YouTube removes 9 million inappropriate videos but brands still at risk

An overview of inappropriate content on YouTube between Q4 2017 and Q2 2019.

More and more inappropriate content is being removed from YouTube, according to the latest data from their Transparency Report. The number of videos that violate the platform's community guidelines reached 9.0 million in Q2 2019, up from 8.3 million in the first quarter of the year.

The majority of this content is removed automatically before being seen by any viewer. Of the nine million videos removed, 6.4 million (71.1%) had zero views before being taken down. This share is the highest ever, up from 58.2% in Q1 2019.

YouTube has long struggledwith inappropriate content. Walt Disney, Nestle and...

Not a subscriber?

Schedule your live demo with our team today

WARC helps you to plan, create and deliver more effective marketing

  • Prove your case and back-up your idea

  • Get expert guidance on strategic challenges

  • Tackle current and emerging marketing themes

We’re long-term subscribers to WARC and it’s a tool we use extensively. We use it to source case studies and best practice for the purposes of internal training, as well as for putting persuasive cases to clients. In compiling a recent case for long-term, sustained investment in brand, we were able to support key marketing principles with numerous case studies sourced from WARC. It helped bring what could have been a relatively dry deck to life with recognisable brand successes from across a broad number of categories. It’s incredibly efficient to have such a wealth of insight in one place.

Insights Team
Bray Leino

You’re in good company

We work with 80% of Forbes' most valuable brands* and 80% of the world's top top-of-the-class agencies.

* Top 10 brands