Negative YouTube Videos Can Cause Big Problems
YouTube is an incredibly powerful website; it stands behind Google as the second largest search engine in the world. Since the same company owns Google and YouTube, Google allows preferential placement for YouTube videos in search results. Whether you are an individual or a small business, a negative YouTube video in search results can be devastating to your Brand. The democratic nature of the Internet and the incredible power of social media has made it possible to spread negative information to thousands of people at light speed. And YouTube Videos can be very difficult to remove from the Internet and search results. There are, however, some removal strategies that can be utilized to completely remove negative YouTube Videos.
How to Remove or Replace Your Own YouTube Videos
If you have access to the YouTube Channel hosting the account, Google offers detailed instructions on how to delete or replace YouTube videos. According to Google:
To Delete a YouTube Video:
1. Sign in to your YouTube account.
2. Go to Creator Studio by clicking your account icon in the top right > Creator Studio.
3. In the left menu, select Video Manager > Videos.
4. Click the checkbox next to the video(s) you want to delete.
5. At the top of the page, choose Actions > Delete from the drop-down menu.
To Replace a YouTube Video:
You can’t replace a video because any new video you upload to YouTube will get a new URL. Instead, you can make changes to an existing video:
1. Enhance your video: You can make some editorial changes to the video using YouTube Video Enhancements. You can trim parts of your video, auto-fix lighting, and color, blur parts of the video, apply a filter, and more.
2. Add cards to your video: You can use cards to change elements of your videos. You can point viewers to a specific URL (from a list of eligible sites) and show customized images, titles, and calls to action, depending on the card type.
3. Change your video’s title and description: You can organize and make changes to your video’s title, category, description, and privacy settings.
Remove a YouTube Video for Copyright or Trademark Violations
If your copyrighted material is posted on YouTube without your consent, Google makes it easy to submit proper notification and request to have the content removed. There are some guidelines about who is authorized to submit copyright infringement notifications, and you may wish to consult an attorney to determine whether YouTube is protected under the fair use or fair dealing copyright exceptions.
The most straightforward way to notify Google is via their copyright infringement notification web form, but you may also send free-form copyright infringement notifications via mail, fax, or email.
Remove a YouTube Video via Content Guidelines Violation
Because some video content is offensive or outright illegal in nature, YouTube has set up specific community guidelines concerning what is and is not allowed on their website. If the content you want to remove from YouTube violates YouTube’s Community Guidelines, you can easily send a notification from the video page or from Google’s reporting center. YouTube’s interface includes a toolbar under each video with three options: Add to, Share, and More. Click “More” to open the menu. Click “report” and select the most relevant reason that the content should be removed. If the video violates YouTube’s Community Guidelines it will be removed; if there is no violation, the video will not be removed no matter how often it is flagged.
Remove a YouTube Video for Legal Reasons via a Court Order
Simply put, YouTube will rarely remove content from their website unless they are compelled to do so legally. In cases where individuals use YouTube to commit online defamation, it may be necessary to contact an attorney who specializes in Internet Law to inquire about specific defamation statutes and learn how to attain a Court Order for content removal. When you are ready to submit evidence of a legal issue which warrants having the content taken down, navigate to the URL of the offending video, click “more” under the video and select “report.” Select “Infringes my rights” and follow the instructions to submit your request for removal.
Need Additional Help?
We have helped hundreds of clients remove and replace YouTube videos that were causing reputation damage. Our team of legal experts and digital marketing specialists deal with these issues every day. If you are looking for more in-depth information on how to execute the strategies in this article, check out our complete guide. If you’d like to speak with a professional about your specific situation, contact us, or give us a call today at (855)239-5322.