Video games are a big deal on YouTube. Some video game YouTubers have millions of followers who watch them review games and have turned their channels into full-time jobs. But it can be hard for viewers to tell when video makers are getting paid big bucks to promote a game – and now US government regulators are cracking down on poorly disclosed deals.
The Federal Trade Commission says it has reached a settlement with Warner Brothers Home Entertainment over what it deemed a deceptive marketing campaign for the 2014 game Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor, which involved major pay-offs to big names in the world of YouTube gaming in exchange for positive coverage.
Warner, the FTC alleges, paid popular YouTubers tens of thousands of dollars to promote the game via a campaign managed by advertising company Plaid Social Labs. The blitz included a sponsored gameplay video from PewDiePie – one of the biggest names on YouTube. The video scored 3.7 million views.
Warner gave YouTubers strict instructions to say only positive things and stay silent about bugs they encountered. Its contracts with the vloggers also demanded pre-approval of the videos.
The company didn't make the YouTubers disclose that they were paid to promote the game in their actual videos where viewers would see them, according to the FTC. Instead, it told them to include a disclosure in the video description, so far down that it could be seen only if a viewer hit a "Show More" button.
The disclosures also didn't show up when the YouTubers shared their videos on Twitter or Facebook, which the company also required them to do.
Under the settlement agreement, Warner will be barred from carrying out that sort of campaign in the future without more prominent disclosures.
The settlement marks the first time regulators have brought an enforcement action in the online video sponsorship market. Given the major push towards livestreaming from social media giants like Facebook and Twitter, it probably won't be its last.
The Washington Post