Mediocrefilms Strikes Back Re: Making In Excess Of $100,000 On YouTube

Another youtuber forced to respond to that article that came out a few days ago. Looks like Greg, aka mediocrefilms, is a little hot under the collar about it as well as PhillyD. To see the post where I mention the article see Article Out Says 10 YouTube Stars Making $100,000 A Year and to Phil DeFranco's response video is included in that Bradshaw's Blog post.

I agree 100 percent with Greg & Phil on this topic. It's really none of our business what they earn by posting videos on YouTube and elsewhere, just as it's not your business what your neighbor makes as an accountant or as a factory worker. The only reason this is even up for discussion is that it seems that some people on YouTube are making a boatload of money and they are somewhat in the public eye (ie: they have YouTube fame).

There is always a prurient interest in knowing what some people are pulling down and I'm guilty of that too. It does make me think "hmmm, if That guy makes so much money doing this, maybe I should be doing it too". We don't need to know what youtubers - top ones like Shane Dawson or Phil DeFranco and those further down the ranks - are making each year and hopefully your enjoyment of their videos isn't defined by what's in their wallets. That only breeds resentment. Yes, some people are making a living doing the YouTube thing, but many, many others are not.

Rather than dwelling on what some very successful people are earning, perhaps what you should be doing is redoubling your own efforts to produce good quality content on YouTube or whereever it is that you are, and push the successful ones to either keep on making good stuff or force them to fall by the wayside. The top people in any field are usually there for a good reason - they produce good results. If you aren't there yet yourself, maybe something like this will push you a little harder to get there.

But back to Greg's rant - yes, he is entirely correct. Obviously I am not privy to what people other than myself earn from YouTube (no, I'm not a partner yet, but maybe someday...) and from the articles I've read and comments on Phil's video and watching this one etc., it seems the writer was a little lax in his research. Some are making money from their channels, but if you are planning on stating categorically what some of these people are making, one of the first rules of journalism is to confirm your facts and then re-confirm. From what Greg & Phil say in their videos, it doesn't appear that the writer even asked if the figures he had were even in the ballpark.

Article Out Says 10 YouTube Stars Making $100,000 A Year

There's an article out stating that in all likelihood, at least 10 youtubers are raking in a minimum of $100,000 a year. Sounds sweet right? Below is the list of 10 YouTube Stars and their estimated yearly income from being in the YouTube Partnership Program.

10. Natalie Tran - communitychannel - $101,000
9. The Young Turks – The Young Turks - $112,000
8. Smosh – smosh - $113,000
7. Mediocre Films – MediocreFilms - $116,000
6. Shay Carl – Shaytards - $140,000
5. Fred – Fred - $146,000
4. Ryan Higa – nigahiga - $151,000
3. Philip DeFranco – sxephil - $181,000
2. The Annoying Orange – realannoyingorange - $288,000
1. Shane Dawson – shanedawsontv - $315,000

Now I just watched Phil DeFranco's latest Vloggity and he thinks there are several holes in the article. Like the fact that Ray William Johnson isn't even on the list. Ray's show, equals 3 gets about 25 million views a month and he's been getting new subscribers at an almost unbelieveable pace over the last year or so. Anyway, watch Phil's take on the article:



The basis on which they base their math is as follows:

- "Revenue only comes from banner ads served near content (we ignored pre-roll or overlay since we can't easily isolate by publisher).

- Since YouTube banner ads have a two-second load delay, we estimate 2.59% of viewers click away before an ad loads based on separate research.

- Ads were served near all videos that loaded (since there are partners, this is generally true).

- CPM for the banner ads was $1.50 (Google auctions a lot of this inventory off; we rounded this 2009 estimate down to be conversative).

- YouTube is splitting ad revenue with partners 50-50.

Basically, take their views from the past year, assume a few don't stick around long enough for an ad to load, divide that number by 1,000, multiply by $1.50 and divide that number in half."

Usually due to Google Adsense rules, most partners in the program are not allowed to disclose exactly what they make. You can still get some estimates around the Web, but really, only Google, YouTube and the individual YouTube Partners really know. You could use the formula given above to estimate what someone not in the Top 10 might be making, but it would still be faulty. They don't even take the ads that appear over the screen when you watch a YouTube partner's video because as the writer says because they "can't easily isolate by publisher."

So far, DeFranco's been the only one to come forward about this article but hopefully someone else will do likewise. I'd like to see what The Young Turks or Shane Dawson might have to say about it.

If you want to read the article, here's a link: Meet The YouTube Stars Making $100,000 Plus Per Year

Note: Here's Greg from mediocrefilms' video reaction to hearing he was flush with Youtube cash: Mediocrefilms Strikes Back Re: Making In Excess Of $100,000 On YouTube

Comic-Con 2010 - It's All About The Hot Chicks

After watching this video, I want to restore my comic book street cred and go to Comic-Con 2010. Not for the comic books, but for the hot booth babes that are sprinkled amongst the nerdtaria. I could do what MediocreFilms does, just take a fake microphone and pretend to interview the smokin' girls. Why didn't I think of that? ("Because you're an idiot Bradshaw." Me: "Hey!"). Actually I think I will consider doing that for the 2011 Comic-Con.

Besides the hot chicks there are a bunch of youtubers all through Comic-Con. You don't really care do you? You're replaying various parts of the video to watch the girls in skimpy costumes (actually that's what I'm doing). MediocreFilms interviews different youtubers while there including The Fine Brothers. But you don't care. Just go back and oogle the girls.



MediocreFilms is at Comic-Con all week and will be uploading more videos about his misadventures if you want to check that out on his channels.