April News

[Hippocampus]

So how HAVE you been making a living lately?

[Ross Scott]

Jesus Christ!!! Less than 20%, a sixth of what you made just a couple years ago, how the hell has youtube caused that?

I always thought this was a problem just with machinima, but if now even youtube is not paying you a reasonable amount for what you're producing, this sounds much worse than I thought. I understand you can get into specifics on the machinima contract, but could you tell us what's up with youtube's harsh pay cut?

Absolutely, though I may make a repeat of this information in a news post later. There's multiple things at work here:

 

1. Youtube isn't paying for ads on mobile devices like tablets or smartphones, even if they display there. This accounts for about 40% of my video views, according to Machinima. The ratio can be more like 60% for a lot of videos I've been told. This sounds like fraud to me, but I imagine Google lawyers have some impressive stuff backing this.

 

2. Youtube has changed how they pay users based on ads. In some ways this isn't completely unreasonable, but it hurts a lot of viewers. As I've been told, Freeman's Mind is not directly monetizeable because it doesn't tie into a product. No one is advertising to sell copies of Half-Life. If I was doing this in a brand new game, like Bioshock Infinite, those would be much more monetizeable, because that's a game that's trying to get sales right now. Alternately, if I was doing an unboxing of a mouse or something, that would also be much more monetizeable. This means that targeted advertising is flowing more towards people who can easily have tie-in advertising rather than advertise based on general trends the way Amazon recommends things for you. This means less money for video makers who aren't doing tie-in stuff.

 

3. This is the most evil part in my opinion, Youtube is essentially trying to kill the "long tail" effect of Youtube. Meaning that when you're searching for videos or get recommendations, instead of getting videos that are most relevant, it's going to essentially bury those and redirect you to videos that are bigger and earning more money, regardless of how relevant they actually are. This started in 2011 and reduced my views to about half. You can hear more about it here, (skip to the 5 minute mark):

 

 

Even if money wasn't involved, this is just evil, because it means you as a viewer won't see the videos that most pertain to what you're interested in, they're trying to mainstream everything as much as possible.

 

4. Some black magic voodoo going on. I have a friend who makes a little bit of money from Minecraft videos, and he's told me that Youtube is actually SUBTRACTING money he's already earned, often overnight, he'll simply "lose" $6 or so from his total with no explanation. I also follow an economic video blog who updates every day, has been running it for over a year, and in one video he claimed that he just "lost" 600,000 total views (out of about 1.8 million) overnight, again no explanation.

 

Whatever Youtube is doing, they're clearly violating Google's "Don't be evil" mantra.

 

So how HAVE you been making a living lately?

Basically living off my savings. I've applied for multiple jobs with no luck, although I did get a little bit from voice acting for various freelance projects to soften the blow. If nothing changes (although I'm doing a lot to try and change things) then I can survive financially for about 3 months before I'm in deep shit.

[K0Z]

Whatever Youtube is doing, they're clearly violating Google's "Don't be evil" mantra.

I get some interesting auto-completes when I type in 'Google is' into google search.

Edited April 6, 2013 by Guest (see edit history)

[Descriptor]

2. Youtube has changed how they pay users based on ads. In some ways this isn't completely unreasonable, but it hurts a lot of viewers. As I've been told, Freeman's Mind is not directly monetizeable because it doesn't tie into a product. No one is advertising to sell copies of Half-Life. If I was doing this in a brand new game, like Bioshock Infinite, those would be much more monetizeable, because that's a game that's trying to get sales right now. Alternately, if I was doing an unboxing of a mouse or something, that would also be much more monetizeable. This means that targeted advertising is flowing more towards people who can easily have tie-in advertising rather than advertise based on general trends the way Amazon recommends things for you. This means less money for video makers who aren't doing tie-in stuff.

 

3. This is the most evil part in my opinion, Youtube is essentially trying to kill the "long tail" effect of Youtube. Meaning that when you're searching for videos or get recommendations, instead of getting videos that are most relevant, it's going to essentially bury those and redirect you to videos that are bigger and earning more money, regardless of how relevant they actually are. This started in 2011 and reduced my views to about half. You can hear more about it here, (skip to the 5 minute mark):

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?start=300&v=SOPEYYm_Z-0

 

Even if money wasn't involved, this is just evil, because it means you as a viewer won't see the videos that most pertain to what you're interested in, they're trying to mainstream everything as much as possible.

 

Maybe you could do a Booker's Mind for Bioshock then to raise some capital!

It'd be easy, since the character already talks anyway, meaning you won't have to do any voice work!

 

Either that, or you could just have Freeman shill more products.

I mean, we already know the guy likes Doritos. Maybe some Taco Bell tie-ins as well?

(But no seriously, this is all the dumbest thing I ever heard. What the heck, Youtube. You used to be cool.)

 

At any rate, frig, good luck. Maybe it will help if you try to get us to spread the word about FM and CP?

Also, if people use AdBlock, does that screw you out of money?

[Doctor Felix Whooves]

So YouTube dose not pay for mobile views? Then I'm sorry that all I can use is my phone. And if they don't pay why do they even have adds on them?

[JudasPhysicist]

And I'm sort of sorry for using adblock, but not fully sorry.

[TastyPie]

I hated the Doom Guy's Mind. Very crude unfunny "humor". You can do better Scott.

[TastyPie]

Love the FM and Civil Protection! Can't wait for new stuff. Thanks for your work, Ross.

[Ross Scott]

At any rate, frig, good luck. Maybe it will help if you try to get us to spread the word about FM and CP?

Also, if people use AdBlock, does that screw you out of money?

You can spread the word that the videos may end up in a new home and everything is in a state of flux. Plus there's other stuff I'm working on that I'll hope for help with publicity from you guys later on (it's all good stuff).

 

As for adblock, that's a dichotomy for me since I hate intrusive ads, but that's how I've depended on my income. Individual views mean less than ever in financial terms, especially with Youtube's changes. You could take the most avid fan of the show and it's unlikely he or she would watch the videos enough times over the course of a few years for it to add up to a dollar. I don't see any sane way I can tell people to leave adblock off when I have it installed myself. Even though I'm looking at financial trouble, I honestly feel that no viewer has any OBLIGATION to suffer through ads or to pay me, since I see that as kind of arrogant. I'm not curing cancer or inventing new alloys or something. I'm trying to make funny videos that people like and I really hope I can survive some way doing it, but I think it would be insane to put that burden on you.

 

Also I am reminded of this picture.

 

I hated the Doom Guy's Mind. Very crude unfunny "humor". You can do better Scott.

Not as good as episode 6 huh?

[Descriptor]

Oh, cool, so moving the series to a new site is still an option?

If so, I think I would also recommend Blistered Thumbs, as they don't rely on YouTube either, but on another service called Blip TV which might be better, although I hear their ads are a bit more intrusive...

And heck, you've got at least like half a million, I'm sure the word would spread pretty quickly by itself.

If not, you could always resort to the age old tactic of putting pictures of attractive women in the thumbnails to bring in more views.

 

Are there any other video publishers you've been looking at, and if so, how has that been going?

[ExplosiveCheese]

Hey Ross, just out of curiosity, what level of education do you have? Maybe you could try getting a job at a video game company as an animator or a mapper?

[HLPrincess]

Hey Ross, just out of curiosity, what level of education do you have? Maybe you could try getting a job at a video game company as an animator or a mapper?

 

I know that animating is the very last thing Ross would prefer to do... This is why he usually looks for volunteers.

[Box Tactics]

I'm hoping we can get Ross a VA job in a AAA Valve game. He certainly could pull one off!

[Ross Scott]

Hey Ross, just out of curiosity, what level of education do you have? Maybe you could try getting a job at a video game company as an animator or a mapper?

My education history is basically the result of me going back and forth between doing school for a while and not being sure what I wanted to do, then working for a year, then going back to school, repeated a few times. This may sound outrageous (especially looking at me now), but I have a bachelor's in criminal justice (and a minor in psychology), with the idea at the time of going into law enforcement. The short version is I wanted to end up at a job where I wasn't bored, and that's something local law enforcement can deliver on. Around that time I made Civil Protection, won first place in a contest, which encouraged me to keep going with it, worked some temporary jobs at the same time until I ended up getting a contract later with Machinima later, only semi-recently making enough from it for me to survive from it, then Youtube changed the rules. As for mapping, I'm not a good designer for that, only basic experience, for in-game animation I probably would be qualified just from experience on CP and learning other engines. It's really not my first choice at all, but if I was made an offer I would have to consider it.

 

I know that animating is the very last thing Ross would prefer to do... This is why he usually looks for volunteers.

Well beggars can not be choosers. At this point I'll work at whatever I have to in order to survive, but I'm not going jeopardize losing Freeman's Mind permanently.

[8ullfrog]

I really wish someone would beat this intrusive ad culture out of Google, it's to the point where I get 30 second unskippable [Product] ads before one to two minute videos on tech fixes. I'm never going to buy [Product] anyway, and the ad just fills me with a helpless rage. But the nameless faceless lack of customer support culture that google has fostered has only spread to just about everywhere. As to the revenue, my guess is they've devalued "content."

 

One time I got a request to give feedback on one of those ads, and I asked them to please stop showing me ads for that product. I just now realized I name dropped the company several times in this post, so I went back and fixed that. They won't even get a name drop from me.

 

Thank you for what you have done so far, and I'm sorry that Machinima and Google have pissed on something that have brought me so many laughs.

[Sero]

Ross, blip.tv might be worth a look as a possible video host. I don't have any experience with what sort of cut of the advertising they offer, but it's what is used by the That Guy With The Glasses group (The Nostalgia Critic, etc), and they seem to do okay out of it. They also seem pretty lenient censorship wise, the only line I haven't seen people cross on it is on-screen nudity, and the people I watch on it are basically the definition of copyright Fair Use, which blip.tv seems to be good about. Not necessarily all that relevant to you, but still nice.

[Alyxx Thorne]

I really hope this shit can be resolved as quickly as possible...

[Humin]

Bored... anime isn't working anymore... need... CP and FM.

[ROFLOLBBQ111]

Ross, blip.tv might be worth a look as a possible video host. I don't have any experience with what sort of cut of the advertising they offer, but it's what is used by the That Guy With The Glasses group (The Nostalgia Critic, etc), and they seem to do okay out of it. They also seem pretty lenient censorship wise, the only line I haven't seen people cross on it is on-screen nudity, and the people I watch on it are basically the definition of copyright Fair Use, which blip.tv seems to be good about. Not necessarily all that relevant to you, but still nice.

I believe Blip is the best place for Freeman's Mind to be hosted. However, Ross has stated in the past that his videos aren't popular enough for to support him unless he's also receiving payment from another group, such as Machinima. This is why I think, rather than just using the service the Nostalgia Critic uses, he needs to actually join the Nostalgia Critic's company. That Guy With The Glasses has a gaming branch called "Blistered Thumbs".

 

A bunch of people who work for TGWTG are able to support themselves despite, as I believe (I have no sources on this), not making anything as popular as Freeman's Mind.

 

Edit: Holy crap, I just remembered I already mentioned this on another thread and

 

viewtopic.php?f=22&t=5294&start=100

 

Ross has apparently tried contacting them, but there's been no response...yet. I better go do some research on how we could sell TGWTG on Freeman's Mind.

[scott155]

I better go do some research on how we could sell TGWTG on Freeman's Mind.

Uh... Let them watch it?