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YouTube account banned

by mc9320
18 replies
I found out this evening that my YouTube account has been terminated due to repeated or severe violations of our Community Guidelines and/or claims of copyright infringement.

I'm sure I'm not the first this has happened to on this forum but I cannot understand what I have done wrong.

1) I have used no dodgy software, fake likes, views etc
2) I only link to my site i.e. no affiliate links in the description
3) My analytics show visitor retention is very good as I try to offer value in my videos

I received an e-mail saying one of my videos violated their terms of service. This was a product review of a product with a link to my site. I mentioned some pluses and minuses of the product with a call to action to my site at the end of the video. I used an image of the product from Amazon. Is this not ok for YouTube? I e-mailed Amazon about this a few months ago and they said it was fine.

There must be thousands of these type of videos on YouTube so I guess there are 2 conclusions to draw from this

1) YouTube is clamping down on product review videos and terminating accounts one by one
2) Someone has incorrectly flagged my video as infringing on something and YouTube has just banned my account straight away

Any thoughts?
#account #banned #youtube
  • Profile picture of the author RogueOne
    Originally Posted by mc9320 View Post

    there are 2 conclusions to draw from this

    1) YouTube is clamping down on product review videos and terminating accounts one by one
    2) Someone has incorrectly flagged my video as infringing on something and YouTube has just banned my account straight away
    Or a million other possibilities. Start uploading your backup copies to a new channel, sans the "offending" one.
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  • Profile picture of the author BamaGuy
    Have you tried emailing YouTube to find out the specifics? I would even include the conversations you had with Amazon telling you it was ok to use the image. A majority of the time, you will have competitors flag your ads in attempt to remove your review and try and get more traffic to theirs.

    Also, YouTube may give you another chance if they see that you had permission and really did not violate any TOS on purpose. Try to email them and see what they say.
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    • Profile picture of the author RogueOne
      Originally Posted by BamaGuy View Post

      YouTube may give you another chance if they see that you had permission and really did not violate any TOS on purpose. Try to email them and see what they say.
      In my experience this is a waste of time. Chances are they won't even respond.
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  • Profile picture of the author freotech
    2) Someone has incorrectly flagged my video as infringing on something and YouTube has just banned my account straight away
    That is probably the case and maybe one of your "competitors"
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  • Profile picture of the author jchengery
    Hello mc9320,

    Wow- I know many have talked about promoting on YouTube, including product reviews and such. I'd try to contact them, but I too wonder if they'll respond. Certainly, provide proof from Amazon, and perhaps go through YouTube's TOS and identify exactly (including proof if you can) how you complied with each one.

    Maybe they'll reverse their decision - it certainly wouldn't hurt to try. Good luck - hope it goes well.

    Take care,

    Joe Chengery
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  • Profile picture of the author mc9320
    Looking into my stats more, I can see that there was an entry to my site from someone in the US, coming from the apparently 'infringing' video on YouTube. Then a few minutes later someone in India with the hostname 'Google' has come to my site also from the same video.

    Looks like that was when the damage was done

    What do you think? Is there a way to e-mail YouTube about this? I can't find their address anywhere
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    • Profile picture of the author RogueOne
      Originally Posted by mc9320 View Post

      What do you think? Is there a way to e-mail YouTube about this? I can't find their address anywhere
      They should have sent you an email, yes? It should contain how to go about a Youtube appeal. But again, I think you will be disapointed.

      I strongly suggest rebuilding the channel and moving on.
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      • Profile picture of the author mc9320
        Originally Posted by RogueOne View Post


        I strongly suggest rebuilding the channel and moving on.
        This could easily happen again though don't you think? I'm not dependent on YouTube as a traffic source but it definitely made a difference
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        • Profile picture of the author RogueOne
          Originally Posted by mc9320 View Post

          This could easily happen again though don't you think?
          It sure could.

          The price of "free".
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          • Profile picture of the author livo
            Had my account terminated two years ago,tried contacting them but to no avail?

            I was using videos to promote Affiliate offers so i suspected they banned my account due to that.

            Quite a few of the big so called Gurus also had their accounts terminated a while back but seem to have got them back?

            Anyone know how?

            I understand from other searches that it is common for other people to get you banned and quite easily at that as well.Jealous affialiate or competitors can flag your videos and get them banned.

            I suppose you could set up another account with another email but how long before that gets banned is anyones guess!
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  • Profile picture of the author etvconnect
    Damn I was just thinking of focusing more on youtube then I read this... btw how do you know that once an account is deleted, that it can be restored?
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  • Profile picture of the author davidfrankk
    Are you sure there is no copyright issue with one of your videos?
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    • Profile picture of the author tz6119
      I feel for you I had the same thing happen to me. Gave up on youtube for amazon related products since.
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  • Profile picture of the author StevenJones
    Originally Posted by mc9320 View Post

    2) Someone has incorrectly flagged my video as infringing on something and YouTube has just banned my account straight away
    Competition! That's what some do..

    now... START A FRESH.
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    • Profile picture of the author RobinInTexas
      Usually youTube sends a notice to correct something. They said you had repeated violations. If you had 2 or 3 and did not respond to notices, they did what anyone would do.

      I work with someone whose original videos, they shot the video and/or were in them, were copied by a competitor. It took about 3 weeks after a copyright complaint and eventually the videos were removed but the violator's account remained. I'm assuming the violator responded and took down the videos and got a slap on the wrist.

      Whatever you appeared to youTube to do must have been serious in their eyes.
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      ...Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just set there.
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      • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
        If I had to guess, I'd say it was the photo from Amazon. Especially if you used several of them. I repeat, that's my guess...

        Amazon typically gives permission to use photos on your site to promote Amazon links. You used them in YouTube videos linked to your site.

        Someone from another department at Amazon probably made complaints of copyright infringement, YT found the images in videos linked to your site, and pulled the trigger.

        First, double check your permission from amazon to make sure their permission covers YT videos. Then, start a new channel with videos that don't violate their terms.
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        • Profile picture of the author mc9320
          Originally Posted by JohnMcCabe View Post

          If I had to guess, I'd say it was the photo from Amazon. Especially if you used several of them. I repeat, that's my guess...

          Amazon typically gives permission to use photos on your site to promote Amazon links. You used them in YouTube videos linked to your site.

          Someone from another department at Amazon probably made complaints of copyright infringement, YT found the images in videos linked to your site, and pulled the trigger.

          First, double check your permission from amazon to make sure their permission covers YT videos. Then, start a new channel with videos that don't violate their terms.
          This is the only thing I can think of as well. But if it's true, imagine how many thousands of videos across thousands of accounts use Amazon images in YouTube videos.

          I sent Amazon another e-mail and this was their response..

          "Videos, images and editorial reviews that are available in Associate Central may be displayed on any page that includes attribution and a link to Amazon.com".

          "If you wish to use Amazon.com's product images on your Web site, you may obtain them by creating Product Links on Associates Central or through Product Advertising API. Customer product reviews are also available through Product Advertising API."

          "Videos, product images, and reviews written/created by other sources, including professional reviewers, authors, publishers and customers, are copyrighted by others. We display them on our site by permission from the third parties. Amazon.com doesn't have the legal right to give you permission to access, use, or display them"

          I think you are right John. It's fine for images to be put on your site, but nowhere else it seems.
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      • Profile picture of the author mc9320
        Originally Posted by RobinInTexas View Post

        Usually youTube sends a notice to correct something. They said you had repeated violations. If you had 2 or 3 and did not respond to notices, they did what anyone would do.

        I work with someone whose original videos, they shot the video and/or were in them, were copied by a competitor. It took about 3 weeks after a copyright complaint and eventually the videos were removed but the violator's account remained. I'm assuming the violator responded and took down the videos and got a slap on the wrist.

        Whatever you appeared to youTube to do must have been serious in their eyes.
        I never got any warning at all.

        What I did notice was I could not access my Gmail account yesterday evening (when it happened) and this is attached to this YouTube account. I had to get a verification code and logged in again with the same password.

        I wonder if this is done automatically by Google/YouTube, or someone managed to hack into my account. It all seems rather strange :confused:
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