http://www.BusinessNetworkingVideos.com Internet marketing guru Jeff Johnson was recently notified by YouTube that they have closed his account of over 90 videos (3 years of videos) due to violation of terms of service……problem is, YouTube doesn’t tell him what that actual violation was.
Recently, ProBlogger Darren Rowse received the same message from YouTube. Account Closed!
And, just recently, the video distributing service TubeMogul closed my account for the exact reason: Violation of Terms of Service. Unfortunately, no one will tell me what that terms of service I violated.
So what are the common denominators with all of these closings? if you search Google, you can find where many gurus of the internet marketing industry are having their accounts closed. But, the question is……why?
Jeff Johnson, for example, has been creating marketing videos teaching you how to build your business on line and utilizing the free services of YouTube for over 3 years now. Why, all of a sudden, without warning, is he in violation of Terms Of Service?
The purpose of this video is not to bash any of the free services out there. After all they own the sites and have the rights to do as they please with their sites. It would be nice, however, to still have a good explanation as to why you are having your account closed other than, “violation of terms of service.”
But, I guess the thing here is, this is all basically an automated system and there is no human being punching that button to close the account. It is merely a roll of the dice that we used a word, or a url, or God knows what to activate the buzz word that caused them to think we were in violation.
My point is…..don’t put all of your eggs in one basket. There are plenty of free services out there, no matter what your industry is. But, if you rely on that one service, they too can one day flip that switch and you can be out of business literally in seconds. So, that being said, play fair, play by the rules (as you understand them), but understand that the rules change minute by minute in the online world today. Make sure you utilize all of the services you can (check out Amazon s3 services) and spread your messages out amongst several sites to ensure that your online messages can still keep going even if you do fall prey to one of the online giants one day.
And, if you really want to play it safe, check out their pro versions or commercial memberships to ensure that you are not stepping on an online landmine.
Duration : 0:9:28
Mr. Philip Kotler is S.C. Johnson & Son Professor of International Marketing at the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, in Evanston, Illinois.
Terry Brock, MBA, CSP, CPAE is a marketing coach, professional speaker, author, and syndicated columnist. Contact Terry at 407.363.0505 or email him at terrybrock@terrybrock.com or visit his website at http://www.terrybrock.com