YouTube Shadowban? What is it & How to Remove It? (2023 Update)

YouTube Shadowban is a topic that has been creating waves in the online community lately. As a content creator or influencer, having your videos and channel “shadowbanned” can devastate your online presence and credibility.

This silent ban can mean your videos won’t appear in search results or recommended videos, effectively reducing your reach and visibility. However, with the right knowledge and understanding, you can protect yourself from being shadowbanned and even remove the ban if it has already happened to you.

This blog post will explore what YouTube Shadowban is, its symptoms, its causes, and most importantly, how to remove it. So, this post is a must-read for you whether you’re a seasoned YouTuber or just starting out. Get ready to uncover the truth behind YouTube Shadowban and take control of your online reputation.

Table of Contents

Key Takeaway

Is your YouTube suffering from a massive engagement & reach drop? Then you could be suffering from a YouTube Shadowban.

Shadowbans are nothing new to social media. There are Shadowbans on Instagram & Facebook. Up & coming Creators can even get Shadowbanned on TikTok. When it comes to social media platforms nowadays, Shadowbans are becoming natural community regulators.

If you’re suffering from a YouTube Shadowban or looking for ways to avoid it, this article is for you. Just below, we will be uncovering ways to remove the YouTube Shadowban. Make sure to read about it below.

What is a YouTube Shadowban?

Shadowbanning refers to a platform limiting your social account’s overall reach, leading to a massive decrease in engagement across the board. If you’re noticing a massive decrease in your overall views on YouTube, you could be suffering from a Youtube Shadowban.

One of the most aggravating parts of a shadowban for content creators is that there are no notifications of shadowbanning. In fact, your account gets shadowbanned. And the only way creators are able to determine if they’ve been shadowbanned (and not simply suffering a decrease in engagement for normal reasons) is by conducting a Hashtag/Keyword Search Test for Content.

Hashtag/Keyword Search Test

Trying to check to see if you have been shadowbanned on Youtube? Try conducting a Hashtag/Keyword research test. The test goes as follows:

Post a new piece of content with an extremely specific set of keywords/hashtags so there is minimal competition for content rankings.
Have a separate account (that is NOT following/subscribing to your account) and search for the content.
If the Content is not visible, then you have been shadowbanned on YouTube
If your Content is visible, your channel simply suffers from a decrease in engagement. This could be happening for many reasons.

Let’s take a deeper dive into what Youtube Shadowban means…

YouTube Shadowban is a term used to describe a situation where a YouTube channel is effectively “banned” from the platform without any official notification or warning. This ban makes it difficult for the videos and channels to be discovered by other users on the platform.

The videos will not appear in Youtube search results, recommended videos, or any other crucial areas for visibility and engagement. Essentially, the channel becomes “shadowed” or “hidden” from the rest of the platform, making it difficult for the content to reach its intended audience. Ghost banning is another term for shadowban.

It’s important to note that YouTube Shadowban is not an official ban imposed by YouTube but rather a result of the platform’s algorithm. The algorithm is designed to identify and limit the visibility of content that violates the community guidelines or is deemed low-quality or spammy.

When a channel is shadowbanned, it can be challenging to determine the cause, as there is no official notification from YouTube. This makes it a tricky situation for content creators, who may only realize that their channel is being affected once they notice a significant drop in views, engagement, and followers.

YouTube Shadowban is a silent ban that can significantly impact a channel’s visibility and reach. Content creators must understand what it is, its causes, and how to avoid or remove it. This way, they can ensure that their target audience sees and appreciates their content.

Why Did My Channel Get YouTube Shadowbanned?

Shadowbanning has been around for a long time and is practiced on almost all websites and social media platforms to ensure its user’s a safe space. This is why YouTube regularly changes its algorithms that automatically block channels violating their community guidelines. Another reason for shadowban could be that you were reported by people that did not like your content!

In 2020, YouTube faced backlash for shadowbanning one of its most prominent creators, PewDiePie. His followers assumed he was shadowbanned and reported that they could not access his channel or see any recent videos uploaded by him on YouTube.

However, PewDiePie wasn’t the only one to face its wrath in 2020! A YouTuber, Legacy Studio, in his video from June 2020 titled- ‘My Channel is being shadowbanned! This could happen to you’, says that “Because I do things like say, Hey, GOD BLESS YOU GUYS or I talk about my faith or about how God has blessed this YouTube channel. Because of my religious activities, there may be a chance that YouTube may be blocking my videos from getting out there further.”

Another YouTuber named GoldMine, in his video from October 2020 titled ‘YouTube Shadow Banned me’ says, “Your account and channel still exist but the discoverability of the channel is practically non-existent.”

So, if the ban on your YouTube channel is not lifted, you may not be able to monetize your channel anymore. That, of course, could leave a severe dent in your livelihood.

Now, let’s look at some main reasons why you may face this problem…

Common Causes of Shadowban

YouTube’s algorithm is designed to identify and limit the visibility of low-quality, spammy content or in violation of the platform’s community guidelines. There are several common causes of YouTube Shadowban, including:

1. Spamming:

Engaging in spamming activities such as excessive commenting, posting irrelevant or duplicate content, or using bots to increase views or engagement artificially can result in a shadowban. Also, desist from spam and abuses.

2. Violating community guidelines:

YouTube has strict guidelines around acceptable content, including hate speech, violence, sexually explicit material, and others. If a channel consistently violates these guidelines, it may be shadowbanned.

3. Using prohibited or unethical methods to increase views:

Avoid posting using bots, cheating software, or other prohibited methods to increase views or engagement can result in a shadowban.

4. Keyword Stuffing:

Overloading a video’s title, description, and tags with irrelevant keywords in an attempt to manipulate search rankings can result in a shadowban.

5. Linking to prohibited or malicious sites:

Including links in videos or descriptions that lead to sites that contain malicious content or violate community guidelines can get you shadowbanned.

6. Poor video quality:

Suppose the content of a video is low-quality, such as poorly lit, edited, or poor audio. In that case, the channel may be shadowbanned, as the platform’s algorithm may consider it low-quality content.

It’s vital for content creators to be aware of these common causes of Shadowban and to take steps to avoid violating the platform’s guidelines and policies. Another reason may be when you have multiple channels running on the same device or IP address.

How Do I Fix Shadowban on Youtube?

If your channel has been shadowbanned on YouTube, there are several steps you can take to remove the ban and regain visibility. Here’s how to remove a YouTube Shadowban:

1. Verify your channel is shadowbanned:

To determine if your channel is shadowbanned, you can use tools such as “Shadowban.eu” or “Tubebuddy“. These tools can help you determine if your channel is being affected and provide suggestions for how to remove the ban.

2. Report to The YouTube Support Team

This is the first thing you must do! Open up YouTube help by clicking here and clicking on the triple bar symbol contineously.

Once you open it up, click on ‘Submit Feedback’ and then click on the “General Help Centre Experience” to send a personal message.

Now, you’ll need to add a screenshot of the issue and clearly describe the problem you are facing. Fill out both these details.

You will receive a mail-in due time from one of the support staff of YouTube.

3. Follow Their Guidelines

Over 73% of adults in the United States currently use YouTube. So to safeguard the interests of all those that use it to view or produce content, YouTube enforces community guidelines. These guidelines are a set of rules and branch into categories like harmful or dangerous content, Copyright, Child safety, etc.

The YouTube Policy guidelines get updated regularly as the requirement arises so you must ensure to keep yourself updated with them!

4. Rethink Content

Give yourself time to go through your old videos and find out what could have violated YouTubes community guidelines. You could include multiple people in this process to gain more insights! Go back to researching and ask your audience what they want to see via your YouTube community option or through social media.

Then, start subtly tweaking your content to get on YouTube’s good side after conducting your research.

5. Don’t Stop Uploading Content

Your videos may not be garnering the regular amount of views but you must not shy away from uploading videos regularly. Keep in mind that these videos should have the changes as per YouTube community guidelines. The platform and its people will eventually come to accept the content and lift your shadowban.

6. Increase Promotions

You should consider putting the word out there if you possess fully functional social media pages. Simple stories or posts about clicking the link in your bio about the new video can do wonders. If you have other channels, then you should think about cross-promoting!

Preventing Future Shadowbans

Preventing future shadowbans on YouTube is crucial for content creators who want to maintain their visibility and reach on the platform. Here are several tips for avoiding future shadowbans:

1. Follow YouTube’s community guidelines and policies:

To ensure that your channel remains in good standing with YouTube, it’s important to familiarize yourself with the platform’s community guidelines and policies and to avoid violating them.

2. Avoid spamming activities:

3. Use keywords effectively:

When choosing keywords for your videos, be strategic and target keywords relevant to your content and audience. Overloading your videos with irrelevant keywords can result in a shadowban.

4. Avoid prohibited methods of increasing views:

Using bots, cheating software, or other prohibited methods to increase views or engagement can result in a shadowban. Instead, focus on growing your channel organically by creating great content and engaging with your audience.

5. Link to safe and relevant sites:

When including links in your videos or descriptions, ensure that they lead to safe and relevant sites that don’t violate YouTube’s community guidelines.

6. Maintain high-quality video production standards:

Ensure that your videos are well-lit, edited, and have good audio quality. YouTube’s algorithm may consider low-value content and low-quality videos, which can result in a shadowban.

Creating high-quality, engaging, and relevant content will help YouTubers prevent a shadowban and maintain their channel’s visibility and reach on YouTube. With a focus on organic growth and engagement, you can build a strong community of followers and reach your target audience.

Wrapping up

In conclusion, you must not stop uploading content even if you are not garnering enough views. The shadowban will eventually lift, but in the meantime, you must focus on tweaking the content you upload as per YouTube community guidelines.

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Author Bio:

Akash Tripathi is a Content Marketing Manager at Top Mobile Tech. It is a blog where I cover all the tips & tricks related to Mobile and more related to tech. Stay connected to the rest of the world with Top Mobile Tech. We bring the latest and critical news to your mobile and computer devices.

YouTube Shadowban: What is it and How to Remove it? (2023 Update)