Going from millions of views to being lucky to even get a thousand on a video is a recent struggle for YouTuber Will Ryan (@DAGames) who’s channel is, as he would describe it, ‘broken’. Over half of his content is unavailable to the public; what is available is mainly demonetized, meaning that the video was declared ‘unsuitable for advertisers’ and Ryan earns no revenue from them. Even after sending multiple emails to the people behind YouTube, Ryan’s channel is still getting less and less views, subscribers, and advertisements day after day. Earlier this month, Ryan posted a graph on Twitter of the view count over time for one of his videos.

“Personally, I feel like this is the end for me,” Ryan said. “My channel’s dying even faster each and every day.”

Unfortunately, DAGames isn’t the only channel having issues. 2016 and 2017 have been difficult years for YouTube creators. YouTube has changed it’s ‘rules’ multiple times- rules meaning how videos are organized on YouTube and whether or not they are suitable for advertisements. This is commonly referred to as the “YouTube Algorithm.” The YouTube Algorithm is an AI program that automatically goes through videos and has the ability to monetize or demonetize them, learn if they are appropriate enough for viewers, and determines how they are filtered through the many different categories on YouTube.

The Algorithm seems to be the biggest problem with YouTube. Many claim that it does not work the way it should be working. “YouTube will automatically flag videos, titles and thumbnails that feature graphic, edgy or sensitive imagery and text,” said Sahil Patel, Senior Reporter for the website Digiday. While many people may believe that this is a good idea because it should filter out inappropriate videos, gamers (otherwise known as ‘Let’s Players’) are greatly affected by this in a negative way. Many video games include ‘edgy and sensitive imagery’ that the algorithm goes against. Not only gamers, creators who discuss ‘darker topics’ are filtered in with the flagged videos as well.

The channel @Real Women Real Stories is a smaller YouTube channel that focuses on promoting the rights of women and allow women to share any traumatizing experiences they’ve had. The advertisement revenue they gained was solely put towards the production of their videos. However, in the past year or so, the channel has seen a huge drop in ad revenue; going from $2,000 in June 2016 to only about $10 in June 2017. The YouTube Algorithm disfavors the videos on this channel because topics such as rape and sexual abuse or harassment are discussed.

By May of this year, ad revenue for many large channels had began to go back to the amount it was before. The smaller channels, however, were still feeling the affects. This was very problematic for creators who make a living solely off the income they get from YouTube. Many creators have started to spread to other websites, like Twitch or Vid.Me, to continue making videos while earning their income. YouTube creators have tried to ‘fix’ whatever was wrong with their videos to make them not advertiser friendly, but they don’t even know why they were demonetized in the first place. “[Creators] claim they aren’t being notified by YouTube about how their videos fit into the above classifications.” said Geoff Weiss, reporter (Tubefilter).

On social media websites, like Twitter, many creators have been expressing their troubles about YouTube’s Algorithm and how it needs ‘to be fixed’. YouTube has responded to some complains always saying ‘The Algorithm will fix itself.’ This angers creators even further. Some creators, like Will Ryan, have almost completely given up on YouTube and are working on backup plans for when and if YouTube falls. The creators spread to other sites and they take their viewers with them, leaving YouTube even worse than before.