An end to video responses

Unfortunately Google continues to implement changes that limit your freedom to earn. The latest hammer to come down is the removal of video responses. Video responses were an excellent way to earn more traffic (see previous post) and to get new viewers to your channel. They helped give youtube a 'social network' feel, which fostered more views and  hence more earnings for video owners. Unfortunately, Google has thrown them by the wayside.

This is the latest in a long line of frustrating moves that Google has made with youtube.  Their decision to end revenue monitoring in adsense has been nothing short of an astronomical failure, and any changes they attempt to modify the "look" of the website end in disaster.

Get it right Google!

Can I depend on my youtube earnings?

The simple answer is a big fat NO.

Income on youtube is incredibly volatile. My income has increased 70 fold one day, only to drop to near zero another. Publishing actual earning amounts violates youtube policy, but I can safely say that on some days I make enough money to support a family (if the income were to continue for a year), while on others I don't make enough to buy breakfast.

Why the volatility? There are a huge number of factors that influence how many people view your videos. Breaking news stories related to a video can see a huge spike initially followed by a steady decline. Youtube referral algorithms may suddenly find your video worthy of being placed alongside hundreds of other youtube videos, only to days later forget your video entirely (this has seemed to happen more sharply to my videos over the past couple months, indicating a possible change in how the algorithms are run).

To sum up: never depend on youtube income. Don't bank on having the same number of views tomorrow that you have today. They could jump or drop, spike or plummet.

How to Remove Copycat Youtube Videos

As soon as you have a successful video, people will begin to upload duplicates of it, in hopes that they can get in on the action. These copycats will leech views from you, so it is important to periodically search for copies of your successful videos. I catch about 1 copy a week or so. When you find a copy, the removal process is pretty simple.
Click on the little flag icon below the video, and a list of options will come up.
 It will take a few clicks (select "infringes my rights" then "infringes my copywrite", then submit) and you will be taken to a copywrite infringement basics page.
Click on "submit a copywrite complaint."
Select "copywrite infringement, someone copied my creation".
Select "I am!"
Fill out the form. You will need to paste the URL of the offending video and the URL of your own video. You will need to provide some identifying information as well. One form can be used to eliminate multiple copy videos.
Once you have submitted the form, it takes anywhere from seconds to days before the copy will be taken down.

What type of video should I upload?

Anything!  You have no idea what will take off and what won't. There are some very stupid videos (we've all seen one) that have millions and millions of views. Their owners make lots of money because they uploaded them despite their poor quality or lame content.
There are certain kinds of videos that have a tendency to go viral. Pet videos and baby videos are commonly seen to go crazy.  A slightly funny cat video might do far better than the most stunning plane crash footage.
Another type of video that can do quite well can be categorized as a "response" video.  These videos are usually creative responses to, or parodies of, a popular viral video. Some good examples can be seen in the wake of "Gangnam Style". Response videos have explosive potential, but usually die off after an initial burst of interest.
The best thing you can do is just upload your video and give it a chance. It just might go nuts. 

How many views will my video get?

This is one question that doesn't really have an answer. There is no way to know how well your video will do. Some videos get millions of views within days. Most, however, get only a few thousand views a year.  I can only speak from my experience and the experiences of those I know, but it is normal to get around 10 views a day from a new video unless you take steps to spread it (share it on facebook, post video responses, etc.). The most successful videos I have complete information on showed that they only had a trickle of views for about 4-8 months before BAM! they suddenly took off. This is a limited sample size though, so I don't pretend to be an expert. All I can say is don't be discouraged if your video doesn't take off immediately.
Another word of caution: once your video goes viral, don't be surprised if it has dramatic ups and downs. I have seen videos go from tens of thousands of views one day, to a few hundred the next. I have yet to figure out what causes such drops, but they can certainly be an unpleasant surprise.

What are True View in-stream ads? What type of ads should I put on my youtube videos?

Under the monetization tab of your uploaded video, you will see that there are a few different ads that can be displayed on your page. These ads behave differently, and you may have a preference for which type of ads you want to select. I personally like to have both overlay in-video ads and true-view in stream ads selected, although my opinion has been evolving over time.  First lets talk about what the different ad types are:

Overlay in-video ads:  These are the little banner ads that pop on the screen about 10 seconds into a youtube video that you x-out so that you can see the whole screen. Why might you like them? Advertisers will pay good money if someone clicks on one of these ads while watching your video, and this type of ad seems to be less annoying to viewers than the other ad types. The downside of this ad type is that people don't click on them very often.

True View in-stream ads:  These are the little commercials that pop up before a video plays. Usually, they have an option to "skip ad" after a few seconds.  If a person chooses to simply let the ad play, it counts as if they had clicked on the ad. You get paid for this. The "click through rate" or ratio of people clicking on True View ads is much higher than banner ads; usually about 5 times higher. However, while you will get more "clicks" from this type of ad, the clicks are worth less than banner ad clicks.

If you select both types of ads for your video, Google will decide which ad type will be more likely to yield revenue from each individual that views your video. They track viewers and decide whether they are more likely to be influenced by in stream ads or banner ads. This is why I personally like to have both ad types selected.

If you have a really short video (some of mine are 6 seconds) there starts to be some issues with the ads.  Banner ads usually pop up after 6 seconds, so a viewer won't be exposed to the ad unless they rewatch your video (most people don't do this while surfing). Further, I haven't every seen True View ads used on my short videos. It may be that part of google's decision engine takes video length into account, or it may be just a coincidence. In any case, I highly recommend making your videos longer so that you don't have any problems. If it is a short clip, consider using windows movie maker to add a replay of your video (maybe slow motion?) to your clip so that it is longer.

How do I get a sudden boost of views?

This one is easy. There is one almost foolproof way to get a boost of traffic to your video. The answer is: Video Responses.

By now you have noticed that you can post a comment to somebodies youtube video. You may also have started to get comments on your own video.  Comments have their own benefit when it comes to generating traffic (a post for another day).  There is a special kind of comment that will guarantee that your new video is seen by others.

Try this experiment:
1. Log into your youtube account
2. Find the video: Top 10 Funny Baby Videos!   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWHpcKXt-qQ
3. Scroll down the page until you see the little white box where you could enter text to leave a comment.
4. Click inside the white box
5. Notice that a little blue link appears underneath the box. "create a video response".  Click on this.
6. You will be taken to a page with a list of your youtube videos. Click on one.
7. Click "use the selected video"
8. You will be taken to a page that tells you that your response was successful.
9. Click "return to the original video"
10. Look right under the videos description. Wallah! Your video is now visible to the world on a high traffic page!

There are some guiding principles about video responses. Keeping these in mind will help you maximize this valuable tool.
-Most videos do not allow automatic video responses like this. Usually responses have to be pre-approved by the owner of the youtube video before they will work. I have only ever had 1 person actually manually approve my request to put up a response. Your best bet is to troll through youtube looking for videos that have video responses below them.  If the average view count is really low on the two videos you see, it is a good bet that video automatically accepts video responses.
-As soon as two other people upload responses to that video, yours will be knocked off the page.  This happens very quickly on popular videos. Your baby video response will disappear fast.
-Try to find videos that are actually related to yours. This means you will be targeting the right audience.
-Your video can only be posted as a response to ONE VIDEO AT A TIME. If you post your video to another page, it will be removed from the one it was previously on.