Is YouTube billing - and not refunding - advertisers for ads served on non-conforming or potentially copyright infringing content? Are its algorithms actively promoting this content to consumers, and deleting details about this content from advertisers’ placement reports?
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Ads observed on YouTube videos which were later deleted from the platform and redacted in ad delivery placement reports

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Note: to get straight to the interesting part, read from the the bullet point number 10 in the summary in the comments.

  • Pro@programming.devOPEnglish
    3·
    11 hours ago
    Summary Part 2
    1. Thousands of “re-distributed” YouTube videos - including live ESPN or CBS sports games, full films that were still in theatrical release at movie theaters, TV shows, and exclusive streaming content from - were found on third party YouTube channels, largely via the YouTube recommendation algorithm. These videos appear to have likely collectively generated over a billion views and likely several billions of ad impressions.
    2. The YouTube recommendation algorithm itself appears to amplify and make easily discoverable “re-distributed” content with as little as one click/view of similar uploads. Beyond just “hosting” the “re-distributed” content, YouTube’s recommendation algorithm may actively make it easier for consumers to find and view “re-distributed” content, and appears to surface more and more “re-distributed” content to users even with relatively little browsing history. There are entire Reddit forum discussions where consumers discuss observing this phenomenon.
    3. User comments posted on YouTube and Reddit suggest that some consumers avoid paying for cinema tickets, Netflix or other streaming subscriptions, or film rentals because the consumers are able to watch copyrighted media content for free on YouTube.
    4. This may potentially affect film studios, TV show producers, and live sports broadcasters by potentially increasing YouTube’s viewership ratings and time spent numbers, while potentially decreasing the viewership ratings for the license rights owners and subscribers for competitive streaming services. This could theoretically impact the rightful license right owners ability to attract large advertising budgets and subscribers.
    5. Movies that were in theatrical release at cinema - such as “Deadpool & Wolverine” in the summer of 2024 - were observed being uploaded and removed multiple times on YouTube, and were observed being promoted on the YouTube.com Homepage. This can impact consumers’ propensity to pay to view the movies in cinemas, as was noted by many users in the comments.
    6. Live sports events - such as Major League Baseball (MLB) or NCAA college football games broadcast by ESPN or CBS Sports - were live streamed entirely on various third party YouTube channels. The videos and streams are largely removed after the fact, either by voluntary self-deletion by the creators or by YouTube. Some of these third party streams collectively generate millions of views.
    7. TV and streaming shows, such as content of Netflix’s “Squid Game”, NBCUniversal Peacock’s Love Island, Family Guy, Warner Brothers’ Big Bang Theory, Loki, and American Dad, were observed on third party channels on YouTube.
    8. Content starring many famous Hollywood actors were ‘re-distributed’ on third party YouTube channels. It is unclear whether these actors receive compensation - such as royalties - when ads are viewed on this content via third party, ‘re-distributing’ YouTube channels. The list of Hollywood actors whose videos were found on “re-distributing”, third party YouTube channels includes: Jason Statham, Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise, Daniel Craig, Chris Hemsworth, Dwayne Johnson, Keanu Reeves, Scarlett Johansson, Mark Ruffalo, Samuel L. Jackson, Tom Hiddleston, Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr., Will Smith, Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman, Gal Gadot, Laurence Fishburne, Chris Pratt, Vin Diesel, Bruce Willis, Benedict Cumberbatch, and many others.
    9. This research found various channel owners were continuously removing and re-uploading “re-distributed” content each day, Some YouTube channels appear to be able to serve many videos of “re-distributed” content, and evade being banned by continuously self-removing their own “re-distributed” content each day, in a daily round-robin cycle of uploading “re-distributed” content and then removing the content later in the day. It is unclear if this is a deliberate attempt to circumvent the YouTube Content ID detection algorithm.
    10. Some YouTube channel creators - including YouTubed-”verified” creators and creators who appear to have received a “YouTube Creator Award” for having hundreds of thousands or millions of subscribers or views - were seen uploading “re-distributed” Disney movies, Family Guys episodes or live videos from ESPN, Fox Sports, or CBS Sports college football games. The creators often self-delete or edit these videos after the livestreams end. These creators appear to have amassed millions of views via these tactics.