- What's this?
Oh, more news in from YouTube.
In an unprecedented move, they've actually listened
to the concerns of the video creator community
and are revising their changes
to the verification status program.
Really?
- vidIQ. - vidIQ.
- Vidiq.com. (upbeat music)
- Hello, I am Rob, and welcome back to vidIQ,
the YouTube tool and channel that educates
you on your YouTube journey
and is newly minted with 400,000 subscribers.
(bell dings)
All right, cards on the tables, folks.
It is the weekend.
I have a life.
I've gotta get this cretin to puppy training,
So let's rustle through this fairly quickly.
#puppyforthelikes.
On Thursday, the 19th of September,
YouTube announced two changes to the verification program.
The first being how it looks,
replacing the check mark icon
for a highlighted channel name.
Artists will also find their musical note
replaced by the same style.
All this in a move that YouTube are using
more and more these days, consistency.
That, however, wasn't the thing
that irritated the entire YouTube community.
It was the second announcement that did that.
Thousands of video creators who
already have their verification status,
in most cases because they have 100,000 subscribers,
received an email stating
that their channel was no longer eligible
for the program, and they would be removed from it,
losing their verification check mark.
And this was because the new eligibility criteria had
nothing to do with a subscriber threshold
and instead would be based on authenticity
and prominence, as determined by YouTube themselves.
If you do want to go into the full details
of the original changes,
which of course are no longer valid,
you can check out the video over here.
And one commenter put it like this.
"Yes, so broad and vague.
"YouTube are judge, jury, and executioner."
I really wish I'd used those lines in my original video.
The changes, as you might expect,
drew wide condemnation from the video creator community
on social media,
mostly from those about to lose
their verification check mark
they had worked hard to earn and have had for years.
Anyway, 24 hours later! (claps)
The following comes from the YouTube Creator Blog.
"Yesterday we announced changes to the verification badge.
"The idea behind this update was
"to protect creators from impersonation
"and address user confusion.
"Every year we receive tens of thousands
"of complaints from creators about impersonation.
"Almost nearly 1/3 of YouTubers told us
"that they misunderstood the badge's meaning,
"associating it with endorsement of content
"and not an indicator of identity.
"While rolling out improvements to this program,
"we completely missed the mark.
"We're sorry for the frustration that this caused,
"and we have a few updates to share with you.
"First, we heard loud and clear
"how much the badge means to you.
"Channels that already have the verification badge
"will now keep it and don't have to appeal.
"We'll continue reviewing those channels
"to ensure we're protecting creators from impersonation.
"Just like in the past, all channels
"that have over 100,000 subscribers
"will still be eligible to apply.
"We'll reopen the application process
"by the end of October.
"Going forward, we'll review those channels
"to verify their identity.
"If we determine that a channel is attempting
"to impersonate, we won't verify that channel
"and may take additional action.
"We've improved the process and will verify channels
"that are authentic,
"in that your channel must represent the real creator brand
"or identity you're claiming to be.
"We'll look at a variety of factors
"to help verify your identity
"and may also asked for additional information
"or documentation."
And completeness.
"Your channel must be public and have a description,
"channel icon, and content, and be active on YouTube."
To confirm all of this,
upon checking the vidIQ channel this morning,
we had a message at the top of the Creator Studio
informing us that if we already had the verification status,
which we do, we will now keep it.
As well as an email pretty much abbreviating the blog post
and informing creators of the revised changes.
Let's quickly summarize all of this, then.
The design of the verification badge is still changing.
But now that won't happen until next year.
All of us creators who already have this verification status
will keep it, and if you do hit 100,000 subscribers
in the future, you are eligible to apply.
But YouTube have brought in more stringent rules.
In particular, that authenticity one.
And all this makes sound, logical sense to me.
I don't prefer the new style of the verification.
But it's all right.
It's just an icon.
It doesn't make a huge impact on my channel
or anybody else's.
It is a status symbol, after all.
But now let's talk about how YouTube did this.
First of all, YouTube, let this be
another lesson in communication.
Instead of announcing changes,
why don't you propose 'em first
and allow the creators to give you
some much-needed feedback before you actually decide
to implement them.
Like several changes you've done
in the past couple of years,
this is one that nobody expected or asked for.
And now I'm sure there's many internal reasons
why you might need to do this.
But consultation with the community is paramount
before you decide to actually make the changes.
Now, perhaps that might be a little too democratic.
Too many voices, too much chaos, nothing will get done.
So maybe there needs to be a happy medium.
A thousand video creators from all across the globe,
speaking many different languages,
many different types of channels,
many different sizes of channels,
where you could propose these ideas
and get some really valued feedback.
If you're gonna change something on YouTube
or, indeed this case, take something away,
give us a voice. (bell dings)
Or you're gonna end up with this type of backlash,
and then roll back on your decision.
And in this case, thank you for actually listening
and for making what can only be the logical decision.
Yes, it is just a graphic on a screen.
But to many people, that represents
many years, many hours of blood, sweat, and YouTube tears.
But, relatively speaking, this is affecting
a minority of video creators.
What else have you changed in the last
couple of months that you implemented,
nobody asked for it, and you've gone ahead with it?
Abbreviated sub counts.
Can we revisit that topic?
(popping)