YouTube has quickly u-turned on a move that saw large handfuls of its creators have their channels and accounts unverified.
On the 19th September, the video giant announced that it would be altering its verification criteria. As a result, many large YouTubers immediately lost their official verification.
In an email sent to creators, the platform stated that it would now be "proactively verifying channels instead of accepting requests for verification badges".
The new criteria stipulated that channels should only be verified if it has built a large audience and community on YouTube, and are widely recognised outside of the platform also. Individual users were contacted regarding the change. YouTube even managed to un-verify its own channel with the new system.
My channel has been un-verified for not being "widely recognised outside of YouTube".
— Daniel Hardcastle (@DanNerdCubed) September 19, 2019
Anyway, my book, the largest crowdfunded book in uk history, released today! We celebrated during day 5 of a countrywide book tour! Birmingham was a delight and we signed solidly for 4 hours!
None of my channels will be verified starting Oct 1 cuz they haven’t built a strong enough audience.
— Toby Turner (@TobyTurner) September 19, 2019
Quite a blow after the already powerful, ‘ur videos will not be sent out to your 7 million subscribers, because they haven’t clicked the bell that hadn’t existed before’ #ageism pic.twitter.com/OXIU2h6nJ6
Doing a You-Turn
After less than 24 hours, YouTube reversed the changes and restored verification to the channels affected.
"First, we heard loud and clear how much the badge means to you. Channels that already have the verification badge will now keep it and don’t have to appeal," the platform wrote in a blog post.
"Just like in the past, all channels that have over 100,000 subscribers will still be eligible to apply. We’ll reopen the application process by the end of October. Going forward, we’ll review those channels to verify their identity."
YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki also apologised for the move, saying that the company "missed the mark" while making improvements to the verification system.
To our creators & users–I’m sorry for the frustration & hurt that we caused with our new approach to verification. While trying to make improvements, we missed the mark. As I write this, we're working to address your concerns & we’ll have more updates soon.
— Susan Wojcicki (@SusanWojcicki) September 20, 2019
