Spam indicator
Few views for the subscriber count
What it checks
Whether the channel's lifetime views are in proportion to its subscribers.
The exact rule
- It fires (100%) when the channel's lifetime views are fewer than 10 times its subscribers, on a channel with at least 1,000 visible subscribers. Otherwise it reads 0%.
- It is N/A when the subscriber count is hidden, under 1,000, or unknown, and when the channel has no public videos or no view count.
Why it can point to spam
Nearly everyone who subscribes watched something first, so a real channel's lifetime views usually run to hundreds per subscriber. Fewer than 10 suggests the subscribers didn't come from the videos: bought subscribers, subscribe-for-subscribe swaps, or a channel whose videos were removed after the subscribers arrived.
When it fires on a legitimate channel
A channel that took down or made private most of its older videos loses their views from the public total but keeps the subscribers, and can fall under the line. The same can happen to a channel that grew mainly through live streams it didn't keep.
How to change it
There is no setting for this. It changes as new videos are watched, or when older videos go back to public.
If you run the channel and ever paid a service for subscribers or took part in subscribe-for-subscribe, stop. YouTube's fake engagement policy forbids both, and YouTube says subscribers it identifies as spam don't count toward a channel's total. Buying views to fix the ratio breaks the same policy.