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Unauthorised content constitutes only a small fraction of the most viewed videos on youtube
MUMBAI: This is a piece of news that should be interesting for US media owners crying themselves hoarse over Youtube‘s copyright infringing material. A study conducted by online video viewership metrics service Vidmeter shows that unauthorised copyright videos make up a relatively small portion of YouTube’s most popular videos and an even smaller portion of views to YouTube’s most popular videos. |
The report analyses the number and viewership of videos uploaded and subsequently removed from YouTube.com at the request of major English-language copyright holders in the previous three months. The purpose of this report is to provide a fact-based representation of the popularity of unauthorised copyrighted videos on YouTube as well as the relative popularity of each copyright owner’s videos. Videos removed at the request of copyright owners accounted for only nine per cent of total YouTube videos. Removed videos accounted for only six per cent of the total YouTube video views. This finding is the opposite of consensus, which assumes that Big Media videos account for a small percentage of total videos, but a large percentage of views. |
Viacom had demanded YouTube to take down 100,000 copyrighted clips, and later claimed 160,000 clips seen 1.5 billion times had been pirated when it sued Google for more than $1 billion dollars. According to Vidmeter, just 72 of Viacom’s taken down clips had made it to the most-viewed videos list — 1.07 per cent of the top videos accounting for 2.37 per cent of views. The most-affected copyright holder was Time Warner, with 93 clips. Of the removed videos, Viacom‘s accounted for the largest share of views (two per cent of total YouTube views), and the second-largest share of videos (one per cent). Time Warner topped the latter category, also with one per cent. This contradicts assumptions that they are Daily Show, Colbert, etc. Disney‘s most-viewed removed video, with 430,000 views, was “USC Cheerleader extreme wedgie.” While the study did find a fair number of blatantly pirated full-length clips from television shows and movies, the bulk of views to removed videos consisted of music videos and short clips from comedy sketches and unique sporting events. The report notes that the reason blatantly pirated full-length clips are not relatively popular may be that such videos are more diligently removed and thus do not have enough time to accumulate a critical amount of views. If this were the case, it may be argued that there is a demand for such content on YouTube, but it would still remain true that, in its current state, such content counts for only a very small fraction of YouTube’s popular video views. |
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With 57 per cent single new users, Ashley Madison rebrands as discreet dating platform
Platform says majority of new members now identify as single
INDIA: Ashley Madison is shedding the “married-dating” label that defined it for two decades, repositioning itself as a platform for discreet dating in what it calls the post-social media age.
The rebrand, unveiled in India on 27 February, 2026, marks a structural shift in business model and identity. Once synonymous with married dating, the company now describes itself as the “premier destination for discreet dating” under a new tagline: Where Desire Meets Discretion.
The pivot is data-driven. Internal figures show that 57 per cent of global sign-ups between 1 January and 31 December, 2025 identified as single: a notable departure from the platform’s married core. The company argues that its community has already evolved beyond its original positioning.
“In an age where our lives have been constantly put on public display, privacy has become the new luxury,” said Ashley Madison chief strategy officer Paul Keable. He framed the platform’s offering as “ethical discretion” for singles, separated, divorced and non-monogamous users seeking private connections.
The shift also taps into wider digital fatigue. A global survey conducted by YouGov for Ashley Madison, covering 13,071 adults across Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, Italy, Mexico, Spain, Switzerland, the UK and the US, found mounting discomfort with hyper-public online lives.
Among dating app users, 30 per cent cited constant swiping and messaging as a source of fatigue, while 24 per cent pointed to pressure to curate public-facing profiles and early personal disclosure. Some 27 per cent said fears of screenshots or information being shared contributed to exhaustion; an equal share cited unwanted attention.
The retreat from oversharing appears broader. According to the survey, 46 per cent of adults actively try to keep most aspects of their life private online. Only 8 per cent feel comfortable sharing most aspects publicly, while 35 per cent say they are becoming more selective about what they disclose.
Ashley Madison is betting that this cultural recalibration towards controlled visibility can be monetised. By doubling down on privacy infrastructure and reframing itself around discretion rather than infidelity, the company is attempting to convert reputational baggage into a premium proposition.
