Last week Business Insider released a list of the 10 top grossing YouTube stars, based on estimated statistics and analytics from TubeMogul. Following the release of the list Greg Benson of Mediocre Films, who is the seventh highest YouTube earner according to Business Insider, called out the publication saying that there is no way their statistics are correct. Benson uploaded a YouTube video response to the article saying, “Everything in the article appears to be wrong”.
According to Benson, the Business Insider list made their first error by stating that Mediocre Films has gotten 159 million views in the last 12 months. In fact, Benson says that, “Since I joined YouTube in 2006 my channel has gotten a total of 113 million. That’s about two-thirds of the number they’re claiming I got in the last year.” Benson points out that checking this fact should have been simple – the “researchers” could have simply headed over to Benson’s YouTube channel to the number of views he has actually had in his entire YouTube history.
Benson also points out that the Business Insider list left off many, many YouTubers who are way more viewed than he is. “It left off MysteryGuitarMan, it left off Ray William Johnson, it left off iJustine, Lisa Nova, Dave Days, Charles Trippy, Michael Buckly” and so many others. The list also puts Mediocre Films ahead of Smosh, who held the number one most-subscribed spot for a time on YouTube.
Benson has a great point, that when creating a list like this it is extremely important to check facts and do your research ahead of time to avoid making embarrassing mistakes and publishing false information. Liz Shannon Miller of NewTeeVee spoke with CEO of TubeMogul, Brett Wilson, who “confirmed that the error regarding Benson’s views is real, an outright mistake made on their end while transferring date from TubeMogul to Business Insider.” Aside from this single error, TubeMogul stands by the rest of their published results and statistics about the highest grossing YouTubers.
Of course, no one will ever be able to truly confirm or deny the list published by Business Insider. YouTube partners have terms against publically discussing the income that they make from YouTube. But I still think it’s safe to say that the highest grossing YouTubers are making some pretty impressive cash.
What do you think about the fact that TubeMogul and Business Insider botched their statistics? Do you think their results about the other top ten YouTubers, aside from Benson, seem accurate?
