

YouTube strips Universal and Sony of 2 billion fake views - sexyalterego
http://www.dailydot.com/news/youtube-universal-sony-fake-views-black-hat/

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hkmurakami
I remember seeing a graphic showing that certain KPOP songs had equal numbers
of views from literally all over the world, including the majority of African
and Middle Eastern countries.

I'd certainly be interested in seeing some numbers on view inflation on those
videos.

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w1ntermute
Do you mean literally equal, or approximately equal? I can see there being
high view counts for K-pop music videos in the Middle Eastern and African
countries, where it K-pop gained popularity as a credible alternative to
Western entertainment, which may be too sexualized for the socially
conservative sensibilities in those countries. America's military aggression
in that part of the world hasn't done Western entertainment any favors either.

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ceol
_> where it K-pop gained popularity as a credible alternative to Western
entertainment, which may be too sexualized for the socially conservative
sensibilities in those countries._

I doubt that's the reason: K-pop is pretty sexualized. It's also very big on
objectifying women and enforcing unrealistic expectations of beauty.

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danso
A New Yorker piece argued that K pop was much less sexualized than its
Japanese and American counterparts, to the point that the music stars
themselves have to live a pretty straight edge life while in the spotlight
[http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2012/10/08/121008fa_fact_...](http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2012/10/08/121008fa_fact_seabrook)

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w1ntermute
Right, many of the entertainment agencies have "dating bans" that often last
until the artists are in their late 20s. This is the exact opposite of what's
going on with someone like Taylor Swift - a new guy every couple of months. In
America, the fans take an interest in that, or at least don't discourage it.
And they eat up the songs that are based on her relationships. In Korea, an
artist would be crucified for acting like that.

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ceol
Eh, the dating bans are because fans expect their idols to be "pure" and
"virgin"; the thought of them being with a man ruins that image and can even
spark outrage from the community (mostly consisting of very obsessed 20s-to-
middle-aged men.) It's not so much about being socially conservative as it is
ruining a bunch of guys' fantasies because women should be "pure."

And a lot of K-pop songs have to do with relationships— just not _actual_
ones.

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TazeTSchnitzel
So now if I want to get someone's video taken down, I just need to buy them
some extra views?

Cool!

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zaidf
_some extra views_

Billions, not some.

~~~
TazeTSchnitzel
I used the word "some" loosely.

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sakopov
So, let me get this straight. A typical YouTube channel can have its video
suspended if it violates the "viewcount policy." However, when a not so
typical YouTube channel owned by Universal or Sony, who are responsible for
sending out DMCA takedowns, violates the same policy all they get is a drop in
views? Oh how the corporations run everything. This is really really great,
Google.

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teovall
No, if I read it right, they got their videos removed too.

"UMG, which had long held a heavy hand in YouTube operations, now only boasts
five videos on its YouTube channel"

"Sony's page, by comparison, is currently empty."

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SquareWheel
Apparently these recommendations are "just for me": Brazilian author goes
topless to fight book piracy, Cam girl's emotional reaction to trolling goes
viral, Half-naked daughter helps Dad sell 1977 Datsun on eBay. Each with an
illicit photo.

Is there a more reputable source, perhaps?

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_seininn
Youtube seems to be pushing these recommendations on me as well.

The funny thing is that "normal" recommended videos are usually preceded by
the message "Recommended for you because you watched ..." on youtube's home
page. The suggestive recommendations, however, are preceded by a simple,
mysterious "Recommended for you".

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6ren
Which makes PSY hitting a billion all the more impressive
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bZkp7q19f0>

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loceng
Didn't read the article - but was there revenue share related to these views,
or maybe just being higher up in ratings for being most popular?

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JaggedJax
I wondered about the revenue sharing for a bit before realizing Google didn't
take a financial hit from the fake views. If anything, they profited. It's the
advertisers who took any hit by paying for ad space that was only seen by
bots.

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loceng
That would show worse ROI then though, which looks bad on Google.

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sskates
What's way worse is losing the trust of their advertisers over the long term.
I'm not going to buy views on Youtube if I don't trust the platform, so steps
like this make me more willing to spend.

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loceng
Yes, that's what I was meaning to imply - the ROI of advertisers.

