Encyclopedia Dramatica, a Wikipedia-like site that features entries based on parody, tricks, and personal attacks, has an extensive entry for how to game YouTube video count numbers.
It's unclear how much of the information in the entry is accurate, or if the instructions can be duplicated. Still, it's apparent that many "popular" videos on YouTube -- how do I put it delicately -- perhaps shouldn't be on YouTube's front page. That leads to the question: How did they actually get there, and why bother? The Dramatica entry may provide some clues.
The Standard certainly wouldn't recommend attempting these tricks, which clearly violate YouTube's terms of service. There's also no guarantee that these tips will actually raise the view count on a particular video, although some of them seemed to have worked for Avril Lavigne. Here's a run-down:
- "Basic auto-refreshing" - By downloading a FireFox add-on called ReloadEvery 2.0, a user can leave their computer on all day and night, reloading the same video over and over without any user interaction. Instant views!
- "IP Hopping and Auto-Refreshing" - Like number 1, only you change your IP address every few hundred views so, theoretically, YouTube doesn't catch on to what you're doing.
- Create an html page that loads dozens of copies of the video at once and then refresh that over and over.
- Embed 60 copies of the video in a MySpace page and then pay remnant advertising firms pennies on the dollar to redirect cheap clicks resulting in tons of views.
- Get your friends to do it too!
These tricks will supposedly help videos make it to the front page of YouTube, at which point "authentic" traffic will generate more page views -- and "thousands of dollars" for partners, says the article.
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