Over the last week or so, YouTubers have been posing about how their videos on YouTube have been seeing sharp, unexplained declines on their platform on computer devices. I believe this impacts digital privacy communities since I hypothesize views are now ad-based in YouTube’s new algorithm. Josh Strife Hayes, a long form gaming content YouTuber goes over the stats in the video below:
PROOF YouTube has changed how views work
Josh Hayes discusses a significant drop in desktop views on YouTube channels starting around August 10th, 2025, using data from his own and others’ channels. He shows how, prior to this date, views from desktop, mobile, TV, and tablet devices correlated, but after August 10th, desktop views fell noticeably while views from other devices remained stable. Hayes encourages other YouTubers to check their analytics for this shift, which could explain the recent decline in views, particularly for long-form videos.
Summary based on YouTube transcript using ChatGPT free.
Personally, I believe this drop off is due to YouTube’s adblocker detection and how rather than still paying the creator for their videos watched on adblocked devices (which are majority on desktops), the creator instead gets no view and they take the hit.
How this impacts privacy communities is that I imagine a much larger percentage of viewers of Techlore and other similar channels use adblockers and many on mobile too though less common. I’d like to see Henry’s analytics by device to see if there’s an even sharper decline in views in future videos based on Techlore’s demographic so my hypothesis can be tested.
I see this as a concern since channels which advocate for digital minimalism, privacy, security, right to repair, and other related issues since the very tools which they encourage the use of will make it more difficult for their brand to be supported and monetized off of viewership. If any work arounds happen in the future, I would be happy to know so I can still support the creators who advocate for the aformentioned topics.