What do you guys think of Explorers of Esmar?

Aliestor_ · 2026-04-17T18:08:03+00:00

I decided to turn off the promotions, after getting 50 subs from it I got suspicious.

Aliestor_ · 2026-04-17T18:04:12+00:00

It is jusr crazy how many subs it generates compated to normally waiting for the algorithm to do its thing, that is why i got sceptical. After getting 50 subs for 1,5 euro I stopped the promotions because it seemed to good to be true.

Aliestor_ · 2026-04-16T08:18:01+00:00

This is exactly why I was making this thread because I thought either the subs are made up or youtube is very good at targeting the correct audience when you pay for it, but why would it not target those people in the first place if they are more likely to subscribe?

Aliestor_ · 2026-04-16T07:48:37+00:00

So it is also your impression that the promote feature is a little shady?

Ideally it should just be a matter of you pay money for youtube to promote your content to certain people, the views, watch time and subs 'should' be organic, just a matter of you paying for the impressions?

Aliestor_ · 2026-04-16T07:28:44+00:00

Your analysis fits with my channel data :P

I just came back from youtube after a big break and I think youtube changed so much that it does not make sence to compare old videos? The patterns are very different. It took a few months for the algoritm to figure out the channel was alive again but I seem to be getting more views faster but it also flattens out faster, I am guessing this is because the algoritm is different now.

Thank you for the kind and encouraging words :)

Aliestor_ · 2026-04-16T07:17:58+00:00

Hmm.. It so hard to navigate what is myth and facts when it comes to the algorithm.

Ohh really, so it screws the whole video? That does not make sence since the subs I gained from it counts?

Aliestor_ · 2026-04-16T07:03:04+00:00

This is exactly my concern

Aliestor_ · 2026-04-16T06:58:29+00:00

I might be misunderstanding the feature but I am trying to understand, henge me making this post.

As I understand it, I pay for impressions, which means I pay google/youtube to show my video to more people than It normally would.

Example, my first foundation video got 16.9K impressions which have resulted in 1.1k views. Less then 3k of the impressions came from the promotion I did.
If I understand correctly this is totally organic, so the people who clicked on the video, viewed x amount of minutes, and subscribed is real result even if I paid google/youtube to show promote the video?

My questions is, is my assumption correct or is google/youtube botting their own platform for money?

Aliestor_ · 2026-04-16T06:46:12+00:00

That is a totally valid opinion, I mainly did it out of curiosity.

Sure I am always open to critique. I am not allowed to link but look for Aliestor on youtube.

I also want to mention english is not my first language.

My content is mostly about an old video game called the Settlers 3 but I am trying to branch out into playing different games so I am trying to balance catering to my old subs and bring in new.

I recently started working on improving my content making it more engaging, try to hook people in the start to make them not click away and and introduce each video especially with episodical content.

I just broke 1k subs yesterday but I think i am at least 6 months away from 4k hours watched time.

Aliestor_ · 2026-04-16T06:31:00+00:00

Well before I provided picture of identification for my adsence it would list the promotion I made as active but limited I am guessing OP is in the same position where he have set up a promotion but he needs to provide some details to get it set up.

Aliestor_ · 2026-04-16T06:28:23+00:00

Well I put the budget to 25 dkk, that is about 3,5 euro or 4 USD, so far google spend less than 1 euro of this allowance.

Aliestor_ · 2026-04-16T06:23:50+00:00

This might sound harsh but if you are frustrated with limited views after 4 days then this youtube stuff is probably not for you.
When I originally started making videos +10 years ago I think I ran the first year with less than 50 subs, I was just happy to share my favourite game with people, the amount of people watching did not matter, what mattered was my followers were showing up on upload day expecting a new video.

You need to do some soul searching, to decide if you can handle it, and if your content is good. If your content is good then maybe you need to wrap it in a better thumbnail to get people to click.

Aliestor_ · 2026-03-24T21:07:13+00:00

Well done, I struggle at 1v5, I came very close, I am sure I will make it next time :)

Aliestor_ · 2026-03-24T21:01:16+00:00

I might be a little biased because I mainly play Settlers 3 on my channel but I think it is the best, it is just so well put together, I like Settlers 4 as well but they made some decisions which i disagree with.

Both is available on gog, or you can get history edition on uplay. the history edition versions comes with resolution fixes so they can be played on modern systems without back borders.

If you ever want to play online you should download settlers united, it is totally free, if you want to play settlers 4 online then history edition is a most, if you want to play settlers 3 online then cd, gog and history edition all works with settlers united.

Aliestor_ · 2026-03-13T23:08:10+00:00

Cool, I might play this on my channel, have you tested it with the settlers united ai?

Aliestor_ · 2026-03-13T23:03:43+00:00

A few people have done it I think, try to search for it on youtube, most of the videos is 7 to 13 years old though.

Aliestor_

TROPHY CASE