Today I was ‘suspended’ from YouTube with no warning and no explanation of why. Where my videos once appeared on this site a message appears that tarnishes my reputation. As a result I’ve followed the procedure to ask for reconsideration that YouTube give and have written this open letter to YouTube.
Update: about 12 hours after posting this post I woke up to find my YouTube account has been reactivated. I’m yet to hear anything official from YouTube explaining what happened – will update it when/if I hear anything.
Dear YouTube,
I know breaking up can be difficult – but it’s generally acceptable to let the other person know!
Our romance has been long – it began years back (my birthday in 2006 if I recollect correctly) when I summonsed the courage to post a little video of myself on you and then posted it on my blog. I wondered at this amazing new technology that enabled ordinary people to have their voice, face… and life broadcast around the world and began to write to my readers that they should explore the technology too.
At first I thought the relationship was just a one way thing – unrequited love, a school boy crush that would never be returned…. however all that changed when you emailed to ask if we could go to the next level – you suggested we ‘tie the knot’ and have me put your ads on my videos so that together we could make a little money.
I was over the moon – you obviously valued what I was doing, perhaps we had a future.
But today it all came crashing down.
As I sat on a train, heading to the football with my boy, checking my Twitter stream a message came through from a friend that my videos were no longer being served and that my account had been suspended.
I didn’t believe it at first – we’ve been together so long. Perhaps I’d taken you for granted but I didn’t believe you’d break up with me without even some warning signs that you were not happy.
I tried to log in to my account and sadly it was true – I’m locked out of our little home together.
What’s worse – there’s not even a note of explanation – just a bizarre impersonal and very general note that I’m perceived to be in violation of some term of service and a spot where I can add my email address and ask you to reconsider (with not even a place for me to ask why this is happening).
When did this happen? To be honest I’m not sure. I found out today but it could have been at least a few days ago that you locked the door. You didn’t call, email, SMS, Tweet…. I had to hear it from a friend – and nobody seems to know why.
OK – so you’ve broken up with me – I can deal with that and as I know I’ve not done anything to deserve it I’m still hoping we can work it out and that you’ll look at it again and perhaps even give me a chance to clear up any confusion. You give a way for me to ask you to look into it again and I hope you will but what really makes me sad is that while you admit to me that you just ‘perceive’ I’ve done something wrong you’re telling the world something quite different.
When I (and my readers) look at the videos on my site and hit the play button I (and my readers) are greeted with a little note on the video that proclaims to the world that the video “has been removed as a violation of YouTube’s policy against spam, scams, and commercially deceptive content.“
Your little note ‘sorry about that‘ at the end of your declaration and the cute little face next to it only dig the knife in deeper.
In other places it says “darrenrowse has been terminated due to multiple or severe violations of our Community Guidelines.”
There’s no mention that I’m ‘perceived‘ to have broken your terms of service and that you’re looking into it – just a declaration to those who’ve come to trust me after many years of hard work that I have violated your policy against things that I detest and which I have campaigned against.
That doesn’t seem like you’re playing fair.
You see those who see that message trust you – they know you – they take what you say as ultimate truth… so for you to tell them that hurts – both me and my reputation.
YouTube – I’m not sure what to say. I understand you need to have policies and procedures and that you no doubt do have to deal with spammers and scammers – but as someone who has worked hard to play by the rules and teach others to do the same I’m a little taken a back.
I do hope that you’ll reconsider our relationship – I’d love to snuggle again – (if I’ve done something wrong I’m only too happy to rectify it and/or explain – I can’t think what it would be) – but more than that I hope that you’ll reconsider the way that you break up with those who love you because when I tweeted this out I had quite a few others share similar experiences.
Heart brokenly yours
Darren Rowse (formerly darrenrowse on YouTube)
PS: if you’re unsure about me, perhaps you should talk to your cousin – AdSense. OK, so we’ve been romantic too (and I once wrote them a similar letter too) but they also once even posted a video about me on… YouTube where they promote me as someone they trust to teach others how to use them.
Update: I’ve just spent some time digging in my spam filters and found an email from Youtube from earlier today saying that they suspended my account for 6 months. It says it was for a single video (my last one titled ‘secrets to making money online‘ (you can read the transcript on that link) but doesn’t give any specific reason. I’m not sure what the problem with the video is (it makes no promises and promotes nothing) or why a problem with one video would trigger an account wide suspension, why they wouldn’t just delete the video and/or ask me to make changes.
I’ve also heard from another YouTube user who also got suspended today for a similar topic video and we’re wondering if some keywords in the video description might have triggered this (despite the content on the video being fairly harmless in my opinion). Hoping it might be that simple.
Well said! Now lets wait and see how fast and efficient they are.
By the way, even as a YouTube partner I find it to be very hard to contact them :S
It might me time to move on from YouTube to another provider. Personally, I think that if they break up with you like that they don’t deserve your affection.
Sad to hear Darren! Hope everything gets sorted out soon, because you don’t want people seeing that message attached to your name.
We agree with this and understand the pain Darren. Its really weird for Google to do such blunders… I guess they should have a window period of say 30 days to put any video down. Post that they should not have the right. Youtube wants to spread across internet via the embeds we give them and in return we only spoil our image by such spammy messages they leave on our videos…. Google should seriously consider this and apologize!
This is so beyond ridiculous I can’t even find the words. Darren, you are one of the most honest, helpful, non-spammy, non-scammy, non-commercially deceptive people I have come across on the internet. I can understand YouTube wanting to get rid of some “make money online” types, but you are not even close to being one of those types.
I just hope it’s all a big misunderstanding where somebody saw somebody kissing somebody else in the kitchen and got it all confused. (Hey, that can happen. It happened to me. Honest!)
damn YouTube! don’t u know who are u dealing with? the ProBlogger!
oh gosh! can’t believe this is happening! so what should we do next?
Brutal!
This will end well :-)
I’d say you have a chance given your leverage however for small business owners without that same audience I’d be worried if they would get any chance to get an appeal through.
Hoping the best for you!
Problogger! u need not worry,youtube ill reply u soon nd ill activate ur account as well..:)
Wow and I thought it was just wordpress.com that did this! Now what would be the strategy for placing the 300 videos on my channel somewhere else just in case?
Darren, I think YouTube should clear this matter ASAP, as this is just Ridiculous, I mean Guys over at YouTube should visit your blog to learn what you really do and how you make a difference on the web, before taking any uncalled for actions!
BTW, awesome post, really like the way you showed feelings and emotions, which really made it a classic “letter” to YouTube.
Hope everything is sorted out soon!
Hasan
This is unbelievable. I was rather shocked seeing your post. Your post have been nothing of what the not nice message on YouTube says!
Now just wonder what YouTube is going to respond.
And maybe suggestion from Sonja to move on…
Good luck, Darren!
My money says it’s a competitor. I did online marketing pretty heavily in the past and this is a classic tactic of a competitor or someone who is trying to muscle in on your market space. Something to think about….
Darren
Two things – as you’ve indicated, this can be be triggered by ‘keywords’ that YouTube’s automated filter system has on its system and is associated with spammy content. It’s likely that the keyword phrase ‘making money online’ is a phrase that triggers YouTube’s alarms.
It’s also possible that some of your (jealous) competitors have flagged you. (There is a flag button under every video). Get enough flags from different ISP addressed and you will automatically be suspended – I’ve heard of people recruiting other people on Fiverr and Craigslist to flag a competitor’s videos.
Re the appeal process – there’s a good chance that you’ll get your account back in 6 months. A friend of mine had his account suspended for copyright violation (long story, it wasn’t a flagrant violation and would actually have encouraged people to buy said content) , and eventually he got his channel back with the offending videos deleted. It would make much more sense to delete those videos and issue a warning.
And there thousands of folks on YouTube using it in spammy ways that YouTube doesn’t seem bothered about. Makes no sense.
Good luck with getting it back.
Paul
PS – THIS is exactly the reason that you should syndicate your videos via TubeMogul. Then if this ever happens you can quickly change the embed codes on your website. And you can set up a different YoUTube account and very quickly re-upload your videos. (Of course you lose the ‘community’ elements that you’ve set up – comments, likes, playlists, etc. ).
This is sad, just 4 days ago, I was also suspended with similar notice. The most annoying part of it all is that, their suspension notice is as vague as anything…First my understanding was that, they were going to delete the video and if i breach any of their regulations in 6 months, they will suspend me..
Then i went to youtube to see that I have been suspended so I decided to re-read their notification again, to me it says what I thought at first but I guess it meant that they are deleting/suspending my account for 6 months…
The fact that Google can do this to pple suck!
G’day Darren. I’ve just looked your videos up on YouTube and I was able to view them with no problems. Is it just one particular video that has been removed, I may have it wrong. I was able to open up all the videos I searched under the banner “Darren Rowse”.
Cheers
Brenton.
Those videos are uploaded by others. Darren’s channel is http://www.youtube.com/darrenrowse and on there, all videos are gone :(
That’s very impersonal of them !!!!
I’ve heard of this happening recently. Those other videos that I know where taken down had nothing to do with making money online. I think YouTube is really dealing with this poorly. They need to communicate so people aren’t in the dark. If they keep this up, they are going to open the door for a competitor to move in.
Darren, pull yourself back together. You should be prepared for this. When you are depending on something from Google, expect nothing more.
If you are so in love with videos, host them yourself!!!
But, its a sad fact that they suspended your account. But I see them doing the right move. They are trying to weed out all the scam videos online.
Terrible.
So typical of large internet companies who think they can cut off the relationship with little or no explanation – ultimately very ‘non human’ in their actions.
Youtube you should be very embarrassed. This is peoples livelihoods being played with here and to deal with it so impersonally is disgusting.
Sorry you are going through this, Darren, but perhaps you have the clout to draw attention to these unfair practices. Facebook can seem capricious, but YouTube is more like the Wild West, with the marshall swooping into town and locking people up without finding out who the outlaws really are.
Sounds like something Facebook would do … hope it’s resolved for you soon Darren, and that YouTube provides details that you’re able to share with us.
Wow, sorry to hear that. I am so surprised by Youtube, I thought their sight was more liberal. Did you back up your content somewhere else?
To be honest it borders on defamation as it damages your reputation by stating you are commercially deceptive, and a scammer.
I wonder how youtube gets away with it!
That’s no good Darren, I have a contact at Google Australia that might help I’ll send you his details it may help…
Just like any of Google’s “services” there is no reason to think the end user has any control of their content. And it’s not just YouTube. They can turn off your blogger, feedburner, gmail and everything else they want. Actually this is a huge issue with cloud apps. Flickr does it. Vimeo can. Twitter too.
How do we protect ourselves from draconian policies that have very little wiggle room once implemented by the sites?
The big 2 (YouTube and Google) seem to both have these automatically-generated and very rigid policies, which seem to be often implemented unilaterally without warning.
There’s an issue here that’s bigger than Darren Rowse, though I do “share your pain.”
Perhaps YouTube would benefit from an online version of the Arab Spring – mass peaceful direct action from those seeking reform….
Use vimeo.
I like Vimeo but you can’t monetize videos there can you? That makes it a less valuable service than YouTube IMO.
Blip.tv is another alternative, which does allow monetization, but they have more restrictions regarding what you can upload I think
not like he was getting millions of view on the videos.Comes down to making a few bucks from adsense on videos, which I am sure is so far down his earning lists it is an afterthought, or having videos online. Vimeo you can use their paid service and bee good to go.
Uh Oh Darren. You’re in good company. I just saw this other account has been suspended for the same thing! “YouTube removing whose speeches because it violates their policy?” http://slimeball-comics.blogspot.com/2011/06/youtube-removing-obama-speeches-because.html
They’ve got some nerve, breaking up with Pro-blogger! Don’t they know who you are? It’s like suspending God!
Well said, Darren!
You have to admit, “Secrets to Making Money Online” does sound kind of scammy.
Also, if it is true that there are no secrets to making money online (per your article https://problogger.com/secrets-to-making-money-online/), why is the article titled that way?
Last but not least, the advice is pretty generic: “do something online that you really love” and “be confident”, sorry I need something more specific than that.
JP – the reason I chose the title is because people search for that term and are constantly asking me for ‘the secrets’ so I thought I’d give them – as unsecret and generic as they really are. I guess it’s a sort of ironic title. I’d hardly think that calling the video that would be enough though.
I love that title, precisely because it’s so ironic. YouTube should know better.
Obviously Google doesn’t share your sense of humor/irony, and that term seems to have raised a flag with them. Let’s face it – there is a lot of junk on YouTube and there is no way for them to sift through it all, so unfortunately your video seems to have been lumped in with that category. Exactly the same thing happens with AdSense – I’ve seen sites function perfectly for years, but when the owner decides to do something seemingly harmless like add an affiliates page or something else Google doesn’t like their account is axed practically overnight.
And then after months of waiting their appeal is denied. It seems any material that looks similar to popular scams – making money, weight loss, etc. – is being targeted and Google doesn’t really care if it affects anyone innocent in the process. Hopefully you have some luck getting it sorted out, but if it was me I personally wouldn’t be too confident. There are no shortage of video options out there though, most are actually better than YouTube quality-wise.
I have been reading this blog for several months now and as I feel strongly about this topic it has finally encouraged me to post my first comment!
Is sad to see the direction that YouTube is going in. I am a big follower of an online fitnesss coach called Vince Delmonte who helps people gain muscle and improve thier lives in general. He recently had over 100 of his videos (with hundreds of thousands of views, comments and likes) taken down! He is just trying to help people and years worth of quality content was removed in one fell swoop!
I think it was because YouTube do not like signs of marketing or promoting products anymore, even if the video content is primarily designed to help people and the associated product is just briefly mentioned in a passive way.
I am interested in getting involved in video marketing, but I certainly will not be planning to start up a YouTube channel with long-term plans. I will just have to resort to creating new accounts for each video that I post in the fear that one day all my hard work will be removed in one go. This is going to put people off from putting in the hard work to develop a loyal following on their YouTube channel. Which is a shame.
Google has done this kind of act even before,i have read before that google without warning disabled some blogspot blogs.Atleast some prior notice should be provided by google.I know its hard to main so many accounts on youtube or blogger but if google cannot maintain so many accounts,then they shouldn’t launch them either.
I Have visited problogger many times before,it has helped me before with respect to blogging and it even helps me now.So Darren’s pain is shared by me too…
I am not surprised to hear this, Darren — but shocked that it happened to YOU!
For what it’s worth, given your reputation and amazing body of work no one would believe that slander —- or if they just found the internet today and didn’t know any better, SOMEONE will quickly set them straight.
I was seriously beginning to map out content to develop three YouTube channels of my own. I do understand the power of YouTube, but that’s a deal-breaker.
I’ll now put a good deal more time into finding a better way to keep my content from being hijacked by a service provider who’s gotten so big they auto-terminate and auto-slander without making any attempt to investigate — which is obvious since YOU would certainly have passed even a cursory inspection.
Having tried to get ANY response from Google before re: service issues, I don’t have much hope that you’ll ever receive a useful response or remedy — YouTube having a similar reputation.
I would be VERY interested to know how you decide to manage the video assets affected by this going forwards. I can only imagine there will be a lot of work involved in recreating all the links, if it’s even possible to find them all.
Thanks for letting us know what’s going on!
And best wishes – I hope you find an awesome solution that transforms this disaster into an opportunity for you!
As a practicing solicitor I would recommend you contact your own legal team because that message on their video leaves YouTube open to be sued for defamation. They make a sweeping statement there which could do serious harm to your reputation and find it hard to believe that they’d word it that way.
During my time as an Internet marketer I would hear many stories about marketers and ordinary individuals experiencing the same thing. Some managed to appeal against the actions taken against them but often it would take so long for them to respond they ended up creating a new channel and starting over.
I would recommend using Viddler or ezs3.com instead of YouTube to post your main videos and use YouTube for more personal or miscellaneous videos. Viddler might not have the large social community that YouTube does but it gives you more control with your player and content.
Hope everything turns out for the best. One thing I learnt from those who were burnt by YouTube was that it didn’t matter what happened to their channel, the community and users are still there to support you and that is what matters. Create a new channel and make it even better. :-)
This totally sucks. Let us know when it’s safe for you again. Meanwhile, the “SHARKS!” sign on the beach will keep me out of the water!
Shift to vimeo, better service, better quality videos.
Hey this story is spreading across the web like a wildfire. I hope it would get back to normal in a few days.
That is defamation – clear as anything. It doesn’t matter what you agreed to when you signed up – them saying you’ve been terminated for violating spam/scam/deception policies effectively accuses you of those things. Lucky Google have some cash – you could make a killing suing their butts off!
I have had a similar experience with google search, they have banned a website in which I work without any warning, notification or clear reason. After that, I have sent a reconsideration request, but they only have sent to me a really vague response with a link to their really vague guidelines. I think that google is turning into a disgusting company that doesn’t know how to treat people, something really sad.
I just can recommend you to find another service to publish your videos.
Dear Darren,
Problogger’s stellar reputation will continue to shine.
The said video service doesn’t deserve the quality of your content.
Sites like those come and go. They depend on you. You don’t depend on them.
You create and share value and will always thrive. They simply put up infrastructure hoping someone will give them a chance with some original content.
There will be always enough channels maintained by good people you can use to share your message.
Dont worry and dont sad friend, we still in here and you are not alone.
Wow, Darren, this really sucks – reminiscent of the abuse that AdWords advertisers suffer when they accidentally trip an algorithm, and then their accounts are flagged for life.
Hey D,
Sorry to head about the ban! Unfortunately, this seems to be an increasing reoccurrence when these guys get too big…
I’m sure you’ll get it resolved since you’re a heavy weight and all. But the suggestion about tubemogul and self hosting is definitely something to think about.
Stay strong!
This is gut wrenching especially because the amount of junk that is currently there on youtube promoting this and that more than likely the lesser products in Clickbank and other affiliate networks. If there was a problem with that single video then that video should have been dealt with only and you Darren notified by email…..just checked and you are listed as having mutliple or severe violations of community guidelines, which is quite possibly not the case if it’s just one video in question.
Your videos have been nothing but useful and inspirational content and this matter should be resolved ASAP right now YouTube, because we know you have the two major search engines on your side, but things can change online and with Panda updates that upset the balance of great content getting downgraded and then spam content temporarily rising to the top, things like this only add to revolution.
It makes you wonder what priorities these companies have in place over everything that goes on at their sites.
Darren, hoping that you get reinstated at YouTube. It completely baffles me that YouTube would not only terminate someone without giving an acceptable reason why, but would also continue to serve videos using your name to promote their products elsewhere. (The AdSense video).
I’m hoping that YouTube manage to get the message with this post, and not just reinstate your account, but your friends account (Who I assume is Dave? I know he was chasing you up today…)
All the best mate. :)
just check out the search results for “secrets and “make money online”” on youtube – secrets http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=secrets+%22make+money+online%22&aq=9
amazing load of crap there – most of which is very dubious and scammy.
Hi Darren,
In fact your pb is juste the visible part of the Iceberg… because since something like 8 months (in France), Google has began a “cleaning job” among all its services.
They began to suspend all Adwords about “making money on line”, then they gid rid of all “dating” campaign… So it was really obvious that they will continue on Youtube this Cleaning Work.
Fortunately they are responsive to the complaints, mais it takes 1 or 2 weeks to fix it You have to send at least 4 emails to Google services, then they ask you to fix some thinks (delete things, ad sentences…), and then they are pleased.
It shows now how we are under the law of Google…
By the way, Facebook is beginning to do that do : they suspend all ads on “dating” 2 months ago…
So if you are in some niches that are “border line”, beware of the wrath og the Web Gods…
FRED