Youtubers...

Rad1sh

Full Member
Sep 22, 2019
175
272
Olympia, Washington
Detector(s) used
Nokta Makro Simplex White Coinmaster ( Burghandy)
Garret Ace 250 Tracker IV
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I watch a TON of youtube videos. I have a job that either I am busy or I am waiting to be busy. Mostly I am waiting. I am starting to think a good portion of youtube detecting videos are fake. I am not saying all, but the just did a quick hunt for an hour and got 3 silvers, and this gold ring.

So give it to me straight, am I a cynical asshat or am I seeing the light? I
 

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danloop

Full Member
Feb 16, 2014
195
198
Kentucky
Detector(s) used
Unicorn Treasure Master Pro
Modes:
Dowsing
Pulse Induction
Multi-Frequency
Ground Penetrating Radar
Beat Frequency Oscillation
Aural Target Identification
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
If you watch enough videos from different channel owners you see a pattern.

I think of it as a checklist they are working from:

1. Snazzy intro that eats into the video time.

2. Enthusiastic host, usually over the top.
HEY GUYS! Welcome back to another...and today we are going to...
If you like the video don't forget to press the like button and be sure to click the bell so you don't miss any exciting new videos.
And if you haven't subscribed, go ahead and subscribe!!!
If you like my videos and want to support this channel, I've put a link to my Patreon account in the description. Patreon members can get free stuff and deals on merchandise so check it out! It's all in the description below.
Cue content
-------------

Not necessarily fake but the vibe is money.
 

Keppy

Gold Member
Nov 19, 2006
8,318
2,870
N.E. Ohio on lake Erie
Detector(s) used
** WHAT ONE I FEEL LIKE ON HUNTING DAY *****
Primary Interest:
Other
like i said before i do not watch people on you tube metal detecting. The only thing i watch you tube for is help oh repairs i know nothing about. Other wise than that youtube is a waste to me.
 

Coinboy

Sr. Member
Dec 4, 2019
346
727
Iowa
Detector(s) used
Minelab Etrac, Nokta Makro Simplex, pulsedive, Garrett Ace 200, Nokta pinpointer, Brute Magnetics 888 pound Fishing Magnet
Predatortools
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I saw on Youtube the other day a guy who “found” 50 gold coins at the beach. They had seams on the edges lol. But there are some good videos
 

smallfoot

Bronze Member
May 29, 2019
1,970
4,144
Flawda
Detector(s) used
Garrett AT Pro, Bounty Hunter Tracker IV
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I have one big "irk" that keeps me from clicking on one. When the title includes "you won't believe what we found" or such as "if it wasn't filmed, you wouldn't believe it" I get a bad taste in my mouth. First, I'm looking at a filmed event if I consider watching it. Why would I not believe it, you're about to show me photographic proof...:dontknow:
 

CoinHunterAZ

Hero Member
Feb 18, 2013
858
1,498
Flagstaff, AZ
Detector(s) used
Tesoro Sidewinder Umax, Garrett ATPro, Minelab Equinox 800, Garrett Pro Pointer
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I notice that most of these MD videos are compilations of several hunts/permissions all blended into one video. I enjoy watching certain diggers vids, but for the most part it's click bait. I'll usually only watch them when the weather is bad, or if the ground is frozen. C'mon Spring!
 

seagullplayer

Jr. Member
Aug 13, 2008
78
112
Southern Indiana
Detector(s) used
Garrett ACE 250 & ACE 400, ACE Apex
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
They got to do something to drum up viewers. Most of them wouldn't look good in a bikini...
 

CASPER-2

Gold Member
Jan 3, 2012
17,158
19,959
NEW ENGLAND
🥇 Banner finds
1
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
6
Detector(s) used
WHITE'S XLT, PI PRO, GARRETT 2500, 3- FISHER CZ21s, JW FISHER 8X
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I do slide shows of finds on youtube and show the good finds as well as the bad
[FONT=Verdana,Arial,Tahoma,Calibri,Geneva,sans-serif]https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9z25g56LhkEv_fdD_Gglsg

[FONT=Verdana,Arial,Tahoma,Calibri,Geneva,sans-serif]http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/members/29748-albums.html

[/FONT][FONT=Verdana,Arial,Tahoma,Calibri,Geneva,sans-serif]https://www.flickr.com/photos/casper-2/[/FONT][SUB][SUP]
[/SUP][/SUB]
[/FONT]
 

CASPER-2

Gold Member
Jan 3, 2012
17,158
19,959
NEW ENGLAND
🥇 Banner finds
1
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
6
Detector(s) used
WHITE'S XLT, PI PRO, GARRETT 2500, 3- FISHER CZ21s, JW FISHER 8X
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I was among the first to do youtube metal detecting video's in early 2008, camera's were crude and video quality was poor. There were just a handful of us doing them, and all were pure and simple. Now after 12 years it seems to be who can outgun who, and get the most SUB's. I would imagine many are setup, and many are the real deal. I think common sense will tell you in time who is who. It's got so crazy I've narrowed down my favorites to just a few. I still do my video's with close to 500 but rarely do I share. I'm not going to give anyone a chance to figure out where I hunt for all it takes is one to recognize a landmark and your best spot will be pouched. On the other hand if your planting targets.......... then I guess you don't have to worry about giving up the location.
I made that mistake long ago with having my GF take pics of me hunting - I didn't crop out landmarks behind me and then next time I went to hot spots they were loaded with other hunters and places I killed it became sparse of finds
 

smokeythecat

Gold Member
Nov 22, 2012
20,713
40,790
Maryland
🥇 Banner finds
10
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
1
Detector(s) used
XP Deus II
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I see them as mindless entertainment. Interesting. Kind of like watching birdies outside the window. I never subscribe to any of them.
 

Charlie P. (NY)

Gold Member
Feb 3, 2006
13,003
17,106
South Central Upstate NY in the foothills of the h
Detector(s) used
Minelab Musketeer Advantage Pro w/8" & 10" DD coils/Fisher F75se(Upgraded to LTD2) w/11" DD, 6.5" concentric & 9.5" NEL Sharpshooter DD coils/Sunray FX-1 Probe & F-Point/Black Widows/Rattler headphone
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
I like it when they just edit out the fluff and show the finds.

In fact, a still image will do fine. Less chance I'm going to see some twerp with his hat on crooked throwing gang signs.
 

pa-dirt_nc-sand

Silver Member
Apr 18, 2016
4,233
14,644
South Western PA
🥇 Banner finds
2
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
2
Detector(s) used
ACE 250 with DD coil
Equinox 600
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
I enjoy watching a number of YouTubers. I assume The Chigg and the Hoover Boys are making some money. Does anyone know if it is the kind of money they can quit their day job? My daughter watches slime videos which are loaded with appropriate ads, but I see these vids get in the 10’s of millions of views. My son watches skateboarding videos again with similar millions of views. I’m assuming most md YouTubers are doing it because of wanting to share the excitement (like we do on Tnet), and are not expecting to make much $$. Am I wrong are all of these guys making big money with 500 views or 5,000 or 50,000?
 

mh9162013

Full Member
Mar 22, 2019
180
139
KY
Detector(s) used
Fisher Research Labs F2, Equinox 600, Pro-Find 35, & Garrett Carrot.
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
I enjoy watching a number of YouTubers. I assume The Chigg and the Hoover Boys are making some money. Does anyone know if it is the kind of money they can quit their day job? My daughter watches slime videos which are loaded with appropriate ads, but I see these vids get in the 10’s of millions of views. My son watches skateboarding videos again with similar millions of views. I’m assuming most md YouTubers are doing it because of wanting to share the excitement (like we do on Tnet), and are not expecting to make much $$. Am I wrong are all of these guys making big money with 500 views or 5,000 or 50,000?

From the research I've done, how much you make off of Youtube is dependent on several variables, such as number of views, subject matter of the videos, types of ads allowed and other monetization efforts.

If i recall correctly, you can expect about $4-$7 per 1,000 views if you run those "skip in 5 seconds" ads at the beginning of your video. However, the money you can make from ads can go up if you upload more popular subjects where there's more advertising revenue. For example, a video review about a metal detector probably isn't going to get the same ad rate per 1,000 views as a video review of the new Samsung or iPhone that comes out just days before.

But it's not just about ads. It's sponsorships, affiliate marketing (like with Amazon), cross marketing with other forms of social media, selling merch and promoting another business of yours. For example, some people who post metal detecting videos are metal detector dealers. So maybe they make only $50 a month in ads from their videos, but if it leads to selling an extra 2 or 3 machines, that might be a $500 profit they wouldn't otherwise have.
 

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49er12

Bronze Member
Aug 22, 2013
1,238
1,627
Rolling Rock, Pennsylvania
Detector(s) used
Minelab xterra, Whites DFX, Notka Makro Simplex. Folks the price don’t mean everything, the question is are you willing to put in the time to learn the machine, experience will pay off I guarantee it.
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
U no YouTube is one of the best things created, why video instructions for so many things, example I found out how to fix my dryer myself so that’s awesome save money do it yourself if u can. Now we rtalking about metal detectors, I myself try to get much feedback as I can when I buy electronic items. Unless you r simply fresh to the hobby and don’t no anything well like everything else watch and figure who’s giving you the best information on what need, typing in search is a pain, but if you Want to learn most r fine, some folks r sellers have store that’s ok, but honest, watch , buy machine don’t like send back. Fact is this hobby requires patience because you might get tired of finding trash, but you will learn and find nice stuff to. That’s why eBay has machines for sale, just wasn’t there thing, even fishing has bad days, u get point
 

trdking

Gold Member
Feb 28, 2015
5,139
7,923
Fullerton CA
Detector(s) used
Minelab CTX 3030
AT Pro
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
You are a cynic and while we are at it Storage Wars is also 100% legit!
My favorite was the Draped bust that was dug in a small jar packed with dirt. The dirt was a different color than the ground the jar came from Hysterical
 

Markdb353

Greenie
Sep 13, 2017
19
62
Metairie, La
Detector(s) used
AT Pro
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
LOL. I sometimes wonder the same thing, only when they find a ton of silver and gold all in 1 hunt, lol. I've hunted several sights from the early years and end up having to dig through a ton of trash targets before being lucky enough to find 1 decent target. Here is a recent hunt I did, 100% real finds.. we were at this spot for at least 4 hours and only ended up with a few cool items and 1 coin. Feel free to subscribe, hopefully I will have some content for some future videos soon.

 

smokeythecat

Gold Member
Nov 22, 2012
20,713
40,790
Maryland
🥇 Banner finds
10
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
1
Detector(s) used
XP Deus II
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I still liked the shiny buffalo nickel fresh dug! Once some of these folks get a bit of popularity, well, maybe at first they were legit, but with the prestige (even for youtube), and the $$$, I think most eventually get corrupted. I mean how much fun would it be for the viewer to see them dig one flat button (hey, I dug that one day last week.)
 

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Owassokie

Sr. Member
Jun 28, 2012
497
422
Oklahoma
Detector(s) used
Equinox 800, Ace 250
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I enjoy watching a number of YouTubers. I assume The Chigg and the Hoover Boys are making some money. Does anyone know if it is the kind of money they can quit their day job? My daughter watches slime videos which are loaded with appropriate ads, but I see these vids get in the 10’s of millions of views. My son watches skateboarding videos again with similar millions of views. I’m assuming most md YouTubers are doing it because of wanting to share the excitement (like we do on Tnet), and are not expecting to make much $$. Am I wrong are all of these guys making big money with 500 views or 5,000 or 50,000?

This. The viewership is nothing for 95% of MDing videos....they aren't making money. I'm sure some embellish or straight lie but I think the majority are like us and just want to log their hunts and share with others.

Suggestion: Most people type in a description of what they want to watch, click enter, then start watching videos. If you do this,you're watching what YT wants you to watch. There are multiple ways to "view" but the default is "relevance". IE...what YT wants you to watch. Instead, change the default and watch by date, rating, or even view count. Also consider looking at videos made in the last month or year. This will limit YT's ability to steer you towards the highly edited, highly advertised videos.
 

DFW_THer

Bronze Member
Feb 20, 2008
1,184
1,493
Coinslaughtersville
🥇 Banner finds
1
Detector(s) used
Garrett Carrot Glued To A Stick
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
I'll bite. If you look at someone like The Hoover Boys, and boil it down to an hourly rate? Including travel, research, dig time, editing... You're looking at under minimum wage. Light-years away from supporting a family. Metal Detecting youtube videos are a labor of love. I would say 2% of content creators in this category are actually bringing home any bacon. You could have a million subscribers like the Chigg, but you're not going to make a nice check unless the views come in.

To summarize, if you plan to make YouTube videos, don't quit your day job.

I would also say The Hoover Boys are nothing but click bait titles and hype, but to me, a GW button is 'unbelievable'. Two gold coins out of one field is 'astonishing'. Call a spade a spade and hype it up, why not? I couldn't dig with someone who faked it for clicks. Aquachigg is authentic THing, and deserves every click. Stealth Diggers. Green Mountain, NuggetNoggin. I could go on. These folks work hard to make free quality content for people to enjoy, and they aren't interested in scripted finds like on the mainstream TV channels...

I won't pretend to know it all, but I have some insights.
 

smokeythecat

Gold Member
Nov 22, 2012
20,713
40,790
Maryland
🥇 Banner finds
10
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
1
Detector(s) used
XP Deus II
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I made two videos a few years ago. It was not worth the effort. I could either concentrate on digging, or...made a video. It was pretty hard to get dig time in if I was worried about the camera. I expect to do a few for some folks later this year, but, I won't be in them! Yeah!
 

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Doug H

Full Member
May 23, 2014
174
214
Cumberland, VA
Detector(s) used
White's coinmaster pro
Garrett at pro
Equinox 600
Primary Interest:
Other
I watch a lot of YouTube videos dealing with things I'm interested in. But I never like, comment, share, or subscribe to any of them. If they make money off me looking at the video, so be it. But I'm not doing anything else to help the youtubers get loaded when that's all the care about in the first place is the money. I dont think YouTube started out as a money maker for people did it? Its was just a video sharing site and people turned it into a money maker.
 

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