"Very dramatic shift" - Linus Tech Tips opens up about the channel's declining viewership
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A lot of Youtube channels are reporting declining viewership lately.
EX1: https://youtube.com/watch?v=cpVnx4_yqTo
EX2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yF0tmhEtVJEFun times. Looks like a lot of channels are seeing a decline not just Linus. Hes just the latest to talk about it.
Then I saw this article as well and thought I would share.
Anyone here youtube creators? Are you seeing the same thing, a general downturn in viewership?
It's not about Linus specifically. Many other channels (with actual good content) have been experiencing the same. Creators are assuming it has to do with restricted mode, but I'm not sure it's convincing, it probably has more to do with algorithmic changes youtube has made.
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LLMs are doing things like summarizing videos and then using the summaries to answer queries that before would have been a search result with monetization.
Google's executives are unconcerned about the declinibg incentives to create YouTube videos having been sold on the lie that the future of the internet lies in Ai generated content. In other words robots will make the internet.
Robots which hallucinate constantly.
This hurts review channels and similar but it wouldn't hurt other kinds of video (unless people want summaries of fun videos?)
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Okay, but what are you still even watching on YT? The only media I even occasionally consume is Well There's Your Problem, the occasional FoundryVTT HowTo, and the odd clip I get sent from friends.
Yeah, NewPiped screens out all the shitty ads. But so much of the core content is some Mr Beast style slop, I've got little reason to look at my front page.
Good content won't be recommended to you unfortunately.
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Yeah, that's what I'm basing what I said on. You can see GN thanking Linus for quick action, and being understanding that an inexperienced writer could make such a mistake.
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The email chain was published by Billet Labs after LTT said there were no expectations of returning the prototype. It proved that Linus lied about it.
Billet Labs explicitly said in the email that "you could keep it". They changed their mind later. So what's the lie? The emails confirm Linus's version.
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This hurts review channels and similar but it wouldn't hurt other kinds of video (unless people want summaries of fun videos?)
Even fun videos get search traffic from random queries. A video about robots fighting each other will get traffic from people interested in "robots fighting", "robots wars", "robowars", "armored core", "Gundam series"
When there are ai summaries for informational or navigational queries there will be fewer clicks because Google will pirate listicle sources of "best robots fighting each other articles". This means they are stealing from older lists and newer videos will not get mentioned in the ai summary.
This is because ai technology can't judge the quality of a video.
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It's not about Linus specifically. Many other channels (with actual good content) have been experiencing the same. Creators are assuming it has to do with restricted mode, but I'm not sure it's convincing, it probably has more to do with algorithmic changes youtube has made.
The way restricted mode works is by effectively shadowbanning any content that isnt for kids
You wouldn't notice it unless you go side by side on an account with restricted mode and look at the list of videos on a channel to directly compare what shows up on vs what is unavailable on the restricted account.
A creator like linus who exclusively makes content "for the algorithm" would know if it was just an update to the blackbox. He is also deliberately ignorant of politics and the world around him so it would be significantly LESS surprising if he didnt know about restricted mode or that it would affect his "non-political" content.
The political youtubers I've seen have made posts about entire playlists being unavailable on restricted accounts. Its actually a pretty big deal, honestly.
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No, and considering the timeline, it's not because of it.
wrote last edited by [email protected]I don't think their recent drop is because of that video. Just personally curious, whether I should try to watch again as I did enjoy some of their output.
But if Nick leaves it unaddressed I guess I won't.
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Good content won't be recommended to you unfortunately.
No wonder I don't use it anymore
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What we, as users, desere is transparency in the algorithm and significant input into how it works for us. Do you like big channels, small channels? etc. The problem is when people opt-out of sponsored content, but also refuse to pay. Transparency in the cost of delivery of service and the income from advertising would help there too, except if the service provider is wanting obscene profits.
I'm mixed on this. If the algorithm is known, big channels would just game it. They still will figure it out now and game, but it might take a bit longer. Just like these days most of timef the top 20 results with Google are completely useless nowadays because it's either AI slop or pure marketing.
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thats probably it, the influencers always remind people adblocking or not subscribing hurts thier channel. plus if your adblocking you arnt exposed to multiple ads in a single video.
I wonder if adblock+ YouTube premium counts as a view. The issue is there's no way to tell as Google make YouTube algorithms a black box.
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There have been leaks about the Deckard 2 for years now and people always say that Valve will announce it any day now. I'll believe it when I see it at this point.
Trademark entries are a good indicator there is something nearer than further away.
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For example they found out one of their main sponsors Honey were scamming their viewers and essentially stealing from people, they just kept it quiet rather than owning it.
That's one of the things I was referring to. GamersNexus did an expose on the Honey thing and filed a class action suit over it because they were essentially stealing money from creators. Linus was complicit and aware and said nothing.
Let's also not forget the time Linus literally received a prototype cooler from Billet Labs for testing, was supposed to return it after review, and he not only reviewed it poorly (and used it for the wrong hardware), but then basically stole it and auctioned it off, later referring to this as "a small mistake." Supposedly he only offered to pay for the prototype after this was also exposed by GN.
Billet Labs' statement on the issue:
You, the PC community, are amazing. We'd like to thank you for your support, it means more than you can imagine.
Steve at Gamers Nexus has publicly shown his integrity, at the huge risk of backlash, and we have nothing but respect for him for how he's handled himself, both publicly and when speaking directly to us.
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Regarding LTT, we are simply going to state the relevant facts:
On 10th August, we were told by LTT via email that the block had been sold at auction. There was no apology.
We replied on 10th August within 30 minutes, telling LTT that this wasn't okay, and that this was a £XXXX prototype, and we asked if they planned to reimburse us at all.
We received no reply and no offer of payment until 2 hours after the Gamers Nexus video went live on 14th August, at which point Linus himself emailed us directly.
The exact monetary value of the prototype was offered as reimbursement. We have not received, nor have we asked for any other form of compensation.
Dude's just scummy. I've no idea why people will defend him to the ends of the earth.
GamersNexus did an expose on the Honey thing and filed a class action suit over it because they were essentially stealing money from creators. Linus was complicit and aware and said nothing.
I've no idea why people will defend him to the ends of the earth.
Your information is out of date.
That was massively overblown and turned out not to be entirely as claimed. I would really like it if people would attack him for things he actually did rather than making up accusations. it just makes you look like a bad actor.
LTT only knew that they were stealing associate links, Which is something that only affects content creators and was already being shared between various content creators. That aspect was not something that affected users. The information was made available on the channels that content creators use. There was no need to highlight it to the general public in a video as it didn't make any difference to them.
The thing with Gamers Nexus was a completely different event where they were accused of changing the associate links so that users wouldn't get good deals. That did affect users but that was a different scam and then GN deliberately went out of his way to conflate the two incidents.
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What we, as users, desere is transparency in the algorithm and significant input into how it works for us. Do you like big channels, small channels? etc. The problem is when people opt-out of sponsored content, but also refuse to pay. Transparency in the cost of delivery of service and the income from advertising would help there too, except if the service provider is wanting obscene profits.
"if"
greed is the fundamental premise of capitalism, the primary psychological mechanism exploited to perpetuate its existence.
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Not going to take a side here, but the fact you said "you were OK with the sexual harassment", when the other commenter said nothing as such, does not show that you are arguing in good faith.
they dismissed the allegations because a group LTT paid to look into it said nothing happened. so yeah they absolutely said they were OK with sexual harassment. I'm not going to argue this with you, either, because I am not interested in whatever rationalization for sexual harassment you've prepared.
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Yeah, that's what I'm basing what I said on. You can see GN thanking Linus for quick action, and being understanding that an inexperienced writer could make such a mistake.
wrote last edited by [email protected]"quick action"
3 years later and only after Linus made vague legal threats to GN about Honey requiring GN to publicize LTT's past bad behavior.
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Billet Labs explicitly said in the email that "you could keep it". They changed their mind later. So what's the lie? The emails confirm Linus's version.
"..
Regarding LTT, we are simply going to state the relevant facts:
On 10th August, we were told by LTT via email that the block had been sold at auction. There was no apology.
We replied on 10th August within 30 minutes, telling LTT that this wasn't okay, and that this was a £XXXX prototype, and we asked if they planned to reimburse us at all.
We received no reply and no offer of payment until 2 hours after the Gamers Nexus video went live on 14th August, at which point Linus himself emailed us directly.
The exact monetary value of the prototype was offered as reimbursement. We have not received, nor have we asked for any other form of compensation."
Time-stamped emails were provided as proof.
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Or if you use adblock and stream at 4k, google will lose money when you watch videos. Free content while fucking google over is a win win in my book.
It's a big waste of energy to stream in 4K, so if I were you I'd simply not watch the video.
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Perhaps the lesser of the two evils, considering Google's dominance. But yes, far from ideal.
wrote last edited by [email protected]Google's dominance
Is it? Try to ask <18y.o. if they even ever open Youtube.
Google is not dominant in the video streaming context any more. -
youtube is consumed more on tvs than other devices now worldwide
Where do you get this from?
I have seen multiple reports about it!
One quick search revealed this forbes report earlier this year
https://www.forbes.com/sites/bradadgate/2025/02/12/launched-20-years-ago-more-people-are-now-watching-youtube-on-tv/
