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Successful appeals ensure that our systems are updated to get better and better.īut the researchers pushed back against YouTube’s defense. Sometimes our systems get it wrong, which is why we’ve encouraged creators to appeal. We use machine learning to evaluate content against our advertiser guidelines. We do not have a list of LGBTQ+ related words that trigger demonetization and we are constantly evaluating our systems to help ensure that they are reflecting our policies without unfair bias. We’re proud of the incredible LGBTQ+ voices on our platform and take concerns like these very seriously.
#Youtubers take the gay test full
The spokesperson’s full statement is below: Moreover, the spokesperson said the site tests its algorithm updates against a number of channels with queer content in an effort to ensure that its demonetization bots aren’t disproportionately affecting queer content. These included straightforward innocuous terms like “LGBT” and “LGBTQIA.”Ī YouTube spokesperson told Vox in an email that the site doesn’t have a list of queer -specific words that flag the algorithm and that the algorithm is constantly undergoing evaluation and updates to ensure fairness. Many of the words tested in the group’s July study were later apparently greenlit in some contexts, meaning the algorithm updated so that these words no longer triggered demonetization. Every single video that we tested was now monetized. What is more shocking is the fact that when we re-tested these titles after replacing the LGBTQ terminology with “friend” and “happy”. “Top 10 Lesbian Couples in Hollywood Who Got Married” “LGBT Tik Tok Compilation in Honor of Pride Month” “Gay and Lesbian Guide to Vienna - VIENNA/NOW” The list of demonetized titles include titles such as: The researchers tested an array of monetized videos with LGBTQ vocabulary in the titles and then found that, after the bot automatically demonetized them, they were only re-monetized when they replaced those words with “friend” and “happy”:ģ3 out of the 100 titles tested that we deemed fit for monetization were demonetized despite being perfectly fine by all standards. In an extended study conducted just on queer vocabulary, the researchers found that 33 percent of the videos they tested with queer content in the titles were automatically demonetized. Other words, like “you” and “Idaho” are sometimes, but not always, okay. The list of words contains many confusing and unexpected examples for instance, “admit” is an acceptable word “admitted” isn’t. But these words can all allegedly trigger demonetization in a video title when nothing else will. Not every word on the researchers’ giant list of confirmed demonetized words - over 900 in all - gets flagged in every video that uses it. The group began collaborating on the project in late June and released their results on September 29 after two months of testing.Īfter testing over 15,000 words, the group concluded in both a written report and a video posted to Nerd City’s channel that YouTube had been automatically flagging videos that placed certain keywords in their titles - including a wide range of queer-friendly vocabulary like “gay” and “lesbian.” The group included a data researcher known on YouTube as Sealow, who authored the study’s written results the YouTube Analyzed channel, run by a creator known only as Andrew the YouTuber known as Een, a member of the channel Nerd City and a YouTuber known as Sybreed. It’s not a mere annoyance for creators reliant on YouTube payouts, demonetization means literally losing income. Collecting ad revenue from their videos is the predominant way many YouTube creators make a living off the platform, so demonetization is a big deal, especially when the algorithm operates in what appears to be an unclear or unfair fashion. The group began to investigate YouTube’s demonetization system in response to growing community frustration with the way the site automatically demonetizes videos - meaning those videos won’t feature ads and the creators can’t benefit from YouTube's ad-based revenue system. Worse, they say the algorithm penalizes videos featuring LGBTQ-related vocabulary at a disproportionate rate: A full third of titles tested specifically for queer content triggered the bot. Now, a group of YouTubers who spent four months working to reverse-engineer the algorithm have found what they say are alarming results: YouTube’s algorithm, they allege, can flag videos because of apparently random words that appear in video titles.
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Its algorithmic magic automatically shuts off vital ad revenue to videos it deems un-advertiser-friendly based on a wide array of constantly updated parameters that aren’t always explicable to creators. To many YouTube creators, the video site’s demonetization bot is an unfriendly watchdog.