75. 2:29the policies, and it also cascades into
76. 2:32monetization. Reused content should not
77. 2:34be a new term if you've been on the
78. 2:36platform for any length of time. It
79. 2:38mentions things you shouldn't do if you
80. 2:39want to monetize your channel. Clipping
81. 2:41content together, uploading the same
82. 2:43content other channels have,
83. 2:45re-uploading content from the internet
84. 2:46without transforming it. And after all
85. 2:48that, you've still got actual copyright
86. 2:50policies and laws to consider. At this
87. 2:52point, there are so many hurdles to
88. 2:53overcome that it would be a minor
89. 2:55miracle to make a success out of any
90. 2:57sort of YouTube channel that does
91. 2:59nothing but clip other people's content.
92. 3:01And just in case you're wondering, yeah,
93. 3:02I do think this is a good example of a
94. 3:04transformative clip within the entire
95. 3:05context of this video. So, what should
96. 3:07you be doing to make sure you don't fall
97. 3:09into this YouTube algorithm trap? Well,
98. 3:11I don't think I can explain it any
99. 3:12better than how YouTube worded it
100. 3:14themselves. Rather than making minor
101. 3:15technical edits or template-based
102. 3:17changes simply to alter a video, focus
103. 3:20on bringing your own voice,
104. 3:22storytelling, or distinct points of view
105. 3:24to the conversation. Now, as I said
106. 3:25earlier, I sense that the vast majority
107. 3:28of both creators and viewers will see
108. 3:30this as a positive step from YouTube.
109. 3:32But, nothing on this platform can ever
110. 3:34be simply seen as positive or negative.
111. 3:38There's always going to be a gray area
112. 3:39in between. For example, what about
113. 3:41clipping your own content? Podcasts
114. 3:43often turn 1-hour long-form videos into
115. 3:4620-30-second clips that turn into viral
116. 3:49moments in shorts. Or what about a fan
117. 3:51channel that is clipping content from
118. 3:53their favorite creator, but they have
119. 3:55permission from that creator to do so?
120. 3:57Now, YouTube stress that they're trying
121. 3:59to target people who are using other
122. 4:01content creators' work in a
123. 4:02non-transformative way, which kind of
124. 4:04answers the two examples I've just given
125. 4:06you. But, ultimately, what this all
126. 4:08means is that once again, we are relying
127. 4:11on YouTube's automated detection systems
128. 4:14to identify the offending content and
129. 4:16take the right action. And let's be
130. 4:17honest, on a platform this big with over
131. 4:2020 million videos being uploaded to
132. 4:22YouTube every single day, and YouTube's
133. 4:24track record on this, there will be
134. 4:26mistakes where the algorithm doesn't
135. 4:29work quite as intended. And we're going
136. 4:31to hear about it on social media. This
137. 4:32change is also a reminder that creators
138. 4:35are always living on rented ground. I
139. 4:37may fundamentally not agree with what
140. 4:39clipping channels do, but up until this
141. 4:41point, YouTube has been rewarding those
142. 4:43types of channels with views, so more
143. 4:45and more people are doing it. They have
144. 4:47been doing the sensible thing, following
145. 4:49what the algorithm wants, until
146. 4:51suddenly,
147. 4:52it doesn't want that anymore. So, yeah,
148. 4:54in a weird way, I can see the point of
149. 4:56view of a creator saying, "YouTube just
150. 4:59killed my channel." But, for a moment,
151. 5:01let's just take the creator aspect out
152. 5:03of this and put ourselves in the
153. 5:04perspective of a viewer.
154. 5:06>> I think I'm going to just give my
155. 5:07perspective as somebody who recently
156. 5:08stopped watching YouTube shorts a while
157. 5:11back. A really popular format whenever
158. 5:13you're watching shorts about like pets
159. 5:15doing funny things is compilations. As a
160. 5:18viewer, at first, this is kind of great
161. 5:19because it's like more bang for your
162. 5:20buck. You get to like get like a rush of
163. 5:22dopamine from seeing all the silly
164. 5:24things happen. But, after some time went
165. 5:26on, I realized what I was really
166. 5:27watching, I started to feel really
167. 5:28guilty. Each one of these clips came
168. 5:30from somebody else. Somebody else
169. 5:31capturing a moment in in their life with
170. 5:34their pet, and somebody else took it
171. 5:36upon themselves to say, "Well, that's
172. 5:38mine now." And as soon as I caught onto
173. 5:39this, and I started trying to tell the
174. 5:41app like, "Well, I don't want to see
175. 5:42videos like this anymore. I don't want
176. 5:43to see videos from this channel
177. 5:44anymore." I started to realize how much
178. 5:46whack-a-mole I was playing and just how
179. 5:48much of that is so pervasive throughout
180. 5:50the entire shorts feed.
181. 5:51>> And presumably a lot of you feel the
182. 5:52same way, which is why YouTube have made
183. 5:54this change. But the way this change has
184. 5:56arrived is so unlike YouTube. It is the
185. 5:59most
186. 6:00yeah, transparent
187. 6:02algorithm change I've ever seen and it
188. 6:05removes all of the doubt, all of the
189. 6:06guesswork. And so in the future when we
190. 6:08do live streams and audit a shorts
191. 6:10clipping channel and it's stuck in one
192. 6:12of those infamous view jails, we don't
193. 6:13have to speculate anymore. We can simply
194. 6:15point them to this update and explain
195. 6:17what's happening. Do you want to know
196. 6:18something? I've just realized that I've
197. 6:19been wearing the answer to this YouTube
198. 6:21update all along. The algorithm doesn't
199. 6:23want you to copy and paste, add captions
200. 6:26or insert a filter.
201. 6:28Simply, it wants you to do this. To
202. 6:31create something new that's never been
203. 6:34seen before on YouTube. And if you stick
204. 6:36to that simple rule, I don't think
205. 6:38you're ever going to go too far wrong.
206. 6:40Now go watch this video where I try to
207. 6:41figure out another update. The
208. 6:43difference between YouTube's new silly
209. 6:45views and engaged views, the one that we
210. 6:48understand.
211. 6:49Do I find an answer?
212. 6:51Yes. Yes, I do.
213. 6:54I'll see you in there.