YouTube's Ad Problem: Low-Quality Content and Unfriendly Top Channels

For two decades, YouTube has pitched advertisers on its future as the entertainment powerhouse, simply stating: "Young people don't watch cable; they watch YouTube." However, two key issues persist: the overwhelmingly low quality of much of its content, and the fact that its most popular channels aren't always advertiser-friendly. While viewers primarily watch top-performing videos, the existence of low-quality content still impacts ad appeal, exacerbated by issues with top channels.