Does Buying YouTube Views Violate TOS or not

[accendo]

OK, I have seen people selling views on Youtube here and on other forums. I get it. A person like myself may want to purchase views to try to bolster their Partner application. I understand that you want to make sure they are real people and not bots (of course how do you know a seller has real people or a bot). But, the elephant in the room is whether this is against the TOS.

Vagex seems different to me because people are actually watching the video, but I just signed up for the trial and views trickle 1-3 a day. I am not sure I see value in buying a subscription at that rate.

I obviously do not want any of my YouTube channels banned. So, what's the truth.

[CoachManny]

Good question.

First thought that pops in my mind is why would anyone buy view?

It's like buying clicks to your website I would think.

You are not getting views of people actually interested in what you are offering.

This is my opinion I'm not IM expert yet.

I do know that YouTube is a huge asset for business owners.

A great traffic generating move is a Top 10 Most Asked Questions YouTube video in relations to your niche.

Manny

[Richard Crooke]

I think buying views is against youtube's TOS, but I don't think it would be caught if the views are limited and spread out. Those 1k views in 6 hours may get flagged for view.

I agree with the last comment, why buy views if they aren't really interested.

[Chris Kent]

1-3 a day?

If you allocate more than 100 credits they will get used much more quickly. More like a few hundred per day.

Vagex has definitely helped some videos of mine to rank thanks to the boosted view count but don't discount the hits from Google and stuff - these take much longer.

[cooler1]

Wouldn't it be wise to read the TOS to check.

[Ewan1998]

Originally Posted by Richard Crooke

I think buying views is against youtube's TOS, but I don't think it would be caught if the views are limited and spread out. Those 1k views in 6 hours may get flagged for view.

I agree with the last comment, why buy views if they aren't really interested.

I think some people buy views to gain popularity. To get their videos higher up on search results in the YouTube search, and to say to the customer/viewer they have a large viewer base.

[jpboxersox]

I spread them out and they are fine. I think YouTube video are taken down because of your competitors unfortunately!

[shemp]

Originally Posted by Ewan1998

I think some people buy views to gain popularity. To get their videos higher up on search results in the YouTube search, and to say to the customer/viewer they have a large viewer base.

Totally agree the old saying "how you dress the pig comes to mind"

[Jonathan92]

I believe the increased views to a youtube video is beneficial not necessarily because that kind of traffic is targeted but because the popularization will attract future traffic which may very well be targeted. Although, bounce rate is another thing to consider - you don't want people clicking away from your videos before they finish - that is a negative indication to youtube. Well, honestly I'm not quite sure, but I imagine that's the case.

[Randall Magwood]

Buying Youtube views is worthless. It's a waste of time, and people won't buy because of your views.... they will clickthrough and view your article if it's targeted, and if it's perceived to be something that they need to listen to.

[accendo]

Originally Posted by Randall Magwood

Buying Youtube views is worthless. It's a waste of time, and people won't buy because of your views.... they will clickthrough and view your article if it's targeted, and if it's perceived to be something that they need to listen to.

Isn't your response true if you are using YouTube for CPA or to gain traffic to your authority site, but if you just wanted to work towards becoming a YouTube partner to make money via adsense, do you feel the same.

[SpK]

It depends on the service. If you buy fake views, that is against ToS, but if it is real viewers, it is totally fine. I suggest ViewTornado for fast and real views.

[Chris Kent]

Originally Posted by Randall Magwood

Buying Youtube views is worthless

Not true at all. If it improves rankings and drives more natural traffic because of this, it's totally worth it.

[SpK]

Originally Posted by Chris Kent

Not true at all. If it improves rankings and drives more natural traffic because of this, it's totally worth it.

The pros about YouTube views is:
* Gets your videos higher ranked in search
* Puts you on many "related videos" spots on videos with the same views as you
* Gives viewers trust in the video

It's worth it. And the best service to get views very fast (very fast, I mean up to 1 million daily) and extremely cheap is ViewTornado - buy YouTube views - cheapest and fastest YouTube views provider

It's a gold mine. You can get your videos on the most viewed, and from there it gets even more organic traffic.

[ahbittersweet8]

Thanks for the question, I was wondering the same thing too

[Kelvinmedia]

I think buying views is fine, as long as it's not too fast. It's good because of perception.

[SpK]

Originally Posted by Kelvinmedia

I think buying views is fine, as long as it's not too fast. It's good because of perception.

Speed is not a factor to use in this situation. I have done over 2 million a day, and the videos are fine.

[Fatality]

Originally Posted by CoachManny

Good question.

First thought that pops in my mind is why would anyone buy view?

It's like buying clicks to your website I would think.

You are not getting views of people actually interested in what you are offering.

This is my opinion I'm not IM expert yet.

I do know that YouTube is a huge asset for business owners.

A great traffic generating move is a Top 10 Most Asked Questions YouTube video in relations to your niche.

Manny

Some people buy views even though they are not interested people because it raises their statistics. Then, YouTube will rank their video higher so more people in return will actually see their video if they search the keyword.

And as far as I know, buying YouTube views is against YouTube's ToS.

[SpK]

Originally Posted by Fatality

Some people buy views even though they are not interested people because it raises their statistics. Then, YouTube will rank their video higher so more people in return will actually see their video if they search the keyword.

And as far as I know, buying YouTube views is against YouTube's ToS.

I've said this over and over: it is not against ToS. They just do not like to lose business.

[rockstrong]

Buying youtube views is against youtube's tos..you can not derive traffic to your video through any any paid means.

[jpboxersox]

I buy YouTube views quite frequently. I think i usually get a good CTR on my videos purchasing about 5,000 views. As long as they are real and the company spreads them within a view days your good to go.

[JohnMcCabe]

Originally Posted by SpK

I've said this over and over: it is not against ToS. They just do not like to lose business.

From the YouTube Partner Program Policy page at YouTube

To support your growth and success on YouTube, we expect our partners to follow these program policy guidelines when they build their brand presence on YouTube. Violating these guidelines may result in your videos being removed, AdSense account being disabled, and/or your partnership or even your YouTube account being suspended.

The most important ground rule is to respect YouTube’s Terms of Service and AdSense Program Policies. This means the following:

Do not click on your own ads or use any means to inflate video views, impressions and/or clicks artificially, including manual methods.

Do not encourage others to click your ads or use deceptive implementation methods to obtain clicks, including clicks on your videos to inflate views. This includes commissioning third party agencies that advertise these services to increase your viewership. The purchase or gaming of subscribers, views or any other channel features is a violation of our Terms of Service. Learn more.

Do not manipulate or incentivize others to click on video features, such as “Like” or “Favorite,” to improve your standing and visibility across the site. We consider these to be fraudulent clicks and/or queries.

Do not employ third party sites and tools to automatically generate artificial subscribers or views.

Do not embed third party advertising, sponsorships, or promotions placed on or within your video content. YouTube does allow you to upload paid product placements provided you give us notice first. Learn more about paid product placements.

Do not sell your YouTube account and/or partner channel via third-party sites for monetary profit.

Seems pretty cut and dried to me. Then again, I'm not pimping a service to inflate YouTube views...

[akp88]

I use vagex for quite a while and it generates 1-2k views per day for me.
My video's rank increase after this and i will use this service to another video once the organic views come.
Right now my video already on the top of certain keywords.

[sethczerepak]

Originally Posted by CoachManny

Good question.

First thought that pops in my mind is why would anyone buy view?

It's like buying clicks to your website I would think.

You are not getting views of people actually interested in what you are offering.

This is my opinion I'm not IM expert yet.

I do know that YouTube is a huge asset for business owners.

A great traffic generating move is a Top 10 Most Asked Questions YouTube video in relations to your niche.

Manny

Manny might not be an expert, but he's got a damn good point. Who cares about views? Figure out how to get relevant traffic and conversions.

That is, if you're in this to make money.

[Tom E]

If the traffic comes from bots, yes, you will get banned. However, if your traffic comes from humans, which is the case with most view-boosting services, there's nothing youtube can do about it.

Guaranteedviral.com, one of the biggest providers of youtube views can get you as many as 2 MILLION views in 24 hours if you can pay for it. And you still don't get banned by youtube, because the views are coming from humans.

[accendo]

I am beginning to think Vagex is part human / part bots. I went ahead and give it a try and bought a 30 day subscription. What I notice is yes, suddenly the traffic is a lot faster, but there's an interesting feature. I noticed that with my email account registered with the Youtube account, it shows all the activity (likes, comments, etc.), but Youtube Indox is no where near as busy. Does this mean the other stuff is just bots?

[Raydal]

"Paying for views" should be qualified as human views or fake bot views.

Paying for real human eyes should be the same as PPC traffic. Paying
to game the system with bot views I'm sure would get you banned.

-Ray Edwards

[t9web]

We sell views and ourselves like alot of other sellers are selling real views, very few people left now use bots for views and youtube caught up with that a long long time ago, that is why views cost alot more now then they used it.

As long as it is real traffic views your purchasing its not against youtubes TOS as it is just the same as purchasing a PPC adspace, we have completed 1000s of orders anincd never had an issue and have checked through youtube's TOS.

with regards to why you would buy views, it really depends what your video is about, if its a affliate program etc... then its pointless buying views and its untargetted traffic but if your a musician or business increased views firstly helps in rankings and also gives a level of credential to a video, if you musician has 100k views you instantly feel like he is a musician worth listening to rather than someone with 200 views.

[Tom E]

Originally Posted by t9web

We sell views and ourselves like alot of other sellers are selling real views, very few people left now use bots for views and youtube caught up with that a long long time ago, that is why views cost alot more now then they used it.

That's a bit of a myth. I personally know two programmers who both sell youtube views entirely created by using bots. They've been doing it for years, and youtube never suspected a thing. Not saying it's ethical, I'm just making the point that it's not that hard to generate youtube traffic with bots. IF you know what you're doing.

[riaanvdl]

If you monetize it, it is definately against the TOCs

[Tom E]

Originally Posted by riaanvdl

If you monetize it, it is definately against the TOCs

If it's human, real traffic, youtube is all for it. Even if you paid people to click, or you purchased the traffic. Because those ad impressions (assuming you have ads enabled on your videos) influence those humans exactly the same way they influence someone who happens to stumble over that same video while surfing youtube or google.

[NACAdam]

The answer is no however the main key to ranking in youtube is backlinks then you can use a service called content buzz to get other people to promote your video too 30 bucks a month its all geared toward getting your video ranked within youtube

[Tom E]

Originally Posted by NACAdam

you can use a service called content buzz to get other people to promote your video too 30 bucks a month its all geared toward getting your video ranked within youtube

Thanks, never heard about them before. Definitely signing up.

[pizzatherapy]

Buying Youtube views is worthless. It's a waste of time, and people won't buy because of your views.... they will clickthrough and view your article if it's targeted, and if it's perceived to be something that they need to listen to.

Great point Randal.

And I think it is not only a waste of time but a violation of YouTubes TOS. You take a big risk of having your account shut down...

If you are using YouTube as a way to promote your product or service, why would you take the risk by buying views?

I have heard many marketers here at the WF lament the fact that their YouTube account was shut down for one reason or another. And all the work they put into building their YouTube channel just went up in smoke. They got a handful of nothing to show for their efforts.

I think buying views is a very fine line. you are dancing on a razor blade.

Now if you want to buy views from Goolge through your Adwords account, that is a totally different story.

Why would you want to risk getting your account shut down? Then you lose everything.

Why risk it?

Unfortunately: when you play in Google's Stadium you play by their rules.

So play be their rules or take your game somewhere else...

I think buying views for your YouTube videos is a violation of their TOS, IMO...

[Tom E]

Originally Posted by pizzatherapy

I think buying views for your YouTube videos is a violation of their TOS, IMO...

If that was the case, companies like GuaranteedViral.com would go out of business. Yet they stay in business year after year. Not only that, they offer 100% money back if you get banned because of their views...even if you buy a package that gets you 2 million views in 24 hours. This is because all of their purchased views come from real humans.

And regardless what youtube's TOS says, they choose to look the other way when the purchased traffic is from real humans. When someone gets 2 million views in 24 hours, it benefits youtube just as much as anyone else, and they are very aware of that fact.

However, not all youtube-boosters are created equal. A lot of them claim to offer human views, but in reality, it's bot-created, and jeopardizes your youtube account. The giveaway is in the price. If someone offers dirt cheap youtube views, it's almost a guarantee that it's from bots.

[hassan001]

Buying Traffic to youtube pages and buying traffic to click adsense ads is against TOS of Google....

If once caught they don't re-instate accounts and also don't hear any appeals....

I hope this info comes handy

[Keith Everett]

If as you say some "youtube boosters" say they offer human views, but actually don't, hence the risk to having your account closed. Isn't it best to avoid this and don't pay for views in the first place.?

Originally Posted by gr8tocre8

If that was the case, companies like GuaranteedViral.com would go out of business. Yet they stay in business year after year. Not only that, they offer 100% money back if you get banned because of their views...even if you buy a package that gets you 2 million views in 24 hours. This is because all of their purchased views come from real humans.

And regardless what youtube's TOS says, they choose to look the other way when the purchased traffic is from real humans. When someone gets 2 million views in 24 hours, it benefits youtube just as much as anyone else, and they are very aware of that fact.

However, not all youtube-boosters are created equal. A lot of them claim to offer human views, but in reality, it's bot-created, and jeopardizes your youtube account. The giveaway is in the price. If someone offers dirt cheap youtube views, it's almost a guarantee that it's from bots.

[JohnMcCabe]

Originally Posted by gr8tocre8

If the traffic comes from bots, yes, you will get banned. However, if your traffic comes from humans, which is the case with most view-boosting services, there's nothing youtube can do about it.

Guaranteedviral.com, one of the biggest providers of youtube views can get you as many as 2 MILLION views in 24 hours if you can pay for it. And you still don't get banned by youtube, because the views are coming from humans.

Originally Posted by t9web

We sell views and ourselves like alot of other sellers are selling real views, very few people left now use bots for views and youtube caught up with that a long long time ago, that is why views cost alot more now then they used it.

As long as it is real traffic views your purchasing its not against youtubes TOS as it is just the same as purchasing a PPC adspace, we have completed 1000s of orders anincd never had an issue and have checked through youtube's TOS.

with regards to why you would buy views, it really depends what your video is about, if its a affliate program etc... then its pointless buying views and its untargetted traffic but if your a musician or business increased views firstly helps in rankings and also gives a level of credential to a video, if you musician has 100k views you instantly feel like he is a musician worth listening to rather than someone with 200 views.

Originally Posted by gr8tocre8

If it's human, real traffic, youtube is all for it. Even if you paid people to click, or you purchased the traffic. Because those ad impressions (assuming you have ads enabled on your videos) influence those humans exactly the same way they influence someone who happens to stumble over that same video while surfing youtube or google.

What part of "The purchase or gaming of subscribers, views or any other channel features is a violation of our Terms of Service" is so hard to understand?

[megawarrior]

I wouldn't worry much about it if you are simply buying views to kick-start your video with the idea of getting organic views afterwards (and as long as you are NOT engaging in click fraud or your video itself doesn't go against to ToS). Because people are more inclined to check out videos with many views and they also rank higher in the Youtube search results.

It's sort of like buying/selling links - Technically it violates Google's guidelines, but has been going on (and will continue to go on) for years.

[Tom E]

Originally Posted by JohnMcCabe

What part of "The purchase or gaming of subscribers, views or any other channel features is a violation of our Terms of Service" is so hard to understand?

Like I mentioned earlier, it may say so in their TOS, but in reality, if those views are coming from humans, youtube chooses to look the other way, because there is just too much money in it for them.

I have solid proof of this, as I know several people who have been doing it for years. There is simply too much money in it for youtube to follow their TOS on this one. When adsense is involved, that is.

[JohnMcCabe]

Originally Posted by gr8tocre8

Like I mentioned earlier, it may say so in their TOS, but in reality, if those views are coming from humans, youtube chooses to look the other way, because there is just too much money in it for them.

I have solid proof of this, as I know several people who have been doing it for years. There is simply too much money in it for youtube to follow their TOS on this one. When adsense is involved, that is.

Unless I missed something, and I admit this may be possible vis a vis Adsense+Youtube, I thought G only made money on ad clicks rather than on impressions. If those humans being sent purely to inflate view numbers are also being told to click ads to boost G's income, that violates Adsense TOS as well.

Whether they choose to turn a blind eye at the moment or not is a side issue, though. The original question was "does buying YT views violate TOS?" Clearly, it does. And eventually that will be the grounds for clamping down, just like it was for the basic Adsense program. We'll get a whole new crowd of banned people in here whining about how Google hates marketers...

[Tom E]

Originally Posted by JohnMcCabe

Unless I missed something, and I admit this may be possible vis a vis Adsense+Youtube, I thought G only made money on ad clicks rather than on impressions. If those humans being sent purely to inflate view numbers are also being told to click ads to boost G's income, that violates Adsense TOS as well.

Yep, you missed something. Both youtube and youtube partners make money on impressions. As a matter of fact, impressions make up most of the earnings for a lot of youtube partners.

And I completely agree with you about paying people to click ads - it's unethical, and should not take place, as it cheats honest marketers out of money. However, with ad impressions, I don't see it that way, as even a paid-to-view-youtuber will get subconsciously influenced by ad impressions, just as a person who stumbles upon the same video(s) would.

[MichaelSJohn]

I don't think views breaks their TOS but it could get your in trouble where they might flag it.

[owlfowl]

Originally Posted by Richard Crooke

I think buying views is against youtube's TOS, but I don't think it would be caught if the views are limited and spread out. Those 1k views in 6 hours may get flagged for view.

I agree with the last comment, why buy views if they aren't really interested.

Right man, i made a youtube video, i mentioned the title carefully, so it gone 12000 views in 2 days, i dont know what happened, youtube removed my video, it is against the TOS of youtube.

[weebeastie]

There seems to be a virtual industry of selling views so it must be popular. I've seen people complain because their account was frozen by Utube because the views they bought were delivered in a manner that Utube concluded was artificial.

The sellers of views are trying to stay one step ahead of detection methods.

[BHeard]

Buying views is used to purely get site count up like any SEO your content may be the best out there but if no one sees it it counts for nothing.
TOS = if you check them you will see.
There are some services that offer ways to invite folks to your site.
If you set up automatic play on the video it will also gain a view...

[Zeplix]

Originally Posted by owlfowl

Right man, i made a youtube video, i mentioned the title carefully, so it gone 12000 views in 2 days, i dont know what happened, youtube removed my video, it is against the TOS of youtube.

If you don't know what happened, then you can't say it's because of the views. YouTube will always give you a reason for removal of videos, how about you check that, and say what it says?

[Kurt]

Originally Posted by JohnMcCabe

From the YouTube Partner Program Policy page at YouTube



Seems pretty cut and dried to me. Then again, I'm not pimping a service to inflate YouTube views...

Hey John,

This isn't from Youtube's TOS, it's from their Partner Network. Not everyone that posts videos on Youtube is a Partner. Although, the "regular" TOS may be similar.

If you are a Partner and getting paid for views to your videos, I think paying for fake views is far worse than if you aren't showing ads.

[JohnMcCabe]

Originally Posted by Kurt

Hey John,

This isn't from Youtube's TOS, it's from their Partner Network. Not everyone that posts videos on Youtube is a Partner. Although, the "regular" TOS may be similar.

I stand corrected. Thanks, Kurt.

I scanned the regular TOS, and didn't find anything specifically forbidding the practice.

Originally Posted by Kurt

If you are a Partner and getting paid for views to your videos, I think paying for fake views is far worse than if you aren't showing ads.

This I agree with...

[WritingService]

why buy views if they aren't really interested

That the point dude
if you worried youtube will banned your ID
so let's do it normal
why get worried