My worst August EVER! 30% drop in views! What is going on with YT?

Jungle Explorer

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Historically, August has been one of my best months. July was great, but August has been murder. I have lost 30% of my monthly view average in just three weeks and it seems like it will go down further. I am below where I was two years ago. Not even the January cliff was this bad. Nothing new on my channel, so it must be YT. What is going on with YT?
 

JayZippo

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Historically, August has been one of my best months. July was great, but August has been murder. I have lost 30% of my monthly view average in just three weeks and it seems like it will go down further. I am below where I was two years ago. Not even the January cliff was this bad. Nothing new on my channel, so it must be YT. What is going on with YT?
I can't say. My channel has been a bottom feeder for so long, I rarely get any different views unless it is an increase.

All I can say is that an algorithm might have changed, how your channel is being put into search and suggested areas of YT. Can you tell if it is low views with subs or the lower views with discoveries?
 
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LearningStuff

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Could be that people have been going outside and on vacations like crazy given the lockdown over the last year. Might just be away from their computers and off YouTube for now.
 
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Rhody Seth

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Post the link to your channel so we can check it out! But yeah, likely the algorithm has changed some. As with rivers and animal migrations, it shifts and undulates - sometimes rewarding, sometimes punishing.
 
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Jungle Explorer

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I can't say. My channel has been a bottom feeder for so long, I rarely get any different views unless it is an increase.

All I can say is that an algorithm might have changed, how your channel is being put into search and suggested areas of YT. Can you tell if it is low views with subs or the lower views with discoveries?
Even though I now have over 13k subs, 99.4% of my viewership comes from discovery. Only 0.06% of my subs ever watch my videos. I have the least loyal subs in history. One wonders why they even sub at all. But to be honest, it has to do with my content. My content is an answer to a question. If you don't have the question, there is no reason to watch the answer. So, unlike channels that produce broad-based content that is for the amusement and entertainment of the masses, my content focuses on specific issues.

So the loss of views is in discovery. I know this. The question is, Why? For the past seven years, July, August, and September have always been growing months where I recover from the January cliff. But now, I have seen a greater drop than what happened in January. I am losing an average of 1K views a day from my monthly average, and it is not slowing down. The only thing I have done differently is that I produced some YT Shorts back in May and June. That is it. Outside of that, I have done nothing. Well, I am not making as many videos as I did last year, but that is normal for me in the summer. Last year I put out fifty videos. This year I am on track for about 30 full-length videos (not shorts).

I have found some other Youtubers that are seeing the same thing, so I don't think this is exclusively an issue with my channel. I have three channels in different genres (one gaming), and they are all seeing a similar downtrend. YT is doing something. I know they were pushing Shorts really hard earlier this year to try to steal some steam from TikTok, but that appears to have died. I am not sure what is going on right now, but I am sure it will eventually come to light.
 
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Jungle Explorer

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Could be that people have been going outside and on vacations like crazy given the lockdown over the last year. Might just be away from their computers and off YouTube for now.
I have thought about this too and it may be partially to blame, but I think there is something else at play here.
 

Jungle Explorer

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Post the link to your channel so we can check it out! But yeah, likely the algorithm has changed some. As with rivers and animal migrations, it shifts and undulates - sometimes rewarding, sometimes punishing.
My channel is the same as my name here with a green logo. Just type "The Jungle Explorer" into a google search. I am number one. I got a permaban from another youtube forum for posting a link to my channel one time, so I don't do that.

Yes, I do believe this is an algorithm change, which is why I posted the question. Part of a YouTuber's life is the constant battle to figure out what the algorithm is doing and adjusting. I have worked my ever-living butt off for the past five years to grow my channel. I am not going to sit here and watch it destroyed without a fight. I have played by the rules and I produce valuable content that has helped millions. The tens of thousands of "Thank You"s I have received over the years, speak for themselves.

I am just trying to figure out what is going on. I am not the only YouTuber that has seen this. I have found Youtubers with 200k subs that have seen a 50% decline in views in the same time period as me, so I know that it is not just me.
 

Jungle Explorer

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I have noticed a huge decrease in growth, just came here to ask if anyone else is noticing anything weirdo going on with YT as well. My current growth is about 10% of what It's been historically. :(
Did it start around mid-July?