Youtube just needs to increase the barriers before a channel can be monetised. Then, with a smaller pool of channels, they need better human review to prevent exactly things like this from happening.
If they are worried about the costs of a lot of non-monetised videos, just limit non-partner channel quality to 720p30, until the channel is made partner or coughs up something like $100.
Then, they need to allow micro-pledges in addition to likes. I would happily buy a pack of 100 pledges for $10 (ie. one pledge = 10c) and tip that towards the videos that I've really liked. Youtube could take their cut but it would represent a great extra revenue stream for content creators, and the number of pledges made public.
> Then, they need to allow micro-pledges in addition to likes. I would happily buy a pack of 100 pledges for $10 (ie. one pledge = 10c) and tip that towards the videos that I've really liked.
This is the right way to support creators, one that doesn't introduce all the messed up incentives generated by ad-based content monetization.
But it won't work, for the same reason it never has. People associate online content with "free". Getting them to pull out a card is close to impossible. This is doubly so when you consider that it's mostly kids and teens spending hours watching these videos.
Most adults who can pay their way aren't watching toy unboxings or some influencer's 'daily vlog'. Kids and adults alike also are unlikely to adjust to a system where they need to remember to pledge or tip. They are watching tens of videos per day, how would they make that decision?
You can pay for YouTube Premium. It lets you watch the videos ad-free. I assume that the creators still get paid for my views, since I'm paying for the ad-free experience. I don't even have to bother choosing who the money goes to. Just watch their videos and they get a few cents.
This would simply replace one way to monetize channels with a different one. What would this change? (Except allowing the advertisers to better sleep at night)
If they are worried about the costs of a lot of non-monetised videos, just limit non-partner channel quality to 720p30, until the channel is made partner or coughs up something like $100.
Then, they need to allow micro-pledges in addition to likes. I would happily buy a pack of 100 pledges for $10 (ie. one pledge = 10c) and tip that towards the videos that I've really liked. Youtube could take their cut but it would represent a great extra revenue stream for content creators, and the number of pledges made public.