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- Feb 5, 2018
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A brief background story
Before we delve into the details, let me provide you with some context about myself and how this journey began.
In 2019, I started my YouTube channel and quickly achieved the necessary milestones for monetization. Reaching 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 watch hours seemed relatively straightforward. However, obtaining monetization and partnership proved to be more challenging than expected. Despite being the top-ranking channel in my niche and accumulating nearly 4 million organic views in just three months, my content was flagged as re-used, resulting in the removal of monetization. This forced me to reevaluate my content strategy.
The frustrating aspect of being flagged for re-used content, particularly when all my videos were similar in nature, was the lack of specific information regarding which videos triggered the flag. YouTube provided no further details beyond labeling it as re-used content. Consequently, I had to delete all my videos and start anew. In the following year, I found myself deleting all my videos once again.
I share this experience to highlight my ability to organically grow a channel from scratch three times and bring it to the top of the niche. Despite deleting a total of almost 6 million organic views, I managed to rebuild the channel to a point where I earned around $20,000 in the last two to three months of 2020 alone.
However, at the beginning of the new year, I received a message stating that monetization on the channel had been paused due to re-used content once again. After resolving that issue, I resumed posting videos, only to discover that my views were nowhere near the levels they had reached a few months prior. Upon checking the search results, I noticed that my videos were not appearing, as several brand-new channels (only three to six days old) had overnight views ranging from 20,000 to 40,000.
It became evident that these views were artificially boosted, likely through the use of bots. Despite the suspicious nature of their views, their numbers remained, and their videos consistently ranked higher. Frustrated and impatient, I made the decision to uncover their methods, identify the software they were using, and learn how to level the playing field by implementing similar tactics.
I want to make it clear that this is not a guide on how to engage in YouTube viewbotting. In fact, I hope this serves as a cautionary tale for those considering taking this unethical path to success. Unless you are fully committed and have a substantial budget to invest, I strongly advise against attempting such tactics.
Considering the possibility that major platforms like Google may monitor forums like this for discussions on exploits, I won't provide any specific details or delve into explicit methods in what I'm about to share. I will keep things general, but I'll strive to provide comprehensive insights for those who have already embarked on a similar journey but are struggling to find their way.
The primary reason I decided to write this is due to a post I came across that discussed how the YouTube algorithm works in ranking videos and the role of social media marketing (SMM) panels. Many misconceptions exist regarding the algorithm's functionality and the impact of SMM panels in driving views and benefiting a channel.
This research has cost me slightly over $12,000 since February. Therefore, if you are contemplating pursuing a similar path, I urge you to consider whether you are willing and able to invest such a substantial amount of money. Initially, it started as an experiment for me, but had I known from the beginning that it would incur such significant expenses, I probably would have never ventured into it. Not only has it drained my finances, but it has also consumed my time and energy. Conducting tests and making various attempts have proven to be quite stressful and taxing over the past three to four months.
Finding the Starting Point
When you decide to explore view botting on platforms like YouTube, there are no comprehensive guides available. You have to rely on self-learning. Those who have the knowledge are hesitant to share their secrets, fearing that their money-making strategies will be patched. On the other hand, those who lack knowledge often have misconceptions about the process.
When I began my journey, I had no understanding of any of this. Terms like proxies and their significance were foreign to me, and I had no idea how to obtain them. Additionally, there were numerous providers with their own pricing structures and website dashboards.
I naively believed that purchasing a viewbot, activating it, and waiting for the views to roll in would suffice. Oh, how mistaken I was. But that was my initial perception, and that's what I did.
I conducted some online research, following a few leads I stumbled upon, and eventually found the first bot I purchased. However, I must emphasize that I have purchased all the bots currently available. Due to the potential monitoring by major platforms, I will not reveal the names of the software I use. If you have specific bots in mind, you can ask me here or privately, and I will provide you with my honest opinion. However, you will need to mention the bot's name, as I find it unnecessary to list every bot I have purchased. Nevertheless, I feel it's important to reveal the name of the first bot I obtained, considering what unfolded after using it.
The software I used was called "AnhAnh Software: Autoviewer," priced at approximately $300. The sales page showcased a few videos and promised features and documentation to guide users in running the bot upon purchase.
So I made the purchase, along with the recommended proxies from the preferred provider, and I began my journey.
As a newbie, I made a crucial mistake right from the start—I used the bot on my real channel. For those attempting this for the first time, I strongly advise against using your real channel. Particularly during the practice and experimentation phase with the software, it's crucial to avoid using your actual channel. Doing so has several negative effects on your channel and places it under the scrutiny of the algorithm. Instead, practice on a random channel with no connection to your genuine one.
I used the AnhAnh software for a week or two, experimenting with different proxy providers I found on the forum and the internet. Unfortunately, the views on analytics didn't show up properly, and even if they did, they would gradually disappear, a phenomenon referred to as "Dropped Views" in the botting community.
Right from the start, running the software was challenging. There was no documentation as promised, and the software lacked the features mentioned on the sales page. Overall, it was a disappointment. When I reached out to the AnhAnh software website for customer support, they ignored my inquiries and eventually stopped responding altogether, especially when I sought help with running the software.
Frustrated by their lack of response, I decided to request a refund through PayPal. However, the refund process took several days, during which I struggled with running the software and began searching for alternative options to meet my experiment's requirements.
I purchased two, three, four other bots, and while some of them had certain functionalities, none of them allowed me to regain a higher ranking for my specific keyword/tag, which had become quite competitive. Consequently, I continued my quest for the perfect bot that could fulfill my needs.
After a few weeks, I received a message from PayPal stating that they had sided with me in the payment dispute regarding the AnhAnh software, and they would refund the $300 back into my account. I was overjoyed! Or so I thought. However, when I went to bed, everything seemed fine, but when I woke up, my world had been turned upside down.
My computer had been completely wiped. All my files were still there, but they were empty. I had fallen victim to a hacking incident. It turned out that the AnhAnh autoviewer software was actually a Remote Access Trojan (RAT). Out of anger for my refund request on their faulty software, the developer hacked into my computer, deleted my files, and left me with a clean slate, starting from scratch.
Now, some might suggest going back to a previous backup, but even those restore points were deleted. I had no choice but to start from scratch. I reformatted my computer, downloaded a fresh copy of Windows, and went through all the necessary steps. So, if you happen to be reading this, AnhAnh, I have some choice words for you. As for those of you thinking about purchasing his software or currently having it installed, I strongly advise deleting it and staying away. Make sure to create a separate backup that is not linked to your system and exercise caution when dealing with this software.
By the end of March and the beginning of April, I had a brand new computer. I had just realized the significance of obtaining a virtual private server (VPS) and running all the bots on it.
At this point, I had already spent nearly $3,000 on various bots, proxies, and VPS, and the expenses were quickly adding up. None of the bots I purchased could fulfill my needs entirely. Some features of each bot worked, but it was challenging to run multiple instances and software simultaneously. Furthermore, the views would still disappear after some time, although a few would remain. It was then that I understood if I could identify the factors that made certain views stick while others vanished, I could replicate that function and scale it up.
However, I continued buying every bot I could find. Each one promised to boost my channel's ranking and deliver long-lasting views, but they all failed to provide consistent results. Nevertheless, with each bot, I gained new insights into how the entire system operated. It was like assembling a puzzle, piece by piece, without realizing it.
By the end of April and the beginning of May, I had already acquired 14 bots and become a member of nearly all proxy provider websites. My expenditure on this experiment had exceeded $6,000. Unfortunately, my dedication to this method started affecting my content creation for the channel, and the frequency of new uploads decreased.
It became clear that things were not going as expected, and realistically, I should have accepted the setback and cut my losses. However, I firmly believed that I had uncovered the solution, and I had already invested too much to give up. Instead of withdrawing, I decided to intensify my efforts.
Embarking on the path to greatness
As mentioned earlier, although many of the bots didn't perform flawlessly, they had certain features that worked well. However, running multiple bots simultaneously on the same VPS was a challenge, regardless of how optimized or powerful the VPS was. It became clear that if I could combine the effective functionalities from each bot into a single software, it would be a game-changer.
Thus, I began searching for bot developers, sharing my ideas, and eventually found one who was interested in collaborating on the project. However, his price quote for development was $6,000. Despite knowing that cutting my losses and abandoning the project would be the sensible choice, a part of me wanted to test the validity of my theories and see if the software I envisioned could truly deliver the desired outcomes. So, taking a leap of faith, I accepted the agreement and paid him half of the amount upfront to commence the software development.
After a few weeks of anticipation, I finally received a response from the developer. The software was ready, albeit in its beta version. I paid the remaining balance and obtained a copy of the software, and I must say, I'm extremely satisfied with the results. My extensive research and experimentation paid off, and now I have the most advanced software available.
Just like solving a puzzle, one needs to understand the person pieces before understanding the whole picture. Therefore, I'm here to share some of the puzzle pieces I've discovered, hoping they can assist you if you decide to embark on this challenging journey.
Given that this write-up has already exceeded a couple of thousand words, I'll keep the following part concise.
Here's a brief overview of some crucial elements necessary for success on this quest:
- Proxies
- Dummy Accounts/Channels
- A reliable bot
- Stable sources of traffic
Proxies
Proxies are positioned at the top of this list due to their utmost importance. In your quest, you will extensively use proxies, join numerous proxy websites, and request multiple free trials. It is crucial to always opt for the free trial whenever it is available. Many websites offer options such as 3-day refunds, a specific amount of free bandwidth per account, or a limited trial period to determine if their proxies meet your requirements. In particular, you need proxies that are suitable for YouTube (YT) traffic.
While many websites provide YT packages, a significant portion of these proxies are designed for account management rather than traffic generation. Account management proxies serve purposes like creating accounts, leaving comments, giving likes, and obtaining subscribers. However, to generate views, you specifically need YT traffic proxies.
For views to remain consistent, you will often require residential proxies. Depending on the sophistication of your bot, data center proxies may suffice for your needs, but they come with a higher risk of view drops. In my opinion and based on my tests, residential proxies are highly recommended. These proxies come in two types: rotating and static, each serving specific functions.
To assess the effectiveness of a proxy for your specific needs, you can use a metric such as whether the views appear in your analytics. The best proxies show up instantly, while others may take up to a day or even 2-3 days to register. It is important to monitor your analytics closely and maintain a journal with notes about the proxies used at different times. This allows you to compare your notes with your analytics data, track your drop rate, and identify the most effective proxies and forms of traffic.
One final note regarding proxies: this can become a costly attempt. Therefore, I emphasize the importance of always seeking trial runs whenever possible.
Dummy accounts/channel
So make sure to always use a dummy channel not tied to your real channel in any way. Don’t use the same phone number that you used on your real channel, don’t tie it to any email address that you really use. Keep it untraceable.
And if, during your tests, you notice that YT has consistently been removing a majority of views that you sent to the channel, and then it may be time to dump that channel and try on a new account.
And it’s also important to have these accounts if your bot has YT log in feature. This will be necessary to leave comments, likes and gain subs. Personally, while I have over 100 aged accounts, I don’t use this feature, as I didn’t include it in my bot design.
My rationale is, that a majority of viewers aren’t logged in and having most of your watch time primarily come from logged in accounts looks might suspicious. But many people say that this is the secret in getting your views to stick—Views with logged in accounts—but I think differently. From my research, what I’ve discovered as the way to get views to stick is through your view method and traffic source.
A Trustworthy Bot – Buyer Beware
In my latest tally, I had procured a total of 15 bots, consisting of 14 commercially available bots and one personally customized private bot. If you were to glance at my invoices and witness the graveyard of these bots, you might view it as a waste or a mistake to have acquired so many while on my quest. However, I hold a different perspective. As I mentioned earlier, each bot represented a piece of the larger puzzle. While no single bot haveed all the magical capabilities, each one had its own strengths and functionalities that worked effectively.
Therefore, my recommendation, if you were to venture into a similar method, is to conduct thorough research and ascertain whether the bot you are considering can fulfill the specific functions you require. Most importantly, as we will discuss in the following section, it is essential to determine the types of traffic the bot can generate.
It is worth noting that bots can be expensive, especially if you adopt the approach of purchasing multiple bots to determine the best one. In reality, there is no universally "best" bot currently available in the market. However, while they may come with a hefty price tag, purchasing a bot is typically a one-time investment, with no recurring costs to consider.
Nevertheless, we must remember that YouTube (YT) and prominent entities like Google are not easily foold. These are billion-dollar companies with dedicated teams of professionals. Therefore, if a bot is publicly sold, there is a high likelihood that these companies have acquired and reverse-engineered it, subsequently patching any vulnerabilities it exploits. This is why a bot claiming to enhance ranking through click-through rates (CTR), for instance, often fails to perform as expected or as advertised on the sales page.
When it comes to pricing, anticipate spending approximately $250 to $500 for a reliable publicly available bot, or potentially up to $6,000 to $12,000 for a customized private bot or farm. While there may be cheaper options available for under $100, I advise exercising caution with them. Such bots either do not work at all or contain hidden code that consumes your CPU resources.
Consistent Forms of Traffic
Now we arrive at a crucial aspect that tends to be overlooked and rarely mentioned in discussions about buying views or using viewbots: the type of traffic. When people engage in these practices, particularly with publicly available bots, the views typically appear in analytics in one of three ways:
- Direct/Unknown
- External/Embedded
- Search result
As mentioned earlier, YouTube (YT) and major search engines like Google are vigilant and have become increasingly strict about what they consider as valid views or "engagement events." Due to this scrutiny and the fact that many of the existing bots generate traffic from the aforementioned sources, YT's algorithm scrutinizes these views more thoroughly. As a result, it becomes challenging to maintain these views unless they are embedded in a Private Blog Network (PBN) or watched through API bots.
Personally, I find suggested and browse views to be preferable, as I believe they undergo less scrutiny compared to other traffic methods and are less likely to drop. Through my research, I have discovered that if you can find a bot or, in my case, have one developed, that can generate these types of views, you'll have an easier time retaining them.
Now, the secret lies in uncovering how to obtain these alternative types of views. That is something you'll need to discover for yourself.
The beauty of finding the perfect combination of a reliable bot and a steady, stable form of traffic is that you can achieve view retention without the need for expensive residential proxies or even logged-in accounts. Data center proxies will suffice.
That concludes the information I have gathered after four months of extensive research and a substantial investment in this experiment. I hope this has been helpful, and if you choose to pursue this quest, I wish you good luck and Godspeed.
