Jeff Johnson Underground Training Lab

More Traffic, More Leads, More Customers

Reader Interactions

Comments (722)

  1. Jeff,

    I can feel your frustration over this as this has happened to me, in the exact fashion that you described it happening to you. Totally out of the blue, complete termination, without any warning or reasoning. And my inquiries too, have fallen on deaf ears.

    Why, I do not know, My content (like yours) was 100% unique, free training, etc…without any hint of anything listed in their community guidelines could be termed offensive, misleading, etc…

    Moving forward, I’ve decided to abandon Youtube. We’ll be posting our videoes, using our own media players, etc… without the use of Youtube. Why spend hours posting quality content, getting subscribers, etc.. when it can all be taken away from you without a moments notice.

    Reply

  2. Jeff, had the same thing happen to me back in ’09. They basically locked me out without warning (apparently they were lenient on me).

    The problem with living in a “social media” Internet world with no accountability is that anyone with an axe to grind can pull stunts like this to shut you down.

    I call it the “Youtube Effect.” Not just because of these shenanigans, but because it only takes a few glances at some of the stuff people post in comments to videos – arguing, flaming, criticizing, etc. – before you realize that we live in a world of spam.

    I’m not trying to be cynical (but I might be succeeding, huh? 🙂

    The only true recourse, I fear, is to have connections at every large organization that tries to hide behind blanket policies.

    – Carlos Xuma

    Reply

  3. Google has been doing this to a lot of Internet Marketers lately
    We need to pay for our own video hosting.

    We cannot depend on Google or any other singular basket.

    Reply

  4. I got the same message from YouTube but luckily they did not ban or close my account yet!!

    I got a feeling they up to something similar to what happened at Adwords a couple months ago. They probably just cleaning up and sending a message to all YouTube fans to be aware of what they are uploading.

    I think you just got unlucky by being picked!

    That really sucks and I hope you sort it out as soon as possible!

    Cheers
    Nelio

    Reply

  5. Reason: YouTube is following Google mandate on “Biz op” and money scams labeling them all as scams.

    While YT in not under any obligation to display your videos, the one they can’t do is claim (or imply) that your videos (or your businesses) are scams.

    If you can prove that what YT did by posting that warning impuning your reputation, and you can prove damages, you could double down and sue them.

    You’ll get a massive amount of publicity as will the attorneys. Add a publicist for some press releases about it. The question is, can you stand the FTC attention that you’ll likely get?

    If not, just let it drop. (or just send a letter from a big law firm asking them to change the warning screen they have up for your videos which they would likely do (especially if it comes form a large, nationwide or well known attorney.

    Alfred

    Reply

  6. There could be a number of reasons, Jeff:

    1 — it could be a mistake. Unfortunately that
    mistake precludes you from contacting them.

    2 — they may think you fall into the categories of a
    regular “huckster” or some sort of MLM-type “huckster”
    by your possibly violating some government agency’s
    regulations you’re not aware of. I would advise you to
    ask your buddy Frank Kern to relate to you his
    problems with the FTC a few years ago when they shut
    him down.

    3 — contact one of those IM/Internet lawyers who is
    supposed to be up to date with Internet laws and get a
    free consultation from him/her.

    4 — in your post you mentioned using Facebook, etc.
    The termination notice you received mentions Facebook,
    etc. A new law (or judicial ruling) just came out a
    few weeks ago forbidding embedded YouTube videos from
    containing copyright infringements. Since your video
    apparently talked about using Facebook and other
    avenues to increase sales, your activity may be
    interpreted by YouTube as infringing upon Facebook’s
    copyrights. I’m not sure if that is the reason, I’m
    just guessing that it’s a possibility, regardless how
    farfetched that possibility may be.

    5 — as other people have already mentioned, maybe
    some people complained about you and YouTube is either
    overreacting, or, they have to react the way they are
    to you in accordance with new “consumer protection”
    legislation or rules that Internet marketers aren’t
    aware of yet.

    6 — the most plausible to me, and which was
    mentioned by a poster already, is that there is a
    “cloud of anti-capitalism smothering America.” But
    it’s not just rival companies trying to shut down
    their competition. It’s also an anti-capitalism
    attitude that is pervasive throughout the Federal
    government on a scale so huge now it’s never before
    been at this level in American political history.
    There are a few reasons why this attitude is pervasive
    today. But, if you are not an ardent student of
    American history, especially the history of American
    political corruption, whatever I would proffer right
    now as an explanation would not register with you. Not
    because you couldn’t understand my explanation, but
    rather because you wouldn’t want to believe why the
    explanation would be plausible. You would fight
    against accepting the reason because it would be just
    that upsetting.

    7 — Credibility. A number of people have trashed
    your credibility. I’m not an Internet marketer, but I
    am a former salesman. And I’ve also done some direct
    marketing campaigns (on a very limited scale, I will
    admit). And I will tell you, as one who has spent
    years selling, and as one whom other salesmen have
    spent time selling to – I find none of the Internet
    Marketers packing a whole hell of a lot of
    credibility, even you – even though I like what you
    and some others have to offer. I’m not sure if any of
    you have reached the credibility heights that you all
    would like to reach or the heights that so many of you
    think you’ve already accomplished. As you know, one’s
    credibility, one’s personal reputation takes so much
    time to achieve, but it’s just so “free-fall” easy to
    lose. Except for the most ardent, avid followers or
    Internet Marketing junkies who just buy anything and
    everything that comes down the pike, the credibility
    of all of you guys, at least in my mind, is just plain
    flat. Here’s why:

    A) More and more I want to smack the copywriters who
    continuously write headlines in bold red letters:
    “Shocking, new…” …….. “Finally revealed…” …….. “Watch
    your sales & profits ‘skyrocket’…” …… “It’s so easy my
    11 year old has just made (a million dollars at summer
    camp in between horseback riding and studying to
    become a humble astronaut)” ….. “For the 1st time
    ever, the ‘hidden’ secret….(to wealth, fame and
    finally screwing the homecoming queen) …….. “Look at
    my Clickbank account earnings (that have never been
    Photoshopped until today. If they are accurate, it
    sure comes as a surprise to me, he, he.)” …. “I value
    your privacy (but I’m not too sure about my Joint
    Venture partners or the co-registration companies who
    just ‘happen’ to get your name off my database).”

    B) Credibility goes down big time after awhile when
    you and the other “good friends” (who only met each
    other at a seminar a few months ago) such as Filsaime,
    Kern, Reese, Pagan, Mani, Deiss, Singal, Legg, Walker,
    Bacak, and the list of other usual suspects, keep
    hawking each other’s products as the greatest thing
    since the morning-after pill only weeks after hawking
    your own products as being the best on the planet.
    It’s just too much inbreeding for me, especially when
    a few of you guys recommend putting up these so-called
    Review Sites to get traffic to your affiliate landing
    pages. A quality review site is supposed to be
    neutral, not biased or partisan. But all they are is
    part of the Sales Funnel, and as far as I’m concerned
    these sites are blatantly dishonest.

    C) Credibility goes down when, after proselytizing
    just how good your stuff is (that is, the gurus in
    general), you guys a few months to a year later come
    out with bold disparaging remarks putting down the
    same methodologies you hoisted up the flag of success
    a year or so before. Hmmm, does Internet Marketing and
    it’s methodologies evolve so quickly in order “…to
    keep up with new Net technologies”? Or, is it really
    more like the IM crowd thinking “I squeezed the last
    bit of turnip juice and profits out of my last
    “ultimate solution never before seen since Adam
    defrocked Eve” campaign. Now it’s time to come up with
    another “brand new, innovative” ultimate solution. A
    guy’s gotta eat, right?”

    D) Credibility goes down when you guys talk about how
    “This is not the same old……ppc……SEO……..keyword
    research……..PDF book……..backlink stuff……..fantastic
    software, etc” and then – a paragraph later you want
    to sell the exact same shi* that you just finished
    criticizing as being the worst crap on the planet.
    Pure example: The video of the insolent, middle aged,
    pot-bellied, bald guy who insults the audience, goes
    on a trip in a “private” jet plane, says buyers of the
    cheap get-rich-quick software are idiots, then sells
    what is probably the same crap for $47! But he’s
    right, anybody who would buy his stuff after that is
    an idiot.

    E) Credibility goes down when you guys send out stacks
    of e-mail saying “Go to Mr. X’s site. You’ll be
    surprised how easily he made money after he woke up
    from a coma in a hospital in Calcutta. If he can do
    it, you can too. And he’ll show you – wait for it –
    “EXACTLY, step-by-step, no bullshi* how Mr. X went
    from being a quadriplegic orphan to $30,000 a month…”
    And when you get to the site you’re met by another one
    of those stupid, friggin, 60 minutes long,
    ridiculously vacuous, teaser videos that don’t teach
    you s*it, much less the “exact, step-by-step,
    looking-over-my-shoulder, never-before-revealed,
    secret methods that will enrich your life for only $37
    (or $1,997 depending on whether or not the “exclusive”
    software is a knockoff or “innovative”). I’ve watched
    plenty of those hour long step-by-step videos from all
    of you guys. And enough is enough. None are worth 9
    minutes of my time when compared to the “exact,
    step-by-step” hype I was subjected to. The
    expectations raised due to the outrageous hype, were
    too high. Thus, the letdown due to the disappointment
    was commensurately great. When you guys (the gurus in
    general) exaggerate as much as you do, and when you
    tell potential buyers to write the same type of
    exaggerated promises if they want to be as
    “successful” as the “guru” selling his stuff – I
    consider those exaggerations the same as being
    outright lies. Technically, such exaggerations and
    hyperbole are not lies. But, in reality, they are
    gross untruths meant to mislead, thus, just about the
    same damage to credibility is done.

    F) Credibility goes down when the IM crowd says “I’m
    easy to reach. I’m here to help you.” But when you
    call or e-mail Customer Service, they’re always out to
    lunch.

    Personally, since I don’t consider any of you guys,
    including you, Jeff, as having sterling reputations.
    I’m not saying that any of you are crooks. But a few
    of you act devious in ways other than just outrageous
    copywriting. And when a big name Guru, or two, creates
    problems for me or other consumers, it affects the way
    the rest of you guys are looked at thereafter and
    makes me wonder if I should do business with anyone
    else. I don’t buy anything from you guys because of
    your reputations. I’ve bought because I could use my
    credit card and because of the guarantee. And when I,
    in particular, have to return stuff because the
    information was hackneyed & rehashed instead of being
    “innovative,” I feel no great inclination to even try
    out the next new mousetrap since I feel it’ll probably
    be just the same old mousetrap just tied up with a
    newer ribbon that’s all.

    I don’t know if I hit the nail on the head in terms of
    explaining exactly why YouTube has banished you, Jeff.
    But I hope what I’ve said today will give you some
    helpful insights into why a customer thinks the way he
    does.

    Reply

    • I’m very careful about who I promote and what they are selling.

      I don’t refer to people as “my good friend” unless they are truly a good friend of mine.

      Even then I won’t promote their products that I don’t believe in, and it happens all the time.

      That’s the best I can do.. .give my honest opinion on the product or the person selling it and let you decide for yourself if it is right for you.

      Reply

  7. I just skimmed the comments on here, so this might be redundant, but my thoughts are if you absolutely cannot get youtube to resolve the issue (can’t get in touch with a live person to look deeper into what happened – which I’m guessing is probably people flagging as spam maybe from not wanting your emails anymore and being too lazy to figure out how to unsubscribe), I would open a new youtube account, post a handful of your best, most informative videos, and at the end link them up to your site where you can upload your own videos hence preventing this from happening again. JMHO though… that is really frustrating! :/

    Reply

  8. You know you can try until you are blue in the face to figure out why they shut you down. They do not have time to treat you personally so they just have their system in place. If you get flagged enough times you will get shut down. I doubt any real person made the decision. It just counted the flags then nuked your channel.

    That is why some marketers have many channels with just a couple of videos each.

    There are millions of offensive, semi-pornographic, violent, disgusting, tasteless, copyright infringing videos all over YouTube. Google even takes porn ads for Adwords. But you can’t talk about internet marketing god forbid.

    Reply

  9. I think this is ridiculous. Sue their asses and you won’t be able to spend the interest the settlement earns you (probably).

    Isn’t the notice taken of flagging dependent on the ratio of flaggings vs. views? f not, why not?

    Google garbage…

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

By providing your email address, you agree to receive additional free training and promotional emails from our Company. You may unsubscribe at any time. Please refer to our Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions on this website for additional information.

Absolutely Free!

“Simply enter your email address below, click the big orange button, and... I'll send your absolutely free Training Videos and PDF Cheat Sheets right over... Get More Traffic, Build A Bigger List And Find New Customers... Starting Today!”

By providing your email address, you agree to receive additional free training and promotional emails from our Company. You may unsubscribe at any time. Please refer to our Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions on this website for additional information.

Free Training!

 

"Where should I send your absolutely free Traffic-Getting And List-Building Training Videos plus PDF Cheat Sheets, Action Plans and Checklists?"