Are these Vloggers just a scam? SOL or Shmee etc???????

[e30m3Mark]

Any recommendations for best mic to use with GoPro and DSLR? Am taking my E30 to 'ring later this year and want to get some decent induction noise recordings.

[Lgfst]

I've been watching a lot of Shmee's videos recently, took a while to catch up. The Germany/Nurburgring videos were good, really enjoyed the ring taxi Q&A.

The New Zealand video in the RS3 was great, but I'm a bit of a nerd for videos like that, places I'll likely never get to go etc.

I also enjoy STG videos, well edited and just a nice bloke. Looking forward to the upcoming Monaco road trip videos.

[jon-]

e30m3Mark said:

Any recommendations for best mic to use with GoPro and DSLR? Am taking my E30 to 'ring later this year and want to get some decent induction noise recordings.

Binaural is all the rage, the most effective way to do them is a lav mic under the bonnet and one near the exhaust with a dead cat on. Cheap lavs with longer leads are ok as you don't need the best quality (plus them sometimes melt), just need to be careful of clipping.

[e30m3Mark]

jon- said:

e30m3Mark said:

Any recommendations for best mic to use with GoPro and DSLR? Am taking my E30 to 'ring later this year and want to get some decent induction noise recordings.

Binaural is all the rage, the most effective way to do them is a lav mic under the bonnet and one near the exhaust with a dead cat on. Cheap lavs with longer leads are ok as you don't need the best quality (plus them sometimes melt), just need to be careful of clipping.

Thanks, will take a look. I have a Rode already but something more disposable might be better for risking near exhaust and intake.

[ReaperCushions]

Shmee said:

ReaperCushions said:

Shmee et al...

With the terrible events at Youtube HQ this week seeming to stem from the changes in monestisation.. how is that side of the 'business' these days?

There was a screenshot of this crazy woman's account where she made 0.10c from 300k views on a video. Is that really true? I can't imagine anyone would be doing a channel for much longer at those numbers.. so what gives? Was it made up bullst by this woman to go on a shooting spree, or is it really getting that bad?

Also.. side point.. Shmee.. I love the videos with multiple people involved. I know you tried out other presenters on your channel recently and that didn't work, but there is nothing better than watching a bunch of mates having a laugh in these cars. I'd love to see more of them, more banter / interaction etc... my 2cs anyway.

It is a horrible incident to have taken place, and although I don't know the full ins and outs, there was clearly more to it.

My earnings are currently the highest they've ever been; somehow even in March the RPMs were equal to what I saw in December (typically the strongest advertising month); combined with strong views as well so the business side is definitely not suffering. However, clearly I'm on the safe end of the spectrum in terms of advertiser friendly content that's consistent, doesn't involve controversial topics, hate, or swearing.

Content with others (either alone or as a group style) is a challenge, the regular followers say they like it but the retention statistics say the mass audience don't. One thing to play close attention to in this is whether you follow what your hardcore audience post about or whether you chase the mass numbers. Let's take Top Gear as an example; their first and main audience was historically the car guys but they chased a more mainstream type of flow over the last 20 years and as we all know that took it from a smaller car show to a huge globally dominating entertainment programme. From my side there's also the cost/benefit analysis to work out on the fly in the sense that the one man route is much, much more efficient when travelling and planning than working on multiple people being there.

Thanks for answering. I guess that is the algorythm at work? I always assumed it was simply views = cash... and wasn't throttled by content type etc.. But it certainly makes sense that advertisers wouldn't want to be associated with certain video types / content.

Interesting answer on the multiperson content thing. How did your Ring Taxi Q&A perform? I think it's fair to say that we all enjoyed it based on the feedback here. What do the stats tell you?

[Shmee]

ReaperCushions said:

Thanks for answering. I guess that is the algorythm at work? I always assumed it was simply views = cash... and wasn't throttled by content type etc.. But it certainly makes sense that advertisers wouldn't want to be associated with certain video types / content.

Interesting answer on the multiperson content thing. How did your Ring Taxi Q&A perform? I think it's fair to say that we all enjoyed it based on the feedback here. What do the stats tell you?

When an advert is uploaded and set in the system, there are a huge variety of options available including content genres, audience age, gender, specific keyword targeting, pushing across YouTube's suggest lists and the list goes on. As a result, building up a reputation within that system, creating content that is friendly to the advertising algorithms, and generally working on it as a business behind the scenes is hugely valuable to bringing up the earnings rates. A brand new channel with no standings or brand recognition might only see $0.20 per 1k views, whereas an established channel that's absolutely on point can potentially reach up to $10 per 1k. While you could generally say that "views = cash", 100k valuable views are much better than 1m weak ones.

The Taxi Q&A has had a positive response here, but that particular video is actually the weakest of my last 15 uploads sadly. PH users are a very interesting demographic to me (I've been on here for a few years longer than I've been making videos) but represent a minority of the total audience as has been discovered before. I can more-or-less predict which videos will go down well on here, and normally when I guess a new video isn't very-PH, it ends up here with derogatory comments.

[Shmee]

Greshamst said:

KHK said:

Tim's sweater in the RENNtech video matches the colour on my Performante ????

The schmee sweater. Much loved by middle aged geography teachers around the world.

That's an amusing reference!

[mesuper]

For those that are interested, Lando Norris Mclaren's F1 Reserve driver for this year (Also racing in GP2) has started up a series of daily vlogs. I raced with him in Karts and it was pretty obvious he was gonna be something special (although his dad being worth 300 million certainly helped).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dureNqj214o

[InitialDave]

Shmee said:

PH users are a very interesting demographic

That's an understatement and a half.

[ReaperCushions]

Shmee said:

ReaperCushions said:

Thanks for answering. I guess that is the algorythm at work? I always assumed it was simply views = cash... and wasn't throttled by content type etc.. But it certainly makes sense that advertisers wouldn't want to be associated with certain video types / content.

Interesting answer on the multiperson content thing. How did your Ring Taxi Q&A perform? I think it's fair to say that we all enjoyed it based on the feedback here. What do the stats tell you?

When an advert is uploaded and set in the system, there are a huge variety of options available including content genres, audience age, gender, specific keyword targeting, pushing across YouTube's suggest lists and the list goes on. As a result, building up a reputation within that system, creating content that is friendly to the advertising algorithms, and generally working on it as a business behind the scenes is hugely valuable to bringing up the earnings rates. A brand new channel with no standings or brand recognition might only see $0.20 per 1k views, whereas an established channel that's absolutely on point can potentially reach up to $10 per 1k. While you could generally say that "views = cash", 100k valuable views are much better than 1m weak ones.

The Taxi Q&A has had a positive response here, but that particular video is actually the weakest of my last 15 uploads sadly. PH users are a very interesting demographic to me (I've been on here for a few years longer than I've been making videos) but represent a minority of the total audience as has been discovered before. I can more-or-less predict which videos will go down well on here, and normally when I guess a new video isn't very-PH, it ends up here with derogatory comments.

Makes a lot of sense, thanks for explaining it. Is the algorythm or 'rules' published anywhere so YouTubers can read, understand and then target their videos accordingly? or is it guesswork based on the success of your uploads?

I know what you mean about PH audience vs not... I guess we are a bunch of grumpy older guys who prefer a laugh and a conversation than the clickbaity '5 things I hate about my Ferrari' type videos that the others produce.

Its a tough balance, but at the end of the day, its a business and you follow the money, I totally get it. Just drop a few ones in every now and again for us old boring lot!

[Shmee]

ReaperCushions said:

Makes a lot of sense, thanks for explaining it. Is the algorythm or 'rules' published anywhere so YouTubers can read, understand and then target their videos accordingly? or is it guesswork based on the success of your uploads?

I know what you mean about PH audience vs not... I guess we are a bunch of grumpy older guys who prefer a laugh and a conversation than the clickbaity '5 things I hate about my Ferrari' type videos that the others produce.

Its a tough balance, but at the end of the day, its a business and you follow the money, I totally get it. Just drop a few ones in every now and again for us old boring lot!

YouTube make a point out of not publishing any information surrounding their algorithms, or that of the advertising side via Google AdSense - it's all guesswork. In my case, I spend a lot of time trying to studying it, and probably sit for an hour or more every single day of the year looking into the Analytics to try and make assertions or spot trends. However, just when you think you find a theme, they go and change it again!

Creating the right content is indeed a balance, there will be things that every person likes more or less than others, but if every single video was completely identical it wouldn't work either as the audience would tire and not come back. We are definitely reaching a point whereby nothing is really 'new' any more, coming up with content that hasn't been done is a stretch.

[Shmee]

mesuper said:

For those that are interested, Lando Norris Mclaren's F1 Reserve driver for this year (Also racing in GP2) has started up a series of daily vlogs. I raced with him in Karts and it was pretty obvious he was gonna be something special (although his dad being worth 300 million certainly helped).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dureNqj214o

Enjoyed his videos, I'm now subscribed!

[PantsFire]

Shmee said:

It is a horrible incident to have taken place, and although I don't know the full ins and outs, there was clearly more to it.

My earnings are currently the highest they've ever been; somehow even in March the RPMs were equal to what I saw in December (typically the strongest advertising month); combined with strong views as well so the business side is definitely not suffering. However, clearly I'm on the safe end of the spectrum in terms of advertiser friendly content that's consistent, doesn't involve controversial topics, hate, or swearing.

Content with others (either alone or as a group style) is a challenge, the regular followers say they like it but the retention statistics say the mass audience don't. One thing to play close attention to in this is whether you follow what your hardcore audience post about or whether you chase the mass numbers. Let's take Top Gear as an example; their first and main audience was historically the car guys but they chased a more mainstream type of flow over the last 20 years and as we all know that took it from a smaller car show to a huge globally dominating entertainment programme. From my side there's also the cost/benefit analysis to work out on the fly in the sense that the one man route is much, much more efficient when travelling and planning than working on multiple people being there.

Hey Shmee, when you're next talking to Ben can you get some agreement on calling him 'Ben' or just 'Benzene' and absolutely not 'Benzene Ben'. My OCD equates it to a long scrape across a chalk board and starts screeching but the 'Ben' is in 'Benzene'. Cheers

[Shmee]

PantsFire said:

Hey Shmee, when you're next talking to Ben can you get some agreement on calling him 'Ben' or just 'Benzene' and absolutely not 'Benzene Ben'. My OCD equates it to a long scrape across a chalk board and starts screeching but the 'Ben' is in 'Benzene'. Cheers

That seems pretty reasonable to be fair

[Swole]

TheAngryDog said:

Seems a new crop of YT'ers are posting driving vids. I really hope that they have adequate insurance for it.

There’s this one channel, Living Life Fast. His USP is meeting owners of fast cars and then test driving them himself (with them in the passenger seat) to speeds which are obviously over the limit for the road.

Nothing has gone wrong yet, but all it take is one little mistake and it’s all over.

[Swole]

So, has anyone heard about that guy Anthony, from Gas Kings?

Apparently arrested for fraud committed some time before his YouTube channel.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5440995/Bu...

[jon-]

Swole said:

So, has anyone heard about that guy Anthony, from Gas Kings?

Apparently arrested for fraud committed some time before his YouTube channel.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5440995/Bu...

Third time this has been posted now

[Swole]

jon- said:

Third time this has been posted now

Oops, I need to use the internet more

Still, if anyone has a follow up to it at any point, I’d be interested in the outcome.

[S11Steve]

Shmee said:

YouTube make a point out of not publishing any information surrounding their algorithms, or that of the advertising side via Google AdSense - it's all guesswork. In my case, I spend a lot of time trying to studying it, and probably sit for an hour or more every single day of the year looking into the Analytics to try and make assertions or spot trends. However, just when you think you find a theme, they go and change it again!

This sounds very familiar to when I was an eBay affiliate a few years back - a bit of experimentation and testing would indicate what is more lucrative and should be focused on, but the machinations of the algorithm were confidential. My account manager could tell me if I was on the right track or not compared to other affiliates she managed but she never knew the exact formula either.

As soon as somebody cracked the formula as to what paid out most, it would soon be changed again to prevent the black hat guys abusing it.

[e30m3Mark]

Swole said:

jon- said:

Third time this has been posted now

Oops, I need to use the internet more

Still, if anyone has a follow up to it at any point, I’d be interested in the outcome.

Hopefully he'll go to jail and slip back into obscurity.