YouTube channel verification policy

New YouTube channel verification policy hits gaming channels hard

By Vitor Braz

A new YouTube channel verification policy was just revealed to the masses and is bound to stir some controversy. The channel verification requirements are changing in October, with many verified creators receiving an email stating that their channel “no longer meets the criteria” and these changes will (and have) hit gaming YouTubers quite hard.

Currently, verified YouTube channels boast this blue checkmark next to their name, something that is seen by wise YouTube users as a sign that the channel is original or official, in the case of celebrities or brands. It was also a reliable way to quickly differentiate official channels from impersonators.

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However, the new YouTube channel verification policy is going to remove the checkmark, because “people often associated the checkmark with an endorsement of content, not identity,” according to TeamYouTube. The new look will simply consist of a grey background on the YouTube channel’s name, which is a subtle way to replace the checkmark.

The change wasn’t purely visual and is bringing substantial changes to the way that a channel meets the verification criteria. Previously, any YouTube channel could earn the checkmark when it surpassed 100,000 subscribers, but from now on, verification will be a combination of “authenticity” and “prominence.” The email that some creators received mentions that channels will be typically verified if they comply with the following:

  • Have built a large audience and community on YouTube.
  • Are widely recognized outside of YouTube and have a strong presence online.
  • Or, have a channel name that could be confused with other channels on YouTube.

Some gaming channels are among the recipients of the email who were taken by surprise. One of those channels is from Jimmy Broadbent, a gaming content creator with over 300,000 subscribers, who focuses on racing games such as WRC 8 and F1 2019.

AntDude is another gaming channel that is going to lose his verification badge. With over 349,000 subscribers, its latest video focusing on bad Spyro the Dragon games was uploaded a couple of days ago and was already watched over 219,000 times. To no avail, as it seems, because the verification is going away in October. As AntDude put it on Twitter, it’s “time for all the fake AntDudes to come in and take me over.” It’s not yet known if this change will hurt gaming YouTubers more substantially than other YouTubers, but it is already hurting some of them.

Vitor Braz
Vitor Braz

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