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YouTube cancels billions of video views after finding they had been 'faked by the music industry'
Major recording companies have lost more than two billion video views on YouTube after the video sharing website cracked down on alleged fake views.
The biggest hit was taken by Universal, home of Rihanna, Nicki Minaj and Justin Bieber, which lost more than one billion views from its total of seven billion.
Sony was second hardest hit, with the label behind such stars as Alicia Keys, Rita Ora and Labrinth - and with which Simon Cowell has a close relationship - losing more than 850million views in a single day.
The viewcount culls will be damaging to the labels affected since YouTube is now the web's premier outlet for music videos. Over four billion hours of video are watched by over 800million unique visitors to the site each month.
The number of views attracted on YouTube are these days regarded as an unofficial worldwide popular music chart, and any suggestion that major labels are engaging in underhand tactics to increase their numbers could threaten the credibility of their artists.
YouTube viewer figures are doubly valuable to channel owners since it is also the primary way in which the site works out how to share its advertising revenue with partners.
The dramatic falls, highlighted by figures compiled byYouTube statistics analysts at SocialBlade, came after YouTube conducted an audit of its viewing figures aimed at combating black hat view count-building techniques.
This is when hackers artificially build up the numbers of views or likes on a YouTube video - enabling them to make clips appear far more popular than they really are and increase their exposure on the site.
YouTube cancels billions of video views after finding they had been 'faked by the music industry'
- Major record labels collectively culled more than two billion video views
- Biggest hit taken by Universal, which alone lost more than one billion
- 'This was an enforcement of our viewcount policy,' says YouTube
Major recording companies have lost more than two billion video views on YouTube after the video sharing website cracked down on alleged fake views.
The biggest hit was taken by Universal, home of Rihanna, Nicki Minaj and Justin Bieber, which lost more than one billion views from its total of seven billion.
Sony was second hardest hit, with the label behind such stars as Alicia Keys, Rita Ora and Labrinth - and with which Simon Cowell has a close relationship - losing more than 850million views in a single day.
The viewcount culls will be damaging to the labels affected since YouTube is now the web's premier outlet for music videos. Over four billion hours of video are watched by over 800million unique visitors to the site each month.
The number of views attracted on YouTube are these days regarded as an unofficial worldwide popular music chart, and any suggestion that major labels are engaging in underhand tactics to increase their numbers could threaten the credibility of their artists.
YouTube viewer figures are doubly valuable to channel owners since it is also the primary way in which the site works out how to share its advertising revenue with partners.
The dramatic falls, highlighted by figures compiled byYouTube statistics analysts at SocialBlade, came after YouTube conducted an audit of its viewing figures aimed at combating black hat view count-building techniques.
This is when hackers artificially build up the numbers of views or likes on a YouTube video - enabling them to make clips appear far more popular than they really are and increase their exposure on the site.