Study could lead to LLMs that are better at complex reasoning
Study could lead to LLMs that are better at complex reasoning
To improve adaptability of large language models to challenging tasks that require reasoning, MIT researchers found strategically applying a method known as test-time training with task-specific examples can boost the accuracy of an LLM more than six…MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Bluetooth flaws could let hackers spy through your microphone
Security Advisory: Airoha-based Bluetooth Headphones and Earbuds
Important note: Some media coverage on this topic falsely or inaccurately depicts the attack conditions. To be clear: Any vulnerable device can be compromised if the attacker is in Bluetooth range. That is the only precondition.Insinuator.net
Bluetooth flaws could let hackers spy through your microphone
Security Advisory: Airoha-based Bluetooth Headphones and Earbuds
Important note: Some media coverage on this topic falsely or inaccurately depicts the attack conditions. To be clear: Any vulnerable device can be compromised if the attacker is in Bluetooth range. That is the only precondition.Insinuator.net
Federal Agents Deploy Brutal Tactics in LA Immigration Raids
Documenting ICE Agents’ Brutal Use of Force in LA Immigration Raids
Video analysis of reveals how federal agents in Southern California regularly use force against unarmed individuals, many of them U.S. citizens.Jonah Valdez (The Intercept)
NASA’s Hubble and Webb Telescopes Reveal Two Faces of a Star Cluster Duo
NASA’s Hubble and Webb Telescopes Reveal Two Faces of a Star Cluster Duo
These images from NASA's Hubble and Webb telescopes showcase an expanse of gas, dust, and stars of a duo of star clusters.NASA Hubble Mission Team (NASA Science)
How the Batavia spyware targeting Russian organizations works
Batavia spyware steals data from Russian organizations
Kaspersky experts have discovered a new spyware called Batavia, which steals data from corporate devices.Kaspersky
How the Batavia spyware targeting Russian organizations works
Batavia spyware steals data from Russian organizations
Kaspersky experts have discovered a new spyware called Batavia, which steals data from corporate devices.Kaspersky
Is Earth safe from nearby exploding stars?
Scientists used an Earth system model to test how radiation from a nearby supernova would affect life on our planet. They found that the atmosphere shields us against most of the immediate damage.
Is Earth safe from nearby exploding stars? – Sciworthy
Scientists showed that Earth's atmosphere shields us against damaging radiation from nearby exploding stars.Aubrey Zerkle (Sciworthy)
Meta’s grand WhatsApp fintech experiment in India has fizzled
- India capped WhatsApp Pay’s user base for nearly six years, allowing Google Pay and PhonePe to lock in market dominance.
- WhatsApp treated payments as a side feature, with minimal product upgrades, marketing, or merchant outreach, even after regulatory barriers eased.
- Outside India, WhatsApp Pay remains limited to Brazil and Singapore, with stalled launches in other key markets, like Mexico and Indonesia.
WhatsApp Pay failed in India despite 500M users - Rest of World
WhatsApp Pay couldn’t compete with Google Pay and PhonePe in India’s $3 trillion digital payments market after regulatory delays and Meta’s lack of investment.Munira Mutaher (Rest of World)
Belgium is unsafe for CVD
Belgium is unsafe for CVD
This post is about the reason I will probably never try to warn any organisation in Belgium about any vulnerability again. Recently I have been dealing with an attempt at coordinated vulnerability disclosure (CVD) with an organisation in Belgium.Floor Terra (Floort.net)
Belgium is unsafe for CVD
Belgium is unsafe for CVD
This post is about the reason I will probably never try to warn any organisation in Belgium about any vulnerability again. Recently I have been dealing with an attempt at coordinated vulnerability disclosure (CVD) with an organisation in Belgium.Floor Terra (Floort.net)
Adalytics finds 9,000+ pirated movies, including summer blockbusters, TV shows, and live sports on YouTube, amassing a collective 250M+ views from July to May
JS Required-PDF:
- Full Report.
- Executive Summary.
Note: to get straight to the interesting part, read from the the bullet point number 10 in the summary in the comments.
Is YouTube billing - and not refunding - advertisers for ads served on non-conforming or potentially copyright infringing content? Are its algorithms actively promoting this content to consumers, and deleting details about this content from advertisers’ p
Ads observed on YouTube videos which were later deleted from the platform and redacted in ad delivery placement reportsadalytics.io
Adalytics finds 9,000+ pirated movies, including summer blockbusters, TV shows, and live sports on YouTube, amassing a collective 250M+ views from July to May
JS Required-PDF:
- Full Report.
- Executive Summary.
Note: to get straight to the interesting part, read from the the bullet point number 10 in the summary in the comments.
Is YouTube billing - and not refunding - advertisers for ads served on non-conforming or potentially copyright infringing content? Are its algorithms actively promoting this content to consumers, and deleting details about this content from advertisers’ p
Ads observed on YouTube videos which were later deleted from the platform and redacted in ad delivery placement reportsadalytics.io
11. Thousands of “re-distributed” YouTube videos - including live ESPN or CBS sports
games, full films that were still in theatrical release at movie theaters, TV shows, and
exclusive streaming content from - were found on third party YouTube channels, largely
via the YouTube recommendation algorithm. These videos appear to have likely
collectively generated over a billion views and likely several billions of ad impressions.
12. The YouTube recommendation algorithm itself appears to amplify and make easily
discoverable "re-distributed" content with as little as one click/view of similar uploads.
Beyond just "hosting" the "re-distributed" content, YouTube's recommendation algorithm
may actively make it easier for consumers to find and view "re-distributed" content, and
appears to surface more and more "re-distributed" content to users even with relatively
little browsing history. There are entire Reddit forum discussions where consumers
discuss observing this phenomenon.
13. User comments posted on YouTube and Reddit suggest that some consumers avoid
paying for cinema tickets, Netflix or other streaming subscriptions, or film rentals
because the consumers are able to watch copyrighted media content for free on
YouTube.
14. This may potentially affect film studios, TV show producers, and live sports broadcasters
by potentially increasing YouTube's viewership ratings and time spent numbers, while
potentially decreasing the viewership ratings for the license rights owners and
subscribers for competitive streaming services. This could theoretically impact the
rightful license right owners ability to attract large advertising budgets and subscribers.
15. Movies that were in theatrical release at cinema - such as “Deadpool & Wolverine” in the
summer of 2024 - were observed being uploaded and removed multiple times on
YouTube, and were observed being promoted on the YouTube.com Homepage. This can
impact consumers' propensity to pay to view the movies in cinemas, as was noted by
many users in the comments.
16. Live sports events - such as Major League Baseball (MLB) or NCAA college football
games broadcast by ESPN or CBS Sports - were live streamed entirely on various third
party YouTube channels. The videos and streams are largely removed after the fact,
either by voluntary self-deletion by the creators or by YouTube. Some of these third party
streams collectively generate millions of views.
17. TV and streaming shows, such as content of Netflix’s “Squid Game”, NBCUniversal
Peacock’s Love Island, Family Guy, Warner Brothers’ Big Bang Theory, Loki, and
American Dad, were observed on third party channels on YouTube.
18. Content starring many famous Hollywood actors were 're-distributed' on third party
YouTube channels. It is unclear whether these actors receive compensation - such as
royalties - when ads are viewed on this content via third party, 're-distributing' YouTube
channels. The list of Hollywood actors whose videos were found on "re-distributing", third
party YouTube channels includes: Jason Statham, Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise,
Daniel Craig, Chris Hemsworth, Dwayne Johnson, Keanu Reeves, Scarlett Johansson,
Mark Ruffalo, Samuel L. Jackson, Tom Hiddleston, Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr., Will
Smith, Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman, Gal Gadot, Laurence Fishburne, Chris Pratt, Vin
Diesel, Bruce Willis, Benedict Cumberbatch, and many others.
19. This research found various channel owners were continuously removing and
re-uploading “re-distributed” content each day, Some YouTube channels appear to be
able to serve many videos of "re-distributed" content, and evade being banned by
continuously self-removing their own "re-distributed" content each day, in a daily
round-robin cycle of uploading "re-distributed" content and then removing the content
later in the day. It is unclear if this is a deliberate attempt to circumvent the YouTube
Content ID detection algorithm.
20. Some YouTube channel creators - including YouTubed-”verified” creators and creators
who appear to have received a “YouTube Creator Award” for having hundreds of
thousands or millions of subscribers or views - were seen uploading “re-distributed”
Disney movies, Family Guys episodes or live videos from ESPN, Fox Sports, or CBS
Sports college football games. The creators often self-delete or edit these videos after
the livestreams end. These creators appear to have amassed millions of views via these
tactics.
:::
21. In some cases, third-party YouTube creators upload “re-distributed” content, such as
ESPN, CBS Sports, or Fox Sports college football game live streams or episodes of TV
shows such as Family Guy. After ~12 hours, the creators edit the videos to cut out the
“re-distributed” content and they edit the title, description, and meta-data of the videos to
something unrelated. This appears to prevent brand advertisers from knowing against
what sorts of content their ads were served on in their original form, and suggests that
YouTube ad delivery placement reports may not accurately convey what sorts of content
the ads were served against before the videos were retro-actively edited and re-named.
22. Disney, Lionsgate, Paramount, Universal/Focus Features, Bleecker Street, and
streaming services like Disney+, Peacock, Sling TV, YouTube TV, and Hulu/FX, in their
capacity as advertisers, have run ads against uploaded copies of their own intellectual
property on third-party channels, thus potentially funding it.
23. The presidential election campaigns of Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, as well as
major brands such Procter & Gamble, had ads served on videos that appear to belong to
various professional film studios, such as “Deadpool & Wolverine”, whilst the film was
being shown in movie cinemas in the summer of 2024.
24. The list of brands whose ads were served on third-party, “re-distributed” content
YouTube channels which were later deleted by YouTube (and thus, likely retroactively
redacted from their ad delivery placement reports), includes:
a. the New York Times, the presidential election campaigns of Donald Trump and
Kamala Harris, the House Majority PAC (a Democrat Super PAC), Procter &
Gamble (P&G),Unilever, BMO Bank, Ben & Jerry’s, McDonald’s, US Bank,
Crossmedia, Samsung, Disney+, FX networks, WarnerMedia (HBO Max), Mint
Mobile, Focus Features (owned by NBCUniversal), Kellanova (Special K, Frosted
Flakes), State Farm, Verizon, Visible (by Verizon), T-Mobile, Disney, Hulu,
Mazda, the Wall Street Journal, Nissan, North Face, Paramount+, Health for
California Insurance Center, A&E Television Networks (Lifetime), NBCUniversal
Media (Peacock), Volvo cars, Lionsgate, Macy’s, Adobe, SlingTV, Hyundai,
Genesis, AAA (American Automobile Association), Amazon, AMC Plus,
Mindshare USA (part of GroupM/WPP), Peloton, Linkedin, TD Bank, Grammarly,
General Mills, Ubisoft, Zaxby's, Dentsu X, Dentsu Carat, OMD (part of
Omnicom), Publicis Media, Alfa Romeo (part of Stellantis), Starcom Worldwide,
Horizon Media, Canvas Worldwide, Safelite, Ricolino (owned by Mondelez), Save
The Children, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Hasbro, Kinder (Ferrero), TruGreen,
California Teachers Association, Frontier Internet, Ticketmaster, Meta
(Facebook), Ray Ban, JetBlue, Quest Nutrition, Shopify, General Motors, Ruiz
Foods, JPMorgan Chase, Currax Pharmaceuticals, TikTok, B&H PHoto & Video,
Invesco, VaynerMedia, Kingsford, St. George’s University, Empower insurance,
Ezcater, Philo, GolfNow, World Vision Fund, Discover Puerto Rico, Dana-Farber
Cancer Institute (Jimmy Fund), Novo Nordisk, Ooni, Aquasana, Panasonic,
Atlassian, Caterpillar, Fandango, Harbor Freight Tools, Castlery Furniture, Blue
Diamond Hotels, and others.
b. Zefr, which is a Partner of the YouTube Measurement Program, appears to have
been observed transacting ads for Dexcom on a “re-distributed” video of Netflix’s
“Squid Game 3” which was later removed. Channel Factory, which declares itself
to be a Google Premier Partner, part of the YouTube Measurement Program, and
is TAG “Certified for Brand Safety”, was observed transacting ads on behalf of
brands such as:
- General Mills on “re-distributed” YouTube videos of the movie “John Wick:
Chapter 4” on a channel which was removed from YouTube,
- Sephora and Quest Nutrition on “re-distributed” YouTube videos of the
movie “Spider Man: Homecoming” on a channel which was removed from
YouTube,
- Tena (part of Essity) on “re-distributed” YouTube videos of the movie:
“Deadpool & Wolverine” on a channel which was removed from YouTube
“because it violated [YouTube’s] Community Guidelines” (archived here:
loom.com/share/9fff55d650eb4fd…)
:::
Channel Factory transacting ads on "Deadpool & Wolverine" after the video was re-instated on YouTube
Deadpool & Wolverine FULL ACTI0N M0VIE RELEASE | A FUNNY ANTIHERO TEAMS UP WITH L0GAN TO FACE ENEMIES IN THE MULTIVERSE Video URL = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXa1edOruaI NovaDex Brasil Channel URL = https://youtube.Loom
Alibaba's new GPT-4o competitor Qwen VLo is no longer open source
Qwen VLo: From "Understanding" the World to "Depicting" It
QWEN CHAT DISCORD Introduction The evolution of multimodal large models is continually pushing the boundaries of what we believe technology can achieve. From the initial QwenVL to the latest Qwen2.Qwen Team (Qwen)
is There is Any PNG and SVG Icons Website That Work Without Javascript?
Icon Archive - 800,000+ free icons & stickers, PNG, SVG Downloads
Discover 800,000+ free icons. Browse icons by category, artist, popularity, date. PNG, SVG, ICO files. Share your favorites via Twitter or WhatsApp.www.iconarchive.com
commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.…
Icon Archive - 800,000+ free icons & stickers, PNG, SVG Downloads
Discover 800,000+ free icons. Browse icons by category, artist, popularity, date. PNG, SVG, ICO files. Share your favorites via Twitter or WhatsApp.www.iconarchive.com
Pro likes this.
Understanding Japan's AI Promotion Act: An "Innovation-First" Blueprint for AI Regulation
Understanding Japan's AI Promotion Act: An "Innovation-First" Blueprint for AI Regulation
In a landmark move, on May 28, 2025, Japan’s Parliament approved the "Act on the Promotion of Research and Development and the Utilization of AI-Related Technologies" (AI Promotion Act, or Act), making Japan the second major economy in the Asia-Pacif…Future of Privacy Forum
A developer details how he shipped Context, a native macOS app that was almost 100% built using Claude Code
I Shipped a macOS App Built Entirely by Claude Code
How I built Context—a native macOS SwiftUI app for debugging MCP servers—almost entirely with Claude Code, and what I learned about building with AI coding agents.Indragie Karunaratne (www.indragie.com)
The Prime Reasons to Avoid Amazon
Amazon’s now-legendary “Prime Day” is July 8-11. Much like Black Friday or Cyber Monday, this means sales on lots of items on Amazon’s vast marketplace, and as such many people flock to the giant’s website to get sweet deals on everything from computers to small kitchen appliances and more. While many of us are feeling the financial crunch more than ever, I urge you, dear reader, to resist the allure. I don’t typically have strong opinions about where people chose to shop or how they decide to spend their heard-earned money, but in this post I hope to lay out a convincing case for why Amazon is full-stop evil, no caveats, and is undeserving of your money on a moral and ethical level no matter what your values are. Amazon needs to be stopped, and legislation will not do so. Only its loyal consumers – who keep the beast alive – can do that by taking their money elsewhere. No matter your political or personal beliefs, I'm certain Amazon violates them in one way or another, and you should vote with your dollar by buying from other places whenever possible. Here’s why.
The Prime Reasons to Avoid Amazon
Amazon’s now-legendary “Prime Day” is July 8-11. Much like Black Friday or Cyber Monday, this means sales on lots of items on Amazon’s va...The New Oil
Spain and Ireland to join more than 20 states to declare ‘concrete measures’ against Israel
Exclusive: Spain and Ireland to join more than 20 states to declare ‘concrete measures’ against Israel
More than 20 countries are convening in Bogota next week to declare “concrete measures against Israel’s violations of international law”, diplomats told Middle East Eye.Sondos Asem (Middle East Eye)
adhocfungus likes this.
The Internet is for Extremism - by Jeremiah Johnson
The Internet is for Extremism
How MrBeast explains why everything online is going insaneJeremiah Johnson (Infinite Scroll)
Me staring at my shit in the toilet like
👁️👄👁️
Jack Dorsey’s New App Just Hit a Very Embarrassing Security Snag
Jack Dorsey’s New App Just Hit a Very Embarrassing Snag
Twitter co-founder and erstwhile CEO Jack Dorsey has started yet another new app — and this one's got an embarrassing secret.Noor Al-Sibai (Futurism)
adhocfungus likes this.
like this
Technology reshared this.
Definitely would not be used to monitor user data and then used for targetted advertisements. \s
On the side note, this could be pretty slick if open source community is able to use them for all kinds of purposes.
No, Ubisoft's EULA clause ordering you to destroy your games isn't new, nor is it unique
Ubisoft isn't the only studio that orders you to destroy your games once support ends
Ubisoft is under fire for an EULA clause that orders people to destroy their games once support ends, but the clause isn't exclusive to Ubisoft.Josh Coulson (TheGamer)
like this
Evarist Bartolo: 50 Years of Deceiving Russia & the Collapse of Pan-European Security
- YouTube
Profitez des vidéos et de la musique que vous aimez, mettez en ligne des contenus originaux, et partagez-les avec vos amis, vos proches et le monde entier.www.youtube.com
Evarist Bartolo: 50 Years of Deceiving Russia & the Collapse of Pan-European Security
- YouTube
Profitez des vidéos et de la musique que vous aimez, mettez en ligne des contenus originaux, et partagez-les avec vos amis, vos proches et le monde entier.www.youtube.com
Switch to the new Fairphone (Gen. 6)
Two thoughts on that … Fairphone told participants of their 25 June 25 launch event in Amsterdam that going for a smaller display (which would be necessary for a significantly smaller device) would be making the device much more expensive.Fairphone Community Forum
L'unione fa la forza.
Il Fediverso.
Parliamo del Fediverso italiano, quello che più ci è vicino.
Al momento, tenendo conto solo della piattaforma più diffusa (Mastodon), abbiamo circa 60 istanze in Italia, miste, dalle istanze monoutente fino alle grandi; a cui dobbiamo sommare decine di altre istanze su piattaforme diverse (Misskey, Pleroma, Snac, GoToSocial, Pixelfed ecc...).
Questo è lo spirito giusto, la Decentralità del Fediverso.
Ora dirò una cosa che sconvolgerà qualcuno …
Tutte servono, dalla più grande alle tante monoutente, con tutte le intermedie.
Si, è vero, ci sono stati, ci sono e ci saranno i campanilismi, ma è innegabile che serviamo tutti per combattere l’egemonia dei G.A.F.A.M ( it.wikipedia.org/wiki/GAFAM ).
A cosa serve un’istanza monoutente?
Questa da dove scrivo è il classico esempio. Nel mio piccolo, comunque mi state leggendo in tanti e senza paura che qualcuno qui mi zittisca o altro, ci sono solo io.😅
Le istanze medio/piccole?
Aggregano persone con gli stessi interessi, da cui possono scaturire interessanti confronti su argomenti in comune.
Le grandi istanze?
Altre istanze sono grandi e generaliste, aggregando così gente che, arrivando da altri lidi, cerca un’alternativa a loro.
Ci sono tanti motivi per tutte le istanze, ma uno solo DEVE accomunarci … la Decentralizzazione.
Come dicevano i latini … Divide et impera ( it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Divide_e… ).
Se ci scontriamo fra di noi, non facciamo che agevolare i G.A.F.A.M. per cui, nonostante il Fediverso sia ancora piccolo, rappresenta una possibile minaccia.
Sarebbe un’utopia sperare di andare tutti d’amore e d’accordo, ma cerchiamo di tollerarci di più o soccomberemo presto.🙏
Tiziano :friendica: likes this.
reshared this
Claudia Sheinbaum on the reasons neoliberalism collapsed in Mexico
Claudia Sheinbaum on the reasons neoliberalism collapsed in Mexico
Instance PeerTube généraliste francophone. General French-speaking PeerTube instance.Mes Numériques
Using Clouds for too long might have made you incompetent
My take on how a decade (or more) of using cloud services for everything has seemingly deskilled the workforce.
Just recently I found myself interviewing senior security engineers just to realize that in many cases they had absolutely no idea about how the stuff they supposedly worked with, actually worked.
This all made me wonder, is it possible that over-reliance on cloud services for everything has massively deskilled the engineering workforce? And if it is so, who is going to be the European clouds, so necessary for EU's digital sovereignty?
I did not copy-paste the post in here because of the different writing style, but I get no benefit whatsoever from website visits.
“We found the fossil halfway up Virginia”
“WHO THE FUCK IS VIRGINIA AND WHY DOES SHE HAVE A FOSSIL INSIDE HER??”
Pro
in reply to Pro • • •1. YouTube states “Only content meeting our monetization policies will be eligible to show
ads.”
2. Several advertisers reported to Adalytics that they were allegedly billed (and allegedly
mostly not refunded) for video ads served on YouTube channels which were later
removed by YouTube for violating YouTube’s Community Guidelines or YouTube’s Terms
of Service. Some brands reported being billed thousands of dollars for hundreds of
millions of ad impressions served against YouTube channels which YouTube allegedly
deleted from its own platform for violations.
3. When YouTube channels or videos are removed by YouTube for violations, Google
appears to retroactively “redact” or “delete” data from advertisers’ ad delivery reports.
Once YouTube removes a channel, the ad delivery reports are updated to say: “Channel
no longer available”, such that brands cannot readily know what sorts of content their
ads served against.
4. According to various media buyers, YouTube’s own records show that the brands were
billed for (and mostly not refunded) for ads served on channels were served on YouTube
channels which were “terminated” “due to multiple or severe violations of”:
- “YouTube’s policy prohibiting hate speech”
- “YouTube’s policy on nudity or sexual content”
- “YouTube’s policy prohibiting content designed to harass, bully or threaten.”
- “YouTube’s policy on violence”
- “YouTube’s policy prohibiting impersonation”
5. In some cases, video ads appear to have been served against YouTube channels which
were “terminated due to a legal complaint” or “removed due to a court order”. One of the
channels which appears to have been removed was allegedly funded by an entity that -
according to the US Department of Justice - was allegedly linked to a foreign intelligence
information warfare and psyop operation. The channels’ operators stated they were
“victims of this scheme”, knew “nothing about any of this fraudulent activity”, and “were
"deceived and are victims" if the allegations are proven to be true.”
6. In addition to retroactively redacting or deleting “offending” data from advertisers’ ad
delivery reports without issuing full refunds, Google also appears to consistently withhold
data about where significant portions of brands ads served. In some advertisers’
YouTube placement reports, between 10-40% of their channel-level or video-level ad
delivery data is aggregated into a reporting category called: “Total: Other”. There
appears to be no transparency or detail about where ads were served when the ads
deliver against: “Total: Other”. It does not appear to be readily possible for a media buyer
to know if the ads were served on Channels that were deleted for violations, low quality
content, or otherwise. One brand reported that when they looked at “video-level” (rather
channel-level) ad delivery reporting, YouTube had bucketed over 90% of their media
spend into the “Total: Other” category, thus depriving the brand of transparency into
where the majority of their ads served at a video-level.
7. Google has previously stated it is committed to “at least 99% effective at ensuring brand
safety of advertising placements on YouTube, in accordance with industry standards.” YouTube is Media Rating Council (MRC) accredited for “brand safety”, and works with
“independent” third party verification vendors. Multiple advertisers reported that it is
unclear to them whether the MRC or third party verification vendors have visibility into
retroactively deleted YouTube channels or non-transparent “Total: Other” ad delivery as
part of their brand safety assessments
8. One small business (SMB) marketer allegedly spent over twelve months repeatedly
asking - via email and in verbal meetings - why he was charged for ad delivery on
YouTube, where over 50% of his ad spend was non-transparent in the “Total: Other”
category. After 12+ months, YouTube reportedly agreed to provide him with a $50,000
custom credit in response to his repeated requests.
9. In addition to serving adjacent to sexual content, hate speech, violence, and alleged
foreign intelligence operations, significant portions of YouTube ads are served against
content which was removed by YouTube due to “third-party claims of copyright
infringement”.
10. Content from all major film studios - Amazon/MGM, Paramount, Lionsgate, Disney,
Universal Pictures, Warner Brothers, Sony - was found on third party YouTube channels
(third party meaning the channels are not the official channels of these respective film
studios). Content from streaming services such as Netflix, NBCUniversal Peacock,
Disney+, and Apple TV+, was available for watching on third party YouTube channels.
For example, the Netflix films “Extraction 2”, “Heart of Stone”, and “Atlas” could be
watched in their entirety on multiple third party YouTube channels, where they received
millions of views.
:::
Pro
in reply to Pro • • •11. Thousands of “re-distributed” YouTube videos - including live ESPN or CBS sports
games, full films that were still in theatrical release at movie theaters, TV shows, and
exclusive streaming content from - were found on third party YouTube channels, largely
via the YouTube recommendation algorithm. These videos appear to have likely
collectively generated over a billion views and likely several billions of ad impressions.
12. The YouTube recommendation algorithm itself appears to amplify and make easily
discoverable "re-distributed" content with as little as one click/view of similar uploads.
Beyond just "hosting" the "re-distributed" content, YouTube's recommendation algorithm
may actively make it easier for consumers to find and view "re-distributed" content, and
appears to surface more and more "re-distributed" content to users even with relatively
little browsing history. There are entire Reddit forum discussions where consumers
discuss observing this phenomenon.
13. User comments posted on YouTube and Reddit suggest that some consumers avoid
paying for cinema tickets, Netflix or other streaming subscriptions, or film rentals
because the consumers are able to watch copyrighted media content for free on
YouTube.
14. This may potentially affect film studios, TV show producers, and live sports broadcasters
by potentially increasing YouTube's viewership ratings and time spent numbers, while
potentially decreasing the viewership ratings for the license rights owners and
subscribers for competitive streaming services. This could theoretically impact the
rightful license right owners ability to attract large advertising budgets and subscribers.
15. Movies that were in theatrical release at cinema - such as “Deadpool & Wolverine” in the
summer of 2024 - were observed being uploaded and removed multiple times on
YouTube, and were observed being promoted on the YouTube.com Homepage. This can
impact consumers' propensity to pay to view the movies in cinemas, as was noted by
many users in the comments.
16. Live sports events - such as Major League Baseball (MLB) or NCAA college football
games broadcast by ESPN or CBS Sports - were live streamed entirely on various third
party YouTube channels. The videos and streams are largely removed after the fact,
either by voluntary self-deletion by the creators or by YouTube. Some of these third party
streams collectively generate millions of views.
17. TV and streaming shows, such as content of Netflix’s “Squid Game”, NBCUniversal
Peacock’s Love Island, Family Guy, Warner Brothers’ Big Bang Theory, Loki, and
American Dad, were observed on third party channels on YouTube.
18. Content starring many famous Hollywood actors were 're-distributed' on third party
YouTube channels. It is unclear whether these actors receive compensation - such as
royalties - when ads are viewed on this content via third party, 're-distributing' YouTube
channels. The list of Hollywood actors whose videos were found on "re-distributing", third
party YouTube channels includes: Jason Statham, Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise,
Daniel Craig, Chris Hemsworth, Dwayne Johnson, Keanu Reeves, Scarlett Johansson,
Mark Ruffalo, Samuel L. Jackson, Tom Hiddleston, Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr., Will
Smith, Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman, Gal Gadot, Laurence Fishburne, Chris Pratt, Vin
Diesel, Bruce Willis, Benedict Cumberbatch, and many others.
19. This research found various channel owners were continuously removing and
re-uploading “re-distributed” content each day, Some YouTube channels appear to be
able to serve many videos of "re-distributed" content, and evade being banned by
continuously self-removing their own "re-distributed" content each day, in a daily
round-robin cycle of uploading "re-distributed" content and then removing the content
later in the day. It is unclear if this is a deliberate attempt to circumvent the YouTube
Content ID detection algorithm.
20. Some YouTube channel creators - including YouTubed-”verified” creators and creators
who appear to have received a “YouTube Creator Award” for having hundreds of
thousands or millions of subscribers or views - were seen uploading “re-distributed”
Disney movies, Family Guys episodes or live videos from ESPN, Fox Sports, or CBS
Sports college football games. The creators often self-delete or edit these videos after
the livestreams end. These creators appear to have amassed millions of views via these
tactics.
:::
Pro
in reply to Pro • • •21. In some cases, third-party YouTube creators upload “re-distributed” content, such as
ESPN, CBS Sports, or Fox Sports college football game live streams or episodes of TV
shows such as Family Guy. After ~12 hours, the creators edit the videos to cut out the
“re-distributed” content and they edit the title, description, and meta-data of the videos to
something unrelated. This appears to prevent brand advertisers from knowing against
what sorts of content their ads were served on in their original form, and suggests that
YouTube ad delivery placement reports may not accurately convey what sorts of content
the ads were served against before the videos were retro-actively edited and re-named.
22. Disney, Lionsgate, Paramount, Universal/Focus Features, Bleecker Street, and
streaming services like Disney+, Peacock, Sling TV, YouTube TV, and Hulu/FX, in their
capacity as advertisers, have run ads against uploaded copies of their own intellectual
property on third-party channels, thus potentially funding it.
23. The presidential election campaigns of Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, as well as
major brands such Procter & Gamble, had ads served on videos that appear to belong to
various professional film studios, such as “Deadpool & Wolverine”, whilst the film was
being shown in movie cinemas in the summer of 2024.
24. The list of brands whose ads were served on third-party, “re-distributed” content
YouTube channels which were later deleted by YouTube (and thus, likely retroactively
redacted from their ad delivery placement reports), includes:
a. the New York Times, the presidential election campaigns of Donald Trump and
Kamala Harris, the House Majority PAC (a Democrat Super PAC), Procter &
Gamble (P&G),Unilever, BMO Bank, Ben & Jerry’s, McDonald’s, US Bank,
Crossmedia, Samsung, Disney+, FX networks, WarnerMedia (HBO Max), Mint
Mobile, Focus Features (owned by NBCUniversal), Kellanova (Special K, Frosted
Flakes), State Farm, Verizon, Visible (by Verizon), T-Mobile, Disney, Hulu,
Mazda, the Wall Street Journal, Nissan, North Face, Paramount+, Health for
California Insurance Center, A&E Television Networks (Lifetime), NBCUniversal
Media (Peacock), Volvo cars, Lionsgate, Macy’s, Adobe, SlingTV, Hyundai,
Genesis, AAA (American Automobile Association), Amazon, AMC Plus,
Mindshare USA (part of GroupM/WPP), Peloton, Linkedin, TD Bank, Grammarly,
General Mills, Ubisoft, Zaxby's, Dentsu X, Dentsu Carat, OMD (part of
Omnicom), Publicis Media, Alfa Romeo (part of Stellantis), Starcom Worldwide,
Horizon Media, Canvas Worldwide, Safelite, Ricolino (owned by Mondelez), Save
The Children, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Hasbro, Kinder (Ferrero), TruGreen,
California Teachers Association, Frontier Internet, Ticketmaster, Meta
(Facebook), Ray Ban, JetBlue, Quest Nutrition, Shopify, General Motors, Ruiz
Foods, JPMorgan Chase, Currax Pharmaceuticals, TikTok, B&H PHoto & Video,
Invesco, VaynerMedia, Kingsford, St. George’s University, Empower insurance,
Ezcater, Philo, GolfNow, World Vision Fund, Discover Puerto Rico, Dana-Farber
Cancer Institute (Jimmy Fund), Novo Nordisk, Ooni, Aquasana, Panasonic,
Atlassian, Caterpillar, Fandango, Harbor Freight Tools, Castlery Furniture, Blue
Diamond Hotels, and others.
b. Zefr, which is a Partner of the YouTube Measurement Program, appears to have
been observed transacting ads for Dexcom on a “re-distributed” video of Netflix’s
“Squid Game 3” which was later removed. Channel Factory, which declares itself
to be a Google Premier Partner, part of the YouTube Measurement Program, and
is TAG “Certified for Brand Safety”, was observed transacting ads on behalf of
brands such as:
- General Mills on “re-distributed” YouTube videos of the movie “John Wick:
Chapter 4” on a channel which was removed from YouTube,
- Sephora and Quest Nutrition on “re-distributed” YouTube videos of the
movie “Spider Man: Homecoming” on a channel which was removed from
YouTube,
- Tena (part of Essity) on “re-distributed” YouTube videos of the movie:
“Deadpool & Wolverine” on a channel which was removed from YouTube
“because it violated [YouTube’s] Community Guidelines” (archived here:
loom.com/share/9fff55d650eb4fd…)
:::
Channel Factory transacting ads on "Deadpool & Wolverine" after the video was re-instated on YouTube
Loom