Why hasn't YouTube removed those fake MrBeast $1000 giveaway ad scams?

Question

Example scam in the YouTube app: https://ibb.co/BNVy1ZRI have been seeing this scam ad in the YouTube mobile app for the last few months, that claims anyone who sees this ad will get $1000 dollars. It seems crazy to me that Google/YouTube hasn't done anything about it so far, or have they?

joshka · Accepted Answer

When asking "why?" for something like this, follow the money. This one is pretty simple:
1. The ad is paid for already by someone.
2. To remove an ad, there needs to be a system to report it (or an automation).
3. To check that system, requires human effort.
4. The human effort to review ads likely costs more than the ad paid to be displayed.
5. The effort to minimize that cost costs more than the revenue lost by displaying bad ads.
6. etc.
Personally I value my time more than the $12/mo it costs to not see ads on YouTube.

eiiot · Answer

YouTube doesn't have a huge incentive to remove these ads immediately (after all, if they're working, YouTube is making money).YouTube just generally isn't known for being the best about spam stuff (comments, ads, etc.), so this fits within that narrative.

Retr0id · Answer

I followed the trail on one of these before. It was backed by a real company, and as best I can tell, you really can get the $1000 if you jump through enough hoops. These hoops involve signing up for auto-renew free-trial subscription services (requiring payment info), surveys, etc.
Definitely not something I'd want to bother participating in, but it seems like it's not a complete scam. It has scammy vibes, but seemingly not out-right illegal, such that the company is allowed to continue to exist.
The supposed Mr beast endorsement is the potential sticking point, I suppose he isn't in on it, but he'd have to be the one to complain to YouTube about impersonation - I doubt you'd get very far trying to report it as a 3rd party without concrete evidence of impersonation.
The one I looked into was called "National Consumer Center"[1], backed by RewardsFlow LLC[2]
[1] https://old.reddit.com/r/beermoney/comments/i1ndrg/anyone_ev...
[2] https://www.nycompanyregistry.com/companies/rewardsflow-llc/

tjpnz · Answer

Google are making too much money from it. Only way it's going to stop is through regulation or a series of successful class action suits.

SteveNuts · Answer

YouTube ads have become mostly spam for me too lately.Some of them are making very dangerous medical claims, I'm also shocked google has done nothing but also not surprised at all.

josephcsible · Answer

The scammers are paying Google money for the ads. Hiring enough people to deal with scams would cost Google money. So the reason is that there's perverse financial incentives on both ends.

grrdotcloud · Answer

A recent visit to YouTube, the top left video was to a link away from YouTube.I believe this means someone significant.

tech234a · Answer

I have also seen a lot of fake Tesla/OpenAI/Elon Musk livestreams in the recommendations recently. They aren't ads, but instead seem to be run on hacked channels that have a few thousand subscribers.

Why hasn't YouTube removed those fake MrBeast $1000 giveaway ad scams?

Example scam in the YouTube app: https://ibb.co/BNVy1ZR
I have been seeing this scam ad in the YouTube mobile app for the last few months, that claims anyone who sees this ad will get $1000 dollars. It seems crazy to me that Google/YouTube hasn't done anything about it so far, or have they?

YouTube doesn't have a huge incentive to remove these ads immediately (after all, if they're working, YouTube is making money).
YouTube just generally isn't known for being the best about spam stuff (comments, ads, etc.), so this fits within that narrative.

Google are making too much money from it. Only way it's going to stop is through regulation or a series of successful class action suits.

YouTube ads have become mostly spam for me too lately.
Some of them are making very dangerous medical claims, I'm also shocked google has done nothing but also not surprised at all.

The scammers are paying Google money for the ads. Hiring enough people to deal with scams would cost Google money. So the reason is that there's perverse financial incentives on both ends.

A recent visit to YouTube, the top left video was to a link away from YouTube.
I believe this means someone significant.

I have also seen a lot of fake Tesla/OpenAI/Elon Musk livestreams in the recommendations recently. They aren't ads, but instead seem to be run on hacked channels that have a few thousand subscribers.