In October of 2006, Google bought YouTube for $1.65 billion, an investment that clearly paid off. In February of 2020, Google announced that in 2019, YouTube brought in a total revenue of $14 billion.
In its almost 16 years of existence, YouTube has not been without controversy. Starting in August of 2016, there have been a series of events related to advertisement and content creators, sparking disputes that are still going on today.
The fall of 2016 was the beginning of what many creators have labeled the "Adpocalypse," due to the significant decrease in revenue they were making. This was the result of three main events. First, in August of 2016, YouTube began to inform content creators of when their videos were demonetized, meaning they would not earn any of the ad revenue generated from it, due to the video breaking their "advertiser-friendly content guidelines."
Then, in March of 2017, many major companies pulled their ads from YouTube after hearing that they were being played with extremist and offensive content. It is reported that this move cost the Google owned company $750 million.
Finally, one month later, YouTube announced that they would be making their ad policies stricter, as well upping the requirements needed for creators to be eligible to be a part of their "Partner Program."
Some creators believe that the second "Adpocalypse" was right around the corner, after YouTube updated its policy in 2019 to ban any sort content that "maliciously insults" people's gender, race, or sexual orientation. There was fear that this would significantly impact channels devoted to commentary videos as well as drama channels.
In April of 2018, a woman entered YouTube's San Bruno headquarters and shot and injured three people, then killed herself. It has been reported that the woman was angry at YouTube for demonetizing and censoring her videos.
The most recent issue with YouTube, as a company, was in September of 2019 when they were fined $170 million by the FTC for collecting the data of kids under the age of 13 without parental consent. They were also required to implement a system that allows creators of family-friendly content to flag it as such.
YouTube's Evolution
The first video ever posted to YouTube was entitled, "Me at the Zoo," and it was a video of Karim talking about rhinos while standing in front an exhibit of them at the San Diego Zoo. From this video on, the content and features of YouTube have changed drastically.
In December of 2007, YouTube made it possible for creating content for their site to be a career. This was possible through the launch of their "Partner Program," which gave some of the top creators the chance to earn a paycheck based on the amount of ad revenue generated from their content.
One of the most common uses for YouTube is to watch music videos from artists. After music companies aired their grievances to YouTube regarding piracy and unfair licensing terms, in April of 2009, Vivendi, a media company, partnered with the video sharing site to form vevo. Vevo is a music video service that has the capabilities of sharing music videos. Almost 12 years later, vevo is still connected to basically every music video that is posted.
Two years later, YouTube began to throw their hat into the ring in other areas by expanding the functions of their site, starting with the addition of YouTube Live in April of 2011. This feature gave people the chance to broadcast live events to the public. In the era of COVID-19, this has become extremely beneficial in my family's life as it has given us the chance to still watch my brother's basketball games, despite not being able to attend in person due to capacity restrictions. In the same year, YouTube also released a rental service to attempt to compete with the likes of Netflix and Hulu.
2015 was a big year for YouTube, in which they launched three separate programs on their site. First, in February of 2015, they dropped YouTube Kids, a feature on the site that is devoted to kid-friendly material, and also features other parental controls that can be set up. This side of the platform will clock as many as eight million users per week.
Next, in August, YouTube announced YouTube gaming, a service that allows gamers to live stream their videos games to viewers. This was created to compete with the Amazon owned company of the same purpose, Twitch.
Finally, in October, YouTube created YouTube Red, a paid subscription service that allowed consumers to watch videos and stream music without ads, and see exclusive content from some top creators. Since this time, YouTube Red has evolved into YouTube Premium and its music streaming as split off to be a different entity known as YouTube Music.
The last major change to YouTube in terms of its features occurred in April 2017, with the launch of YouTube TV. For $64.99 per month, YouTube TV is an on-demand streaming service that gives its customers access to Live Sports as a well as more than 85 channels, along with unlimited DVR storage.
YouTube's Impact
As a such a power house company and website for as long as it has been, YouTube has been able to make a huge impact on the world in many ways.
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| YouTube Election Hub via The Verge |
First, YouTube has impacted politics. They first hosted a presidential debate during the 2008 campaign cycle, and then in 2012, they launched the YouTube Election Hub. Here, speeches from both the Republican National Convention and the Democratic National Convention were live streamed. There was also access to coverage from several different news organizations. During this campaign, seven out of the 16 candidates announced their run for presidency via YouTube.
YouTube also is credited with having a major impact on the Arab Spring of 2011, a time when there were a series of uprisings in the middle east. People used YouTube to share their messages and goals, as well as to criticize the political system they were rebelling against.
One of the greatest impacts YouTube has had has been its role in creating an entire new career field known as "social media influencing." Once they began their "Partner Program," it gave people a chance to make a living off of creating and posting content to their channels. Since then, people have been able become influencers through their followings on Instagram, the now shut down app, Vine, and currently one of the biggest social media apps, TikTok.
Because of the diverse content on YouTube, people who have started careers on their have been able to expand into different areas thanks to their followings. For example, David Dobrik originally found fame on Vine, and later transitioned over to making four minute vlogs on his YouTube channel, which currently has 18.8 million subscribers. In his vlogs, he is known for hanging out with his friends, a group of YouTubers known as the VlogSquad, and surprising them with anything from wild animals to gifts such as free cars, or even meeting celebrities. Justin Bieber, Snoop Dogg, and Nicole Scherzinger are just a few of the many celebrities who have made cameos on his channel.
Although Dobrik started on social media, he has branched out into other ventures. He served as a judge on the Nickelodeon show America's Most Musical Family, voiced a small part in The Angry Birds Movie 2, and is currently the host of a reality competition show on Discovery called, Dodgeball Thunderdome.
The multimillionaire is also connected to the other major way YouTube has impacted society. As mentioned earlier, YouTube has created stricter rules in terms of what kind of content is eligible for compensation for the ad revenue. When the "Adpocalypse" struck, Dobrik's channel was one of many that was impacted. In a video interview with Men's Health, he explained that at one point his checks from YouTube each months were "a little over $275,000", which was the result of his 60 million views per month. However, after the "Adpocalypse," Dobrik's paycheck decreased to $2000 a month, despite his 200 million views per month. The young star could be making more money had he chosen to adhere to YouTube's new rules regarding which content can be monetized, however, he did not want to censor or adjust the type of content that brought him to infamy. Although he had this massive drop in his paycheck from YouTube, Dobrik is still well-off financially with his many other business ventures, including his iconic "Clickbait" merchandise and other products he has created, such as a disposable camera app, a puzzle, and a perfume.
Dobrik is one of many YouTubers that was affected by these policy changes. Throughout these times, there were some debates as to whether or not YouTube was unfairly censoring these creators. Whether or not it is fair, is up for debate, however, YouTube is not infringing on anyone's First Amendment rights due to the First Amendment only being applicable to the government limiting someone's six freedoms that are outlined in it.
YouTube in 2021
In conclusion, YouTube has become a social media powerhouse with content for any age and any interest. The company has gone through a massive evolution from where it began as a dating site. As the platform continues to grow, it will be interesting to see where they decide to take their site next.
*Unless otherwise noted, the information used in this post was found in this Business Insider article*
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