FAKE YOUTUBE VIEWS?! Anchor launches podcast Listener Support and Apple makes a big (re)hire

Jeff Weisbein -

Welcome to our new weekly wrap-up video where we will cover three to five of the biggest stories in tech and business over the past week and add our unique perspective into the mix. We love hearing from you so definitely feel free to leave a comment or tweet us with your thoughts as well. 

Weekly Wrap-up Video

FAKE YOUTUBE VIEWS

Does YouTube have a fake views problem? According a new article by The New York Times it seems it does.

If you weren’t aware, inflating views violates YouTube’s terms of service. But despite that, Google searches for buying views turn up hundreds of sites offering “fast” and “easy” ways to increase a video’s count by 500, 5,000 or even five million. The sites, offering views for just pennies each, also appear in Google search ads.

Fake views are a big business, Martin Vassilev who runs a site called 500Views.com told the Times he was earning upwards of $30,000 per month from selling fake views. That’s a lot of money for selling something fake.

My problem with fake YouTube views is there is often no real value add to the person buying the views. Plus, there’s also the possibility YouTube will remove the fake views and/or shut down your account. But back to the initial point: they are fake views, likely created by bots, meaning if you’re trying to sell something it’s not like actual people are seeing your video. So…

The only potential benefit to buying fake views is if there’s a chance that means more people will see your video due to YouTube and Google algorithms (which I guess is possible). Hmm…

Anyway, what do you think of buying fake YouTube views? Let me know!

[Source: The Flourishing Business of Fake YouTube Views – The New York Times]

ANCHOR LISTENER SUPPORT

As many of you know, I use Anchor to host my podcast, TechieBytes. I love the service and the app. If you’re unfamiliar with Anchor, the company makes it super easy to create, record, and host your very own podcast for free.

And they just released a brand new feature to help podcast creators earn some money from their hard work. The feature, which is aptly named, Listener Support lets listeners subscribe for either $0.99, $4.99 or $9.99 a month as a way to support the podcaster.

The only bummer is that in addition to Stripe’s processing fees, Anchor is taking a 4.5 percent servicing fee from the subscriptions.

Would you subscribe to a podcast to show your support? Oh and, if you haven’t already, check out the TechieBytes podcast. I have new episodes coming soon!

[Source: Anchor launches Listener Support feature to help podcasters get paid – TechCrunch]

APPLE IS STILL WORKING ON A CAR

John Gruber over at Daring Fireball has a bit of juicy intel relating to Apple’s Project Titan, aka their car, which is being overseen by Bob Mansfield (a longtime Apple exec who ran the hardware division). The new intel from Gruber is that Doug Field, who previously worked at Apple as a VP of Mac hardware engineering before leaving for Tesla in 2013, is now back at Apple and is part of the Project Titan team.

So far, Apple has only confirmed that Field has returned to the company, but provided no specific details in terms of what he is working on.

Field spent years working closely with Mansfield on Mac hardware, and spent the last few years as senior VP of engineering at Tesla overseeing the Model 3.

So it seems despite the rocky start to Project Titan, Apple hasn’t given up on the project.

I have to admit an Apple car did seem far fetched to me at first, but if you think about it, Apple can’t be too happy about the way CarPlay has been going for them and really, technology is now such an integral part of cars—especially as we move towards self-driving cars. Plus, Apple likes to control the entire product chain.

Would you buy an Apple car? Leave a comment!

[Source: Daring Fireball: Doug Field Returns to Apple After Leaving Tesla]