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It's Wednesday and after a drawn-out monopoly case, the U.S. Department of Justice is letting Google pass 'go' without giving up Chrome. |
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Today's News |
🛑 YouTube cracks down on sharing 📈 MrBeast tops the global sub charts 💸 A LEGO sponsorship goes viral 🎗️ Nonprofits turn to YouTube 🪧 News hubs cover Indonesian protests
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PLATFORM UPDATES |
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YouTube is cracking down on Premium account sharing |
The strategy: In 2023, Netflix defied expectations by launching a successful effort to police the use of accounts by multiple households. After announcing its plan to eliminate password sharing and subsequently cracking down on offending accounts, the streamer braced for cancellations—but instead, it enjoyed a surge of signups. |
Now, YouTube is hoping to boost revenue by applying a similar strategy to its YouTube Premium service. |
The crackdown: YouTube's policies state that each Premium family plan is meant to be shared within a single household. Up to this point, that stipulation has seldom been enforced—but according to Android Police, YouTube is beginning to take its own rules more seriously. Some subscribers who are accessing Premium family plans from addresses not listed on their accounts have been notified that their subscriptions "will be paused." After a 14-day grace period, if those subscribers are still watching from the wrong location, they will be stripped of their Premium perks. |
The context: Subscription-based services represent a growing slice of YouTube's revenue pie, with subscriber numbers across Premium and YouTube Music crossing 100 million in 2024 and rising to 125 million this year. |
YouTube's latest crackdown follows previous efforts to wring more value out of those services, including through a war against ad blockers (which incentivized users to pay $13.99/month for the ad-free Premium experience). As with Netflix's purge, cracking down on ad blockers and account sharing likely won't win YouTube any popularity contests—but the returns could very well be worth the critiques. |
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HEADLINES IN BRIEF 📰 |
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GOSPEL STATS |
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Top Branded Videos: MrBeast drops to #3 and minidramas go viral |
This week, two creators accomplished a feat that few even dream of: they beat out MrBeast for the top spots in Gospel Stats' ranking of most-viewed branded YouTube videos. |
🥇 #1. Caleb Natale x Netflix, LEGO: The LEGO One Piece sets are now available at Target #NetflixPartner #LEGOONEPIECE @LEGO (34.2M views)
In recent months, LEGO has gone from sponsoring one or two YouTube videos a week (if any) to consistently backing several. This week, the toy giant sponsored around 10 videos, including a clip from VFX specialist Caleb Natale that simultaneously grabbed cash from Netflix (which distributed the live action version of One Piece).
🥈 #2. Alan's Universe x Laneige: I Started a Viral Fashion Trend presented by @LANEIGE_US#BeautyAndTheBeatSeries #laneigeus [EP 6] (23M views)
For the second week in a row, Alan Chikin Chow's Beauty and the Beat minidrama series has claimed not one but two spots at the top of Gospel's branded charts (this time at #2 and #4). Laneige's cosmetics feature prominently in both installments of the short-form soap opera, with every female cast member sporting shiny lip gloss, blush, and other products. |
🎰 #3. MrBeast Gaming x Feastables: $10,000 Every Boss You Beat (12.2M views)
It's rare to see one of MrBeast's videos ranked at anything other than #1. When that does happen, however, it's generally safe to bet that the clip hails from the creator's secondary channel, MrBeast Gaming. Unlike his record-breaking primary hub (which claims 430 million subscribers), MrBeast's gaming HQ has around 50 million subs—a good chunk of whom tuned in to watch his latest Feastables-backed challenge. |
Check out the full branded ranking here and head over to Gospel Stats for more YouTube sponsorship insights. |
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SIGN OF THE TIMES |
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As nonprofit funding shrinks, one org is becoming a YouTube studio |
The YouTube strategy: For decades, nonprofits have attracted donations through large-scale charity events, with government funding filling in the gaps when possible. Now, however, orgs are increasingly grappling with federal cuts and regional belt-tightening—leading many to venture online in hopes of reaching audiences at cheaper rates than traditional fundraising. |
Take the Elevate Prize Foundation: at the start of this year, the six-year-old org (which recognizes "best-in-class social impact leaders driving transformative change") decided to launch its own production studio. |
The impact: Elevate Studios' first production was Nevertheless: The Women Changing the World, a YouTube series that attracted 3 million views throughout its first season and plans to return for a second season in summer 2026. |
According to CEO Carolina Jayaram Garcia, that kind of storytelling allows the Elevate Pride Foundation "to draw people in and get them to connect to a deeper truth about themselves or about the world or a problem that needs to be solved": |
"It's been incredible to see the growth we've had on YouTube and how it's resonated so quickly with so many people." | | | | - Carolina Jayaram Garcia, The Elevate Prize Foundation CEO |
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Elevate's growth on YouTube hasn't just been a boon for its own foundation. Since being featured on Season 1 of Nevertheless, Brilliant Cities CEO and co-founder Cindy Eggleton says her early childhood development nonprofit has received increased funds, with new donors flocking in. One funder, she notes, "wants to increase his gift from $7,000 to $100,000." |
The context: We at Tubefilter aren't surprised to see nonprofits achieving success on YouTube. From Thankmas to Ryan Trahan and Haley Pham's cross-country St. Jude-a-thon to #TeamWater, creators have spent years leveraging the reach of social media platforms to amass millions upon millions of dollars for good causes. |
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WATCH THIS |
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YouTube hubs are stepping up to cover Indonesian protests |
The protests: In Indonesia, a wave of protestors have taken to the streets to express their discontent regarding President Prabowo Subianto and a controversial policy that grants bonus allowances to members of Parliament. |
Initially, those protests were widely streamed on TikTok. Last week, however, the ByteDance-owned platform chose to play nice with the Indonesian government by temporarily suspending its live video service—a move that may have been partially motivated by the size of its ecommerce operation in the region. |
The coverage: In response, Indonesians have turned to YouTube for updates from local organizations like Tribunnews, which owns more than 20 newspapers across Indonesia and claimed 425.2 million YouTube views during the last week of August. |
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Today's newsletter is from: Emily Burton, Drew Baldwin, Sam Gutelle, and Josh Cohen. |
