My latest @YouTube video, with fewer than 600 total views, suddenly jumped from about 30 likes to over 1,800 likes in a single day. This is mathematically impossible. I strongly suspect this is unsolicited fake engagement. My concern is that there’s currently no clear way for @YouTubeCreators to proactively report such activity as not being creator-initiated. (Video: youtube.com/watch?v=zRLKrFMt…) Creator Support advised me to “report the user” sending fake likes, but in cases like mine, there is no identifiable user — anyone, even without a YouTube account, could purchase bot likes or views through a third-party service. Another suggestion was to anonymously report my own channel or videos, which would mean falsely accusing my content of violating policies and could cause an entirely different set of problems. This kind of sabotage puts creators at serious risk — not only for invalid traffic penalties that can impact ad revenue (something I personally experienced last year), but also for having accounts terminated entirely if YouTube believes we are using methods to artificially inflate views, subscribers, or likes. Without a way to flag these attacks as external, creators are essentially defenseless against bad actors. I understand that YouTube’s systems actively monitor for #invalidtraffic, but a direct way to flag suspicious engagement as external and unsolicited would help protect honest creators from accidental penalties or account suspension — and give creators peace of mind that they’re doing everything possible to protect their channels. Please watch this video to see how frustrating it is to get support from #YouTube. @TeamYouTube @YouTubeInsider

🚨 Creators🚨 I had #invalidtraffic issues last year, likely from malicious bot activity I did NOT initiate. Now it’s happening again. My new video has 1,878 likes but only 545 views — clearly impossible. How are we meant to protect ourselves? @TeamYouTube @YouTubeInsider

Here's another fun example of what it's like to be penalized by YouTube due to alleged #invalidtraffic that we are NOT generating. Some of us Creators get our revenue slashed by 80-90% overnight for weeks, months, or even longer without any assistance whatsoever from YouTube. Other Creators have revenue deducted at the end of the month due to invalid traffic and taken off their monthly earnings. We have no protection. We have no help. We are given no assistance whatsoever. We are simply given links on the definition of invalid traffic and told "not to partner with third parties, watch our own videos or click on our own ads". Most of us ARE NOT doing any of these things and have had stable consistent earnings for YEARS until all of this invalid traffic nonsense. YouTube does not care. They have been ignoring this issue for months, years even, and stripping us of our ad revenue. I have been hit 5 times since August 2023, and it's a never-ending battle full of gaslighting, stonewalling, and blaming. But sure, have the audacity to call us "Partners" and say that we're all in this together. While on a frustrating chat with @TeamYouTube with no assistance, as per usual, I created this video to once again expose how ludicrous it is. Essentially, they will take from us because we have invalid traffic, but they won't tell us where it's coming from or what videos have it. They say it is OUR responsibility. No, YouTube. It is YOUR responsibility. It's YOUR platform. You fix it. Secure your platform.

It's BACK (I mean, does it ever really go away?) @TeamYouTube , if you have missed my daily tweets, you could have just said so! No need to keep slashing my ad revenue to get my attention. April 2024 was the lowest earning month I have ever had on YouTube since I was first monetized due to #invalidtraffic I have been hit three times in 90 days, with revenue plummeting for longer than it remains normal. This is my 5th time being hit since August 2023. No, I do not watch my own videos. No, I do not click on my own ads. No, I do not encourage friends or family to watch my own videos or click on my own ads. No, I do not work with any third parties to help promote my videos or promote my channel. Yes, all of my traffic is organic. No, I cannot control who decides to watch my videos or if someone decides to send bad traffic my way. YES, it is YOUR responsibility, YouTube, to stop invalid traffic. You hold the keys to the kingdom. It's your job to protect it and secure it. Stop disrespecting and devaluing Creators by slashing our ad revenue and our livelihood, gaslighting and blaming us without offering any viable solution or telling us where the traffic is coming from so that we may remove said video. This should be your number one and only priority at the moment. Get it together, you are ruining lives. Embarrassing and disgraceful as a company.

To celebrate Day 11 of my fourth round of alleged #invalidtraffic , I have created another skit showing just how absurd this whole thing is. In the past 44 days, I have had an 80% reduction in revenue/RPM due to "invalid traffic" for a total of 26 days, with only 7 days in between being penalized yet again. This is a very accurate portrayal of what it's like talking to @TeamYouTube and Creator Support about this issue. It's embarrassing, it's unprofessional, and it needs to stop. Stop destroying our livelihoods and give us some real answers.

If we want to make noise about #invalidtraffic and our ad revenue being ripped away from us, we obviously need a punk rock band. I'd like to present Creator Clash, an angsty group of Creators struggling to pay their bills and tired of being ignored and silenced by #YouTube. This is their new hit single "Kingdom of Streams". (Man, AI is something else). Usually I'd be spending my Monday mornings in my office preparing awesome content for my YouTube channel, but hard to get excited about it when your entire channel is being penalized with an 80% reduction in ad revenue. So I would rather spend my time creating a ruckus, each and every day until @TeamYouTube stops penalizing Creators because they don't know how to stop invalid traffic. This song is also a total banger: "All the likes and shares don't pay your rent" @YouTubeCreators @YouTubeLiaison @YouTube

The "Invalid Traffic" Plague: YouTube's Dirty Little Secret linkedin.com/pulse/invalid-t… #invalidtraffic #YouTube

Wow. Is this some kind of joke? The official @YouTubeCreators account on Threads posted this "cute" thread asking if "anyone else" watches their own videos to boost their view count, yet YouTube is penalizing thousands of us creators who do NOT watch our own videos, absolutely decimating our ad revenue due to "invalid traffic" while simultaneously being cutesy/promoting others to watch their own videos? I had to double check that this was the official account through Instagram. This just disgusted me to see this morning. What an embarrassment. Make it make sense, YouTube. @TeamYouTube @YouTubeLiaison #invalidtraffic

Inspired by the #invalidtraffic saga where YouTube is able to deduct our revenue and RPM by 80% overnight, leaving THOUSANDS of us #YouTubeCreators completely in the dark after years and years of stability, I created this short film entitled "If You Don't Know, I'm Not Going to Tell You" written and created by yours truly. The support we have received from YouTube is so infuriating, unfair, and unreasonable, it feels like some kind of bad movie. Here is a bit of humor amidst a really troubling and disheartening time for many of us. I also wanted to touch on how absurd it is to tell us that we have invalid traffic, yet refuse to tell us where it is coming from, what video, etc, not show us proof, and say it's OUR fault. It's impossible for us to control who watches and shares our videos or control anyone who has bad intentions against our channels. NONE of the tips and "help" @YouTube has provided applies to us, and our income has been decimated time and time again. YouTube is responsible for tightening security and stopping invalid traffic in its tracks. Get it together. This is YOUR job and YOUR responsibility. That being said, isn't my cartoon cute? @TeamYouTube @YouTubeLiaison @YouTube

Do these kind of emails actually work on anyone? All they do is fill me with irritation. Why would I voluntarily watch a Loom video about all the things I should do differently? I am my own worst critic. I can do that myself for free. 😂

Hi @TeamYouTube - it's me again. I just want to share how the #invalidtraffic "issue" has affected my organically-grown channel over the last year. Check out my stats from the past two years. Notice how revenue had natural ups and downs and then how it plummets by 80% in August, RPM drops across all videos for 2 weeks... Then happens again 3 months later, then again 3 months later, then again ONE week later? Pretty crazy that I'm earning less in a day now with 260K subscribers and steady views than I did back in 2020! But you're going to help me get rid of the invalid traffic because we're #YouTubePartners, right? No? Surely you'll tell me where it's coming from, so I can erase the "offending" video. No? Okay, well can we block the region or country where it's coming from? No? Okay. Well, what can we do? No, I don't click on my own ads. No, I have never worked with a third party to grow my channel. No, I have never partnered with anyone to increase traffic or views. Any other tips? Any other help? Nothing? Got it. Asking Creators to prevent invalid traffic is like asking a performer at a stadium to prevent any troublemakers from entering the venue. How, exactly? Surely that's the stadium's problem. The stadium has to hire better security, get some really jacked bouncers. That's on YOU. We are busy performing, creating.. Figure it out, @YouTube - In the meantime, I will keep sharing, talking about it. An ex-boyfriend of mine once said I was "the most annoying girlfriend" he had ever had. I am delighted to confirm that I WILL be annoying, a nuisance, and not let you sweep this under the rug as you strip away the livelihoods of thousands of Creators who have helped make YouTube the success it is. @YouTubeCreators @YouTubeLiaison

I am almost speechless. After a brief recovery from the alleged #invalidtraffic to my YouTube channel and revenue returning "somewhat" back to normal for only SEVEN days (after a 70-80% revenue loss due to dramatic RPM drop from March 26th-April 20th), my channel has been flagged with IVT for the FOURTH time. FOUR times in 9 months. I have nearly half a million subscribers across both of my channels. I feel cheated and really sick to my stomach at how myself and other Creators have been treated over the past year. We are not contributing to this invalid traffic. We are not clicking our own ads or watching our own videos on repeat. We are not asking our subscribers to do so. We are not paying for views, likes, or traffic. @TeamYouTube is messing with our livelihoods and it's really appalling. Creator Support sends articles on "how to prevent invalid traffic" even though we do not do any of these things. I am honestly just speechless. @YouTubeLiaison @YouTube @YouTubeCreators

What are your favourite websites for royalty-free music? Any recommendations for websites with LONG music tracks? (10 minutes) #youtubers #Creators

🚨 Hundreds of #YouTube creators are facing an unfair crisis: RPM drops of up to 80% overnight due to invalid traffic issues (Invalid traffic NOT generated or caused by most of these affected Creators). This not only threatens their livelihood but shifts video focus from quality to quantity. I have turned down hundreds of sponsors over the years, only selecting to work with companies with products or software I use and love. Most of my content gains me nothing in return - just sharing my knowledge on various freelancing and tech topics. The ad revenue helped make this possible. With this #invalidtraffic issue, massive RPM drop, and 80% of revenue disappearing overnight, Creators need to change their strategy moving forward. Now what? Every video must chase views or sponsorships to be viable. We must address this issue to preserve the integrity and diversity of content on the YouTube platform. At this rate, YouTube will turn into a late-night infomercial channel of sorts, so that #YouTubeCreators can make ends meet. If you have a YouTube channel and make ad revenue, you should be concerned. It happens overnight, and there is NO help available once it happens. Many shared links to articles, copy/paste responses, and NO direction on how to stop or prevent the invalid traffic affecting your channel other than "Don't click on your own ads," "Don't work with third parties to gain more views, etc," and plenty of other such advice that does not pertain to you because you, obviously, do NOT do that. Why would we set fire to our own business? A business and channel that we have grown naturally and organically over YEARS! I am reaching 260,000 subscribers this week, and I normally, would be delighted. Instead, I feel disheartened and flabbergasted that my revenue this month will be less than one of my first months on YouTube when I had a small fraction of the subscribers/viewers that I do now. Make changes, @YouTube. It's YOUR responsibility to make sure that you put a stop to invalid traffic. Fix your system. Find a way to block invalid traffic. Don't expect your Creators to be able to stop who shares and watches our videos. @YouTubeCreators @YouTubeLiaison @TeamYouTube

If you have a @YouTube channel, this should concern you. Your revenue could drop 80% overnight & it's YOUR job to control who visits your channel & watches your videos. @TeamYouTube will send you links to articles that don't apply to you with NO help provided. @YouTubeLiaison

Thanks for the reminder, @TeamYouTube, that revenue of past 365 days is 34% less than usual due to #invalidtraffic hitting my channel through NO fault of my own & no help identifying video causing the issue. This will be my lowest earning month in 3 years on YT. @YouTubeLiaison