do you like free money? Do you wish you could sit on your butt all day and make boatloads of cash? Do you wish you could profit off other people's work and exploit stupid dumb YouTubers? Well, this video is for you. Today, we're talking about YouTube and thievery. How are these things connected? Well, through the magical and often misunderstood world of react content. Yes, that's right, react content. What is going on with streamers reacting to other people's carefully crafted video essays? How is YouTube's algorithm pushing the reactions to the top? And why did I suddenly find myself going viral on Twitter and Reddit? There is a lot to unpack here, so let's dive in. Before we get into the nitty-gritty, I'd just like to introduce myself. My name is Zachary Smiggle. I live in Western Pennsylvania. I have one cat named Zoe. I really like playing Age of Empires, and I started this channel 16 months ago. I've been on YouTube for pretty much my entire life. The goal of

this channel, though in particular, was always to create some educational and entertaining content. Ideally, I want to shine a light on problems that people might not know exist or tell stories that I think need to be told. So, that's why I know joke survived off Chipotle for 30 days one time, weighing 30 burritos, uh, trying to get some real data on Chipotle sh inflation. Now, this isn't my normal video format, but I wanted to make a video really quick for reasons you'll understand a bit later. A few days ago, I uploaded a video about fast food companies raising their prices. I thought, because of my background in advertising, I could provide a unique perspective on things. The video is a 16-minute video essay, which took me about 3 weeks to make, and I felt it was a well-structured video. Like I sometimes do, I had one of my amazing friends help me out, and for the first time, I actually hired someone to design the thumbnails, a completely new experience to me. This video was also the first time I shot with my new camera.

something I've been saving up for. After using just my iPhone for about 14 months, in the end, I put a lot into this video, but that's okay. I created something that honestly I'm truly proud of, one of my best videos yet, in my opinion. As soon as I uploaded the video, I knew it was on track to be a hit. It shot up to a 1 out of 10, performing better than many of my previous uploads in just a matter of a few days. As a medium-sized creator, my videos usually take anywhere from 3 to 10 days to fully reach their intended audience. For instance, my Why YouTube Feels Different video took 5 days to blow up, my Chipotle video took 6 days, and my gas station video didn't catch fire until day 13. So, seeing my latest upload reach heights similar to those videos that have hit a million views, this video, in my opinion, was on track to blow up. It reached 200k views in just a few days, so I was beyond excited. Then on

Sunday, I started getting Instagram and Discord messages from people letting me know that Asmin Gold, a really famous streamer, had reacted to my video live on his Twitch stream. His stream involved him reacting to my video, sharing his thoughts on the fast food industry, agreeing with some points, and disagreeing with others. Overall, he was very positive and nice, and he did tell his chat to check out my channel. Honestly, I thought this was super cool. I don't have an issue with people reacting to my content in a transformative way on platforms like Twitch. For example, last fall, Twitch reacted to my YouTube feels different video on her live stream, and I thought that was an amazing and awesome experience. Now, I understand that some like this might not be okay for some people, but for me, a stream like Asmin Gold's was totally fine. I didn't consent to it, but I understand this is how things work nowadays, and if more people see my content on another platform, great. I'm okay with Asmin Gold's reaction during his stream.

because his viewers tune in for his live streams for sometimes like five or six hours just to watch him. Clearly, people like the dude. They're there to watch him, not me, not someone else's video, but him. His reaction to my video was just one tiny segment in a lengthy stream. However, where I do have an issue is a 36 clip of Asmongold's reaction to my video was uploaded to YouTube using the exact same title as mine. And I noticed my momentum shift. Before his reaction, I obtained about 225,000 views in just 5 days. After that, there was a slight boost and then a slowdown, resulting in a massive click-through rate drop-off. But more on that later. You see, streamers like Asmongold usually don't run their own YouTube channels. They have editors who clip content from their streams and post it to YouTube. In return, these editors get something like 75% of the ad revenue. These clippers, as I like to call them, are often anonymous editors who are fans of streamers turned editors, often

these Clippers hijack The Originals video thumbnail, slapping the streamer face on it, and the goal is honestly to mislead viewers scrolling through YouTube to thinking that Asmongold, Hassan, or xQc actually created a video about this topic. This is why these Clippers have come under fire in the past and like why many of them stay anonymous. At first glance, these reaction uploads might not seem like a big deal, right? It's just one video, but this actually exposes a massive problem with reactors, YouTube, and how its algorithm handles reaction videos. If you're not familiar with YouTube's algorithm or recommendation system, that's okay. I'll explain quickly. Basically, several factors determine whether a video will get recommended frequently or not. The three most important ones are video click-through rate or how often they click, retention or how long people watch the video, and viewer satisfaction. Do they come back to the channel after they're done watching that specific video? These factors largely dictate whether a video will appear in the recommended or suggested tab, which is

where most medium to small creators get their traffic. Of these factors, the easiest to track and arguably the most important are a video's click-through rate and watch time. Simply put, if a video is being clicked more often and watched longer than another, it'll be recommended more. That's how YouTube works, plain and simple. Here's where reaction videos create an uneven playing field. Because reaction videos are usually longer, they tend to have more watch time. They can also fit in more ads, which means more revenue for YouTube. On top of that, these videos come from established channels. Mathematically, people are more likely to click on a video from Asmongold than from me. This higher click-through rate gives reaction videos from large streamers an immediate edge. So, when you compare the two, it's easy to see how the odds are stacked in the favor of the reaction video over the original. To counter this, reaction streamers will often tell their viewers to go like the original video. But ironically, this can hurt the original video when someone clicks on a video.

just hit like and then immediately leaves. It drags down the average view duration, one of those key factors YouTube tracks. It can also impact the click-through rate. If someone subscribes to the original creator because of the stream but then doesn't actually click on the original video when it appears on the homepage, the CTR will take a hit. And why would they click? They've already seen the content on their reaction video or that stream. A lot of people assume that after watching a reaction, subscribing, and liking the original video fixes everything. And while this may help future videos and introduce the creator to a new audience, which is great, the video itself, the one that took time and effort to create, is negatively impacted. It's a complex situation, and a lot of the things that people think will actually help the video actually hurt it in the long run. YouTube has a limited amount of space to recommend videos, and they will always choose the video that is going to appeal to the most people. I'm not saying anything radical; numerous other creators have backed these claims.

as this has happened to a lot of others too. So that night that the Clipper uploaded the reaction to YouTube, I tweeted about this situation because I have a small circle of Creator friends and was looking for their thoughts and opinions on the subject. I woke up and the Tweet exploded. It gained significant traction, reaching millions of people, resulting in news articles being written about it, and even making the top page of Reddit. It became clear to me that this wasn't just a me problem; it's a widespread issue on YouTube. I also received numerous messages from other creators sharing their experiences with streamers reacting to their content and how often it negatively impacted the video's momentum afterward. I had multiple messages from creators letting me know that if I reach out to Asmin Gold, he'll take the reaction down despite the potential damage that it has already done. Regardless, I reached out to him and his Clipper but didn't hear much most of the day until someone mentioned it on a live stream because my tweet was really blowing up, and then he reached

Asmin Gold apologized, and we had a really brief but nice exchange, and he had his Clipper private the video. I was never trying to create any drama out of this, truthfully. Yet, I had a lot of people coming after me in the comments because of my tweet, and I think this highlights a potential issue with this reactionary landscape. Just because it's normalized doesn't make it okay for everyone. Many creators are afraid to speak out about their videos being reacted to without permission because these super streamers often have intense fan bases. Again, I'm not blaming Asmin Gold, but since this happened, I've received more negative hate comments than ever before, and my take wasn't even that extreme. I was simply expressing my disappointment that my video seemingly lost its momentum. When you take a middle-ground approach or stance, you seem to make everyone angry, but in situations like this, there are a lot of gray areas. For instance, since Asmin Gold did tell people to check out my channel and like the video, which I genuinely appreciated.

However, reposting the reaction on YouTube with the same title while my video was still new that I didn't really appreciate. We can be appreciative and critical of things at the same time; to me, that's healthy, and that's why I'm doing this, and that's what I'm trying to do and have always done in my YouTube feels different series. I talked about how wild my blowup was last August and how YouTube runs ads on videos even if the creator isn't part of the YouTube partnership program. For example, I had a video that got 2 million views, and YouTube ran ads on it, but I didn't see a dime. I didn't break any rules or do anything wrong; the system just works in a way that is disadvantageous to creators who blow up early in their YouTube careers. I didn't share this expecting YouTube to magically write me a check, but with the hopes that the system can be improved for future creators. And the same thing is occurring to me now. I shared my tweet not to be

ungrateful or create drama but to highlight that the system is a bit messed up and could be better. There's just a lot of layers to this. There's clearly a difference in a regular Creator's transformative reaction and the ones that we are seeing on Tik Tok shorts and reals. What I went through isn't the same as what a Channel with fewer than 1,000 subscribers might experience if their video gets reacted to. For them, a big Creator's reaction could be lifechanging. I've heard stories of small channels getting a massive blowup from a single shout out, but that doesn't erase the negative experiences that countless others have gone through. There's a lot of nuance here, and honestly, there shouldn't be, not when there are solutions within reach that could satisfy everyone. We can absolutely do better. I believe the internet is vast enough for thoughtful transformative reaction content, and I fully support fair use, but this experience has shown me how much room there is for YouTube to improve the

landscape for everyone. If this reaction-based content is here to stay, YouTube has the tools to make things better. Tagging a video as react content, similar to how they tag AI content, would be a great start. YouTube used to have a response video system; why not have something like that for reaction videos, where perhaps the watch time can funnel back to the original video? Even better would be introducing a revenue split system, similar to what YouTube has done with music rights. This system could be a game changer for small to medium-sized creators across the platform. This likely adds up to millions of dollars of revenue for creators who need it the most. YouTube could even introduce a feature that allows channels to mark their content as react-friendly, giving them the power to choose whether or not their videos can be used in reactions. This would ensure that the original creator gets the recognition and compensation they deserve. This would also be a game changer for streamers on YouTube and a major advantage over Twitch right now, though creators have no choice if they don't want their content.

being used. They likely have to track down that specific reactor and request its removal. It's also important to draw a line between fair use and outright exploitation, especially when the content in question is directly competing on the same platform. What I went through is nothing compared to some of the worst-case scenarios we've all seen. Reactors blatantly steal content without any attribution. One of the most notorious offenders in recent memory is Sniper Wolf, who not only steals content but also doxxed Jack's films, and her videos are still being promoted to the masses. I mean, how wrong is that, and what message does that send to other creators? Why spend weeks or even months creating something only to have somebody react to it and reap all the rewards? Even worse, YouTube's algorithm tends to boost these videos because, again, they generate an insane amount of money, they have really high watch times, they appeal to a lot of people, so it's a win for YouTube and these react channels. That's why we need a better system in place on YouTube to protect creators, ensure fair

competition and make sure content is used in a transformative, value-adding way, not simply exploited for quick profits. Now, as for the video itself, I'm not sure how this will all play out with the ongoing debate on Twitter and a Reddit post, which is now the highest upvoted post on r/YouTube of all time. My video has gotten a surge of additional traffic. I'm not going to sit here and claim that because his reaction video went down, that all of a sudden I'm getting views because of that. Correlation doesn't always equal causation, and I fully understand that. Even when it comes to my video losing momentum, it is speculation. However, based on my experience and what many others have experienced over the years, I strongly believe that reaction content on YouTube negatively affects a video's growth, especially during its early stages. This issue isn't even about me or Asmin; this is a site-wide problem. But ultimately, I'm in the middle of this field because I wanted to clear the air with you. I wanted to show you exactly

where I stand on this. I had a video come out. I noticed some things, and I wanted to share it with you. Why? Because transparency is incredibly important to me. And like all my videos where I'm critical of something, in this instance, YouTube and its landscape, I hope the changes can be made so that we can have a better future together. As always, thank you so much for your support, and thank you so much for watching. See you next time. Bye.

How The YouTube Algorithm Promotes Thievery

How The YouTube Algorithm Promotes Thievery

Scripts