How did my crappy 108-second 4:3 video earn so much and, more importantly, why did it peak 2-years after it was uploaded?
Below is the earnings graph for my best ever YouTube video. It’s 108 seconds long and shot in 640×480 (4:3) on a cheap bridge camera in one-take. I won’t reveal the actual earnings but I will say that it has generated net eCPM at the mid-higher end of what you would expect since I uploaded it at the beginning of 2010. It took me less than 30 minutes to take, make and upload. It’s a one-off and this level of quality wouldn’t make the grade in 2015 but it’s interesting to look at the timescale and the reasons why it was so popular. The curve has deeper meaning and brings up the question of speculative trading in YouTube videos. Dive deeper into the stats and there’s an even more interesting possibility. Video re-marketing.