Why Are Big YouTubers Suddenly Losing Millions of Views?

YouTube Views vs Revenue: Something Isn’t Adding Up

Something strange is happening on YouTube. Since mid-August, major creators across the platform have been reporting dramatic view drops (we’re talking 50% or more) while their revenue, likes, and overall engagement remain completely stable.

This isn’t just a few creators having a bad month. We’re seeing this exact same pattern across channels with vastly different audiences: tech creators like Jeff Geerling and Linus Tech Tips, gaming channels like DarkViperAU, and entertainment creators like Second Wind. When you see the same anomaly happening to creators across completely different niches and audience sizes, that tells you something platform-wide is going on.

The Data Tells a Story

Jeff Geerling, a tech creator with multiple channels (reaching over 1M subscribers), described having four consecutive “10/10” videos that completely bombed in views, something he’d never experienced before. What makes this particularly strange is that his like counts stayed consistent, and his overall revenue actually increased.

Dan Besser from Linus Tech Tips (16.5M subscribers) dove deep into the numbers and found something fascinating. When he analyzed LTT’s performance alongside other affected channels, he discovered a clear pattern starting in early August:

• Views dropped by up to 50% from normal performance
• Like-to-view ratios skyrocketed to unprecedented levels
• Revenue per view increased dramatically
• Revenue totals remained stable or even improved

This means creators are earning the same money from sometimes half the views, with audiences that are significantly more engaged. If YouTube was actually declining or these creators were genuinely losing their audience, you’d expect to see revenue and engagement drop alongside views, but that’s not happening at all.

The Statistical Evidence

The most compelling evidence comes from LTT’s comprehensive analysis. Dan pulled data for thousands of videos and found a statistically significant change occurring across multiple channels at the exact same time in early August. The timing was way too perfect to be random, and when you see identical patterns happening to completely different creators simultaneously, it points to something systematic rather than individual channel issues.

Even more telling: when Dan calculated how many views these channels should have received based on their revenue, the numbers lined up almost perfectly with historical averages. It’s as if the views are still there, they’re just not being counted the same way.

Leading Theories: What’s Actually Happening?

Given the data, this isn’t likely a case of creators suddenly losing their touch. Several theories have emerged:

1. Idle View Cleanup: YouTube might be filtering out autoplay views, background play, or other “passive” viewing that doesn’t monetize well. These views have always been worth less to advertisers and are less likely to result in engagement such as comments or audience interaction.
2. A/B Testing: Some channels are affected while others show no change at all, suggesting YouTube is running a controlled experiment on how views are calculated or displayed.
3. Algorithm Reweighting: The new “Hype” feature launched around the same time, designed to boost smaller creators. The timing could indicate a broader algorithmic shift prioritizing engagement quality over raw reach.

A Pattern We’ve Seen Before

This situation feels remarkably similar to what we covered in our previous newsletter about Twitch’s August 2025 statistics. Twitch saw its lowest hours watched in over five years, primarily due to their ongoing viewbot crackdown that filtered out artificial viewership.

Just like YouTube’s current mystery, Twitch’s situation initially looked alarming until you dug deeper. The platform was simply removing inflated metrics that were never valuable in the first place. Authentic engagement on Twitch remained strong in categories driven by real events and genuine interest.

Both platforms seem to be moving toward more accurate metrics that reflect actual viewer value rather than raw numbers. Twitch did it openly with their viewbot detection improvements, while YouTube’s changes appear to be happening without official acknowledgment.

This suggests a broader industry trend where major platforms are prioritizing metric quality over quantity, potentially creating more level playing fields for creators who focus on genuine audience building rather than gaming systems for inflated numbers.

The Sponsorship Problem

The main concern for creators, especially those with teams and overhead, is how this affects sponsor relationships. Most brand deals are still structured around raw view counts rather than engagement or conversion metrics.

However, if this change is permanent and widespread, the industry will adapt. We’ve already seen brands move away from subscriber counts as a primary metric because they realized engaged audiences matter more than raw numbers. The same shift could happen with view counts.

YouTube’s Silence

YouTube hasn’t acknowledged this pattern despite widespread and consistent reports from creators. While algorithmic changes that reward better content are part of the platform’s evolution, the statistical evidence here suggests something more systematic is happening.

The lack of communication is notable given how many creators are experiencing identical patterns at exactly the same time. Whether this is intentional metric cleanup or unintended technical changes, some transparency would reduce creator anxiety and help the community understand what’s actually happening to their channels.

Pete’s Content Corner

Delve into my weekly selection of content creation highlights – handpicked videos, podcasts, and tweets that promise to captivate, educate, and entertain.

1. OBS Studio 32 Beta is now available with a plugin manager, Voice Activity Detection for NVIDIA RTX Audio Effects, chair removal for background effects, and ProRes support on macOS.
2. Z Event 2025 raised over €16.1 million, setting a new donation record for a charity livestream. The three-day French streamer marathon generated 17 million hours watched peaking at over 780,000 concurrent viewers.
3. Kick added “Digital Content” terms referencing “KICKs” and “Gifts” to their ToS, suggesting they’re preparing to launch a virtual currency system.

Thanks, as always, for taking the time to read Stream Report.

Pete ✌️