When you do a search on YouTube for videos about a particular topic, what comes up?
It used to be that what was returned in search results were videos that had the “most-watched time” — the time that users actually spent watching the clips, versus clicking on them. The reason for this is that even if a creator made a “clickbait” title for his or her clips in order to get people to watch them for even a second, those views wouldn’t count in terms of a specific video’s popularity.
But now, as YouTube commentator Mark Dice explains, YouTube appears to have shifted its algorithm for what results are returned for searches in order to favor the mainstream media. Yes, that’s right — now when you search for the keyword “9/11,” you may find yourself staring at a bunch of clips from CNN relating the official government story of the terror attacks of 2001, even if more people are statistically watching clips from other sources such as Infowars (and even if they watched those clips to the very end).
Why does any of this matter? Because if it continues, independent and alternative channels on YouTube will be drowned out by the dominance of major mainstream media networks. Mark Dice even offers documentary proof that this is happening and who at YouTube might be responsible.
The ultimate impact on conservative news outlets from this shift could be chilling; already, many of these channels are suffering from ad “demonetization” — the denial of funds by YouTube to these sources from advertisers that previously gave them crucial revenue streams.
Watch, as Dice explains the issue in depth and how it’s seriously affecting conservative news outlets.
