Nov 1, 2014
Sorry to hear about your concerns regarding Spam404.
Please understand that Spam404 acts as an intermediary for internet users to report abusive content they find and we simply forward on reports we deem to be legitimate. Just a small example of content we find abusive includes phishing, promotion of scams and general spam. We do not remove content from the internet ourselves. It's the platform owners removing content so for example, only YouTube would remove a video promoting a phishing campaign.
Since this petition is specifically targeted at our YouTube takedown statistics I would like to go through each category found on the YouTube page and explain why we deem them as abusive when found on YouTube.
Please also understand that our YouTube takedown page consists of videos and/or channels that have been reported to us. Videos and/or channels we flag and/or escalate from our own research are not added to this list. The total number of videos we have successfully flagged resulting in their removal is 778,300 (as of the time of this post). This is strictly videos and we don't have a metric for channels unfortunately. This number of videos may seem like a lot but most of the videos are spam so often when we find a single abusive domain being promoted via spam uploads it would add 1000s to our video takedown metric.
Survey Scam Videos - These videos promote scams which waste people's time and often their money.
Abusive Channels - This is a general category we apply to most channels we flag and/or escalate which are terminated.
Channels After Initial Termination - If a YouTube user is terminated it is against YouTube's Terms of Service to create, access or possess another YouTube channel so therefore when we receive a report with enough evidence to make it appear a user is in violation of this we forward it to YouTube for them to review.
Metadata Violations (Tag Spam in Description) - This category refers to videos that are removed for attempting to game YouTube's search algorithm (and others such as Google for that matter) by using misleading and/or excessive metadata. This is of course against YouTube's Terms of Service and if you put yourselves in the shoes of a Terms of Service abiding content creator it is simply unfair as your content could be buried under videos that are in violation of YouTube's Terms of Service.
Phishing Videos - These videos promote material (often a website or email) that encourages the viewer to give their login credentials.
Attempted Account Sale - YouTube have a zero tolerance policy for the sale of YouTube accounts and therefore terminate any channels they find doing so.
Sale of YouTube Partnership - Selling YouTube partnership is a severe violation of YouTube's Terms of Service and channels caught doing so are terminated.
Sexual Content - YouTube is not a website for material such as pornography and therefore videos and/or channels promoting this material are frequently removed.
Incentivisation of Video Features - It is against YouTube's Terms of Service for content creators to incentivise viewers to use video features such as the "Like" button. This is often seen when a content creator hosts a giveaway and requires the viewer to "Like" the video to enter. It is very likely that YouTube use statistics such as the ones generated by video features for ranking algorithms so abuse of this would put Terms of Service abiding content creators at a disadvantage.
Monetisation of Video Features - This category refers to videos and/or channels that are removed after it is apparent they're monetising video features such as "Likes". An example of this could be a content creator that advertises that they will "Like" your video for £1.
Artificial Traffic (View, Favourite, Like Boosting) - YouTube have a strict policy against artificial traffic. Unfortunately not all view, "Like" or "Favourite" boosting can be stopped by YouTube's algorithms so it is common for YouTube to take action on channels and/or videos they believe have used artificial traffic methods to obtain inflated amounts of views, likes and/or favourites.
Shocking and/or Disgusting Content - This category covers videos that are removed for being shocking and/or disgusting. Videos of this nature could include beheadings for example.
Impersonating Spam404 - This category is currently comprised of channels that have impersonated Spam404. Impersonation is against YouTube's Terms of Service.
Fraud - This category consists of videos and/or channels that are promoting fraudulent material. An example of a video and/or channel that may find it's way here could be a video promoting click fraud.
Weight Loss/Muscle Gain Spam - This category refers to videos that were promoting affiliate spam related to weight loss and/or muscle gain. An example of a video title in this category could be "how to get a 6 pack in 7 days".
Get Rich Quick Scam - This category refers to videos and/or channels that promote dubious get rich quick scams. An example of a video title in this category could be "how to make $100 per day easily".
Affiliate Spam - This category refers to videos that promote dubious affiliate schemes.
Malware - This category consists of videos and/or channels that promote malware such as viruses, worms, trojans etc.
Self-Harm - Self-harming videos are against YouTube's Terms of Service and therefore are removed when flagged and/or escalated.
Harassment - Videos that you would find in this category could include videos posting personal information of people or a video that was created for the sole purpose of harassing another YouTube user.
Please understand that Spam404 acts as an intermediary for internet users to report abusive content they find and we simply forward on reports we deem to be legitimate. Just a small example of content we find abusive includes phishing, promotion of scams and general spam. We do not remove content from the internet ourselves. It's the platform owners removing content so for example, only YouTube would remove a video promoting a phishing campaign.
Since this petition is specifically targeted at our YouTube takedown statistics I would like to go through each category found on the YouTube page and explain why we deem them as abusive when found on YouTube.
Please also understand that our YouTube takedown page consists of videos and/or channels that have been reported to us. Videos and/or channels we flag and/or escalate from our own research are not added to this list. The total number of videos we have successfully flagged resulting in their removal is 778,300 (as of the time of this post). This is strictly videos and we don't have a metric for channels unfortunately. This number of videos may seem like a lot but most of the videos are spam so often when we find a single abusive domain being promoted via spam uploads it would add 1000s to our video takedown metric.
Survey Scam Videos - These videos promote scams which waste people's time and often their money.
Abusive Channels - This is a general category we apply to most channels we flag and/or escalate which are terminated.
Channels After Initial Termination - If a YouTube user is terminated it is against YouTube's Terms of Service to create, access or possess another YouTube channel so therefore when we receive a report with enough evidence to make it appear a user is in violation of this we forward it to YouTube for them to review.
Metadata Violations (Tag Spam in Description) - This category refers to videos that are removed for attempting to game YouTube's search algorithm (and others such as Google for that matter) by using misleading and/or excessive metadata. This is of course against YouTube's Terms of Service and if you put yourselves in the shoes of a Terms of Service abiding content creator it is simply unfair as your content could be buried under videos that are in violation of YouTube's Terms of Service.
Phishing Videos - These videos promote material (often a website or email) that encourages the viewer to give their login credentials.
Attempted Account Sale - YouTube have a zero tolerance policy for the sale of YouTube accounts and therefore terminate any channels they find doing so.
Sale of YouTube Partnership - Selling YouTube partnership is a severe violation of YouTube's Terms of Service and channels caught doing so are terminated.
Sexual Content - YouTube is not a website for material such as pornography and therefore videos and/or channels promoting this material are frequently removed.
Incentivisation of Video Features - It is against YouTube's Terms of Service for content creators to incentivise viewers to use video features such as the "Like" button. This is often seen when a content creator hosts a giveaway and requires the viewer to "Like" the video to enter. It is very likely that YouTube use statistics such as the ones generated by video features for ranking algorithms so abuse of this would put Terms of Service abiding content creators at a disadvantage.
Monetisation of Video Features - This category refers to videos and/or channels that are removed after it is apparent they're monetising video features such as "Likes". An example of this could be a content creator that advertises that they will "Like" your video for £1.
Artificial Traffic (View, Favourite, Like Boosting) - YouTube have a strict policy against artificial traffic. Unfortunately not all view, "Like" or "Favourite" boosting can be stopped by YouTube's algorithms so it is common for YouTube to take action on channels and/or videos they believe have used artificial traffic methods to obtain inflated amounts of views, likes and/or favourites.
Shocking and/or Disgusting Content - This category covers videos that are removed for being shocking and/or disgusting. Videos of this nature could include beheadings for example.
Impersonating Spam404 - This category is currently comprised of channels that have impersonated Spam404. Impersonation is against YouTube's Terms of Service.
Fraud - This category consists of videos and/or channels that are promoting fraudulent material. An example of a video and/or channel that may find it's way here could be a video promoting click fraud.
Weight Loss/Muscle Gain Spam - This category refers to videos that were promoting affiliate spam related to weight loss and/or muscle gain. An example of a video title in this category could be "how to get a 6 pack in 7 days".
Get Rich Quick Scam - This category refers to videos and/or channels that promote dubious get rich quick scams. An example of a video title in this category could be "how to make $100 per day easily".
Affiliate Spam - This category refers to videos that promote dubious affiliate schemes.
Malware - This category consists of videos and/or channels that promote malware such as viruses, worms, trojans etc.
Self-Harm - Self-harming videos are against YouTube's Terms of Service and therefore are removed when flagged and/or escalated.
Harassment - Videos that you would find in this category could include videos posting personal information of people or a video that was created for the sole purpose of harassing another YouTube user.
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