YouTube’s crackdown on inappropriate material is inadvertently depriving some creators of as much as 80 percent of their monthly sales, a blow to the very people who helped make the site the most popular place to watch video online.
The swift drop in revenue, a side effect of YouTube’s attempt to remove ads from offensive videos, has caused some users who once thrived on the site to quit posting or defect for rival sites like Amazon.com Inc.’s Twitch, according to interviews with a dozen different creators and partners. YouTube says it’s working to address users’ concerns, acknowledging in a statement that “it’s been a tough year for creators.”
