Google Likes to Cheat People... But I'm Stuck With Them For Now

Kotaku posted an article a few days ago about guy who had the had the monetization option removed from his YouTube account due to what Google called "improper clicks". He found out that an overzealous fan had caused the problem by clicking the ads too many times. Following the article are a couple hundred comments including a significant amount of other people who faced the same ban (many of them with no clue as to what actually led to the ban).

The overlords at Geek World have faced a similar problem (and by proxy I have now lost my ability to make money from this blog). In the case of Geek World it's not YouTube it's right here on Blogger. One of the most concerning parts of their story is that they were lucky enough to get a huge influx of visitors to the blog on a few separate days because a celebrity tweeted a link to one of their posts, they had some exclusive content, and some of their photo posts just happened to bring in huge numbers. Aside from the celebrity tweet the vast majority of the audience came directly from Google searches. So what does that mean? It seems that Google is penalizing them for the audience that Google sent to them!

According to my bosses the most frustrating thing is the inability to communicate with an actual human. The appeals are handled by bots, not people. The bot sends an email about how Google's "specialists" have gone through the appeal and came to some conclusion, but this does not include any sort of explanation of what the problem was, or why the "specialists" concluded they could not reinstate the account. But when you are dealing with bots they have no ability to give a valid argument. It seems like the only way to get reinstated is if you know the keywords to use and where to put them in the initial appeal!

They got banned form Adsense on Blogger right before they would have been receiving a check (and by the way it was not going to be a particularly large check - only about $50, but that's $50 we all worked hard to earn). This seems to be a pattern with the way Adsense works, the comments on the Kotaku article are rife with people dealing with the same issue - somebody is days away from earning a check and all of a sudden out of nowhere Google claims there is some sort of problem, a problem they will not actually disclose the true nature of. They can claim "invalid clicks" but if the Adsense account holder isn't doing anything to invalidate the terms they agreed to then what does the term "invalid clicks" even mean?

The worst part about "invalid clicks" is that it can be used as a weapon. If you are angry at somebody you can invalidate Adsense on their blog or YouTube channel by clicking on their adds over and over again. Apparently it doesn't take all that much to totally screw somebody over. Just as an overzealous fan can accidentally screw with your ability to make money, anybody can purposely mess with you in this way. The lack of actual humans dealing with this creates a mess.

And this is not the only way that Google's impersonal bot based customer service can screw people over. The Geek World overlords are dealing with a different problem, this time with YouTube. One of their videos was taken down because a company called Dance All Day claimed to hold the Copyright on the song used in the video. This is a huge problem because Dance All Day are NOT the valid Copyright holders for the song. The song is FULLY OWNED by a fantastic musical artist called Iviza. Iveza is a friend Geek World and gave them full permission to use his music. AnnaMay responded to the false Copyright claim and included a link to written permission from Iveza (who I will reiterate is the ACTUAL OWNER of the song) saying that Geek World has the right to use his music. The simple fact that the music is Iveza's should be all that matters but apparently Dance All Day likes to claim ownership to things that aren't theirs. In fact it seems that they have a habit of trying to use YouTube to defraud people and cheat the system to help their own videos and pages.

Check out these pages of people on YouTube that have had to deal with false Copyright claims by Dance All Day, some have tons of comments from other YouTubers also dealing with Dance All Day's false claims:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6rbSCtJyfw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pz5EkgdUmG4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyEqJaQxrEE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WRVr_MZqYc

As you can see Dance All Day makes claims to loops from Garage Band, music they do not own, musical scales, videos with material that is creative commons/no rights reserved, and in some cases they even try to claim rights to videos that have no music (some of which are just the video maker talking into the camera). If that's not proof that they are just trying to mess with people I don't know what is!

So it should be an easy fix, right? Not so much. AnnaMay apparently tried to deal with this nicely. She sent a few emails directly to Dance All Day, even Iveza emailed them to let them know we are fully within our rights to use his music and that it is in fact HIS music. They got no response and no claim retraction.

So how is this Google's fault? Well because they are bot based customer service they allow places like Dance All Day to harass legitimate YouTubers and cause their videos to be taken down. When somebody files a notice that the Copyright claim is not valid the claim goes straight to the company/person making the claim. YouTube takes the stance of guilty until proven innocent (though they don't really care if you can prove innocence if they can prevent you from making money for any period of time it's better for them).

So Geek World gave Dance All Day the chance to do the right thing, they waited a few days. Finally they realized they had no choice but to file a Copyright Counter-Notification. This means if Dance All Day wants to keep their claim going they have no choice but to sue! And that would be a very bad idea for them since they don't in any way shape or form own the music in question. So let's see where this goes!

But the real question is this: Will anything be done to Dance All Day? YouTube says they do not have the right to deny somebody the ability to file claims. That is understandable, but we're talking about a company that is essentially trying to defraud YouTube and cheat people using YouTube. They seem to make tons of these false claims and it appears they have never faced any repercussions. Google is so obsessive when it comes to cheating with Adsense (their 1 strike policy with customer disservice bots seems does a great job of screwing people) but when it comes to good people dealing with cheaters they seem unwilling to do anything helpful. I understand that they do not want to deny people the right to file a claim but when somebody files this many claims (most or possibly all of which are FALSE) it seems like there should be some bot or algorithm that would cause one of those obnoxious Google form letters to go to Dance All Day (and other companies doing the same thing) warning them that they could be putting their accounts in jeopardy by misusing the Copyright claim form. It seems ridiculous that it's not a problem to consistently LIE and claim to own other peoples' materials.

For now Geek World has a Copyright Strike against them on YouTube even though they have full rights to use the music in question, they have been screwed by Adsense bots, and they are having an impossible time contacting any sort of actual live human being.

AnnaMay likes to complain about all the moronic algorithms that can make for some very uncomfortable website visits and bots that are not as smart as the companies using them would like to believe. Now I understand why! This sucks. Google is happy to cheat people out of money they rightly earned but will allow people to get cheated by liars who are trying to steal other peoples' music and videos. Not cool Google! If Geek World didn't believe in you and insist on sticking it out with Blogger and YouTube I would totally be out of here!

Geekin: Now with more social media!

It seems that social media is important or something so I am now on Facebook and YouTube in addition to the Twitter feed I was already keeping up! Stupid social media!

I Hate Music!

I'm not the kind of guy to take a stand on things that do not directly impact me. Usually I am happy just to sit in my dungeon and plot my overthrow of Geek World, but recently I found a reason to speak out! I have been bitch slapped into reality and jarred into the realization that TV morning shows are out to get us. At first I just thought that they were so out of touch, that their so-called "reporters" and "researchers" didn't understand what their jobs were and should be stripped of those undeserved titles, that there was so little integrity in media these days, that they were unintentionally helping to encourage hostility among youth and helping to drive the general public insane! I believed that the mainstream media was so out of touch that in their pathetic attempt to keep up with blog culture they displayed a complete misunderstanding of what YouTube views and iTunes downloads really mean. But then it hit me, perhaps there is something much darker at work here. Perhaps this is not just a bunch of old dudes fearful of losing their jobs to the recently pop-culturally informed whipper-snappers and wanting so badly to find some sort of metaphorical fountain of youth that they fill morning television with brainless banter about things they don't understand. Maybe it's all part of a greater scheme, they seek to make us all dumber so that we will stop trying to keep up with things like technological trends and social media experiences.

There is a horror of epic proportions that invaded the internet last week. It is a video for a horrible "song" called "Friday" by a possibly sweet but utterly untalented and dilusional girl named Rebecca Black. Normally I would have thought this to be an attack thrust upon me by AnnaMay and Dave but I came to find out that even beasts like them are affected by this cancer. I came to recognize that this Rebecca Black thing is likely not even a real girl but a defective robot a la Vicky from Small Wonder sent on a mission to destroy us but unable to complete said mission because every time she says the word "fun" her circuits short out and she is sent into a loop! Every thing about this situation is disturbing and knowing that I may have to join forces with the geeky duo to take down this menace sends shivers up my spine. In fact I must now do something I never thought I'd do and agree with Geek World's AnnaMay, this is not Rebecca Black's "Friday" it's Rebecca "Black Friday"! I will allow you all to feel the pain:



I'll let you take a minute to deal with the emotional ramifications of what you just watched...

OK, now that you've had some time to recover let's talk about this "music" video that we all wish had just been a parody. First off the lyrics are an epic FAIL and would be for anyone of any age! Why is she just listing off what she does in the morning? Why did the video have to point out the improper grammar? We we we we we so NOT excited! This must be part of the plan to make us all dumber by encouraging us not to speak proper English. It's not like we're is a one syllable word, oh wait it is! Also isn't it kind of bitchy of her to force one of her friends who is already riding in the car to move so little princess Rebecca can have whatever spot she wants? And what is up with the creepy pedo-like guy driving down the road rapping out the window to young teenage girls about partyin? Hey parents, if you've ever wondered about the dangers your children face I'm pretty sure guys like this are one of them, that and the autotuned robot singing and keeping you mesmerized while your brain cells are attacked and slaughtered. I'm sure there are plenty of other questions we can ask but this post is not about the silly musings of an unexceptional young girl.

So let's talk about sad TV shows like Good Morning America that treat this girl like she is the next music superstar in their plot to ensure that your brains turn to an oatmeal like mush so you will be little more than a drooling mess forced to stay tuned in because you no longer have enough brain power to remember how to change the channel. Rebecca Black's quick rise to fame can best be equated to the likes of Star Wars Kid, the Numa Numa Guy or the Dramatic Prairie Dog! Do we talk about those YouTube sensations like they should be given a movie deal? No, of course not, because everybody realized that we were watching these to mock them, they made us laugh, we watched them over and over but we all knew what made their videos hits was not displays of talent. On the other hand these videos were truly entertaining and would probably not have had the same mind-numbing effect as "Friday" thus could not be used in the media industry's nefarious plot.

It's disturbing that the "reporters" working for GMA couldn't be bothered to take even a moment to read the comments people were making about the video before treating her like a bona fide talent. They tried to convince the audience that she deserved the fame. They tried to make watchers believe that anybody posting negative reviews were nothing more than bullies (not just the people who watched the video and became so incensed that they lamented their wishes for pain to come to the singer but everyone who could possibly think that she lacked talent). There was no critical look at the work, sure she's 13 but that doesn't mean we should just accept drivel and not feel free to critique it for the trash it is. This is just further proof that the plan to destroy our brains has been put into action. When it comes to shows like GMA they may not officially be news but they still have a responsibility to their viewers to present things like "Friday" in the proper context. If they were not prepared to treat the young "singer" like the joke that the entire internet world knew she was they should not have had her as a guest on the show. Of course if they had admitted the truth about her and her music then people may have started to suspect the darker motives that were at play. Viewers may have started to realize that GMA wants us to keep watching this so that we are too stupid to function.

There are a few people that post comments defending the young singer but the defense tends to be limited to things like 'I saw here on GMA and she was able to hold a tune'. Unfortunately this just proves that there is no defense for this song. I am disappointed in all those "news" outlets that are so out of touch they don't understand the difference between a video finding popularity because the star is a true talent and a video featuring somebody who is nothing more than a joke! Fodder for people to mock and laugh at and pay attention to for a few moments and gladly forget about a week later, but you monsters that try and pass yourself off as respectable sources of news and entertainment want us to believe that this should be taken seriously because you couldn't be bothered to read the comments posted below the video. Or at least to have recognized the obvious plot to melt our minds. I am angry that you are allowing this travesty to continue. It would have only taken you a moment to realize that "Friday" was being watched and re-watched and passed along not because people are so excited for some hot new recording artist but instead the audience was confounded that this video was ever made and some were even angry that there was a place showcasing garbage when there are plenty of poor artists with real talent out there that can't afford to have their work produced. I am making sure the truth gets out there and that people know what you are trying to do. This conspiracy to control us by turning us all into mindless drones will not be successful! I will make sure of it even if that means using my powers to work with the disgusting slime known as Geek World to keep the people of the world safe.

But in the end there will always be some of you out there that will believe the negativity is just haters jealous that they don't have millions of viewers, after all if she has that many hits on YouTube she must actually be talented. So If you think she's worthy sensation then have I got something to show you! Tucker is a talent that surpasses even that of Rebecca Black! Not only does he sing but he plays piano too! Enjoy!