Hello,

Welcome to the Advertising and Media Insider newsletter. First, a PSA: We're publishing our first list of rising CMOs later this summer, and we want your ideas. Read the criteria and how to make a nomination by August 15 here.

On to the news: We're seeing the rise of direct brands impact the marketing and advertising world in new ways. For one:

A leading direct-to-consumer ad agency behind upstarts including Harry's and Hims just raised $14 million to spin off into its own multi-brand DTC company

Ad agencies don't want to just help bring direct brands to market anymore. One, Gin Lane, the agency behind direct-to-consumer upstarts Harry's and Hims, is relaunching itself as a company called Pattern that will make DTC brands itself. The competition's fierce, but Pattern's founders told senior reporter Tanya Dua that they believe with 10 years of experience, they know what they're doing.

DTC brands are also attracting investor fever. Consumer brands have raised more than $3 billion since 2012, about half of it raised in 2018 alone, according to CB Insights data cited by Digiday. Tanya also asked investors what their hot DTC picks are.

Investors from Greycroft, Science, Lerer Hippeau, and others who control millions of dollars name the direct-to-consumer startups that will blow up this year

After the healthy sodas and canned booze, some of the more novel ones to me included companies that sell affordable bathing suits for people of all sizes, personalized migraine treatments, and online classes.

Finally, the direct-to-consumer explosion is touching PR agencies. 

PR agencies are beefing up their data services to keep consulting firms like Deloitte and Accenture from eating their lunch

Companies that built themselves by selling directly to consumers on social media are entirely optimized around sales, so to get their business, PR agencies need to show their services can help lead to business outcomes. PR firms have traditionally relied on inaccurate measurement, so now they're adding data services to show their work actually delivers.

Now, a fun thing: I have to plug this piece of great reporting by entertainment reporter Jason Guerrasio on movie subscription service MoviePass. Jason tells the definitive story of the company's rise and fall— and of the lasting impact it's had on the movie business.

Here's the rest of the Advertising and Media Insider newsletter, where we round up the most interesting stories we covered this past week. (If you got this email forwarded, sign up for your own here.)

Who we're talking to

• I spoke to entrepreneur and marketing vet Joe Marchese, who's been saying for years that advertising is broken, about his new holding company, Attention Capital, that's trying to fix it.
• My colleague Lauren Johnson talked to the new heads of Peer39 about their plans to help advertisers get ready for a privacy-centric world.
• Future of TV reporter Ashley Rodriguez talked to MTV CMO Jacqueline Parkes about how she got its revival of "The Hills" in front of new audiences — with astounding results.
• I talked to Best Western CMO Dorothy Dowling about the company's use of AI to personalize ads. She said the results are crushing the industry average.
• BI reporter Amanda Perelli got YouTuber Marina Mogilko to break down how she makes money on the platform. It varies widely by channel depending on who the audience is.

Here are other great stories from media, marketing, and advertising. (Remember that you need to be a BI Prime member to read most of these. Still haven't subscribed? Use promo code AD2PRIME2018 for a free month.)

Taco Bell's global chief brand officer is leaving the company after 4 years

Discovery's 'Undercover Billionaire' explains how recovering from cancer inspired him to try and turn $100 into a million-dollar business in 90 days on TV

A YouTube creator explains how he made nearly $50,000 in ad revenue from one video, without millions of subscribers

Data firm Lotame is pitching TV ad targeting to marketers to stay ahead of marketing cloud giants Adobe and Salesforce

How YouTube star MrBeast, who has 22 million subscribers, uses keywords and the 'shock and awe' effect to maximize views

Former Snap exec Imran Khan's e-commerce startup Verishop is entering retail with a private-label skincare brand

That's it for this week! What other stories do you want to see more of? Send tips or feedback to me at lmoses@businessinsider.com.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: This Facebook exec cofounded and then got fired from Pets.com. Here's why she is no longer hiding from this failure.

This is a preview of a research report from Business Insider Intelligence. To learn more about Business Insider Intelligence, click here. Current subscribers can log in and read the report here.

Social platforms are ramping up on emergent video formats to drive new and deeper forms of engagement across their sites and apps, yielding new opportunities for brands.  

As platforms experiment beyond in-feed videos, new formats and user behaviors around social video present meaningful opportunities for brands to reach millions of social users. In 2018, social platforms saw explosive growth around innovative video formats like Stories; a rising push around communal video experiences; the launch of new video-centric hubs on social platforms (e.g. IGTV); and the expansion of more premium or longer-form fare. 

In The Social Video Report, Business Insider Intelligence examines how video is evolving on social platforms, and how each platform's priorities are developing and shifting as social networks seek to scale viewership on this content. Social platforms continue to undergo transitions in a bid to capture user attention, but each represents a significant key to understanding how the social video landscape is expanding and reorganizing around new formats and distribution models. 

The companies mentioned in this report are: ByteDance, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, Twitch, Twitter, WhatsApp, and YouTube.

Here are some of the key takeaways from the report:

• Social video advertising investment is expected to grow significantly in coming years. Social video ad spend is expected to reach $25.6 billion by 2023, up 128% from $11.2 billion in 2018, per Business Insider Intelligence forecasts.
• Social video ad spend flows overwhelmingly to the dominant social platforms: Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and Snapchat. Nearly three-quarters of YouTube ad revenue comes from video content, 60% for Snapchat, and 55% for Twitter, per eMarketer. Video is only 30% of Facebook’s total ad revenue, but the social giant accounts for the largest share of social video ad spend overall. 
• The Stories format has seen explosive growth over the past year. That growth continues to flow overwhelmingly to Instagram: Instagram Stories hit 500 million daily active users (DAU) as of Q4 2018, up from just 150 million DAU in Q1 2017. Instagram is the leading platform for Stories consumption and sharing: 54% of users say they use Instagram Stories the most, compared with other platforms, per Business Insider Intelligence exclusive data.
• Instagram launched IGTV, which it intended to be a YouTube competitor on long-form, user-generated video — albeit mobile-first and vertically oriented. If IGTV can convert Instagram's 1 billion users to consume video there, it could represent a massive, scalable opportunity as soon as the platform starts to monetize the section with advertising.
• Facebook Watch has pivoted to a communal viewing focus as it looks to scale viewership. But even though half of US adults say they've never even heard of Watch, some shows have demonstrated that they can gain loyal followings nevertheless.
• Snapchat continues to traffic heavily in ephemeral video, but the app is ramping up on premium video through Snapchat Originals. That push has helped drive a surge in video engagement on the app: As of fall 2018, the amount of time users spent watching shows each month nearly tripled since January 2018.
• TikTok's rapid growth has suggested that there's space in the landscape for short-form social video. TikTok has been downloaded more than 1 billion times globally, and was the No. 4 non-game app worldwide in 2018 on both iOS and Android devices, per Sensor Tower data. 

In full, the report:

• Examines and forecasts the rapid growth of social video ad revenue through 2023 across each major platform.
• Identifies how video formats are evolving on social platforms as companies seek to drive new types of engagement among users.
• Presents a platform-by-platform portrait of key social platforms' emergent video efforts and how they're each performing on key measures, including audience uptake and monetization. 

Interested in getting the full report? Here are two ways to access it:

1. Purchase & download the full report from our research store. >> Purchase & Download Now
2. Subscribe to a Premium pass to Business Insider Intelligence and gain immediate access to this report and more than 250 other expertly researched reports. As an added bonus, you'll also gain access to all future reports and daily newsletters to ensure you stay ahead of the curve and benefit personally and professionally. >> Learn More Now

The choice is yours. But however you decide to acquire this report, you've given yourself a powerful advantage in your understanding of social video.

Join the conversation about this story »

• YouTuber Josh Pieters tricked several influencers into thinking they'd received pieces of the moon from the National Space Centre.
• With the help of magician Archie Manners, Pieters sent out 40 boxes to British influencers under the guise of being a gift to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the moon landing.
• Influencers like former British reality TV star Louise Thompson posted elated videos of themselves with their "moon rocks" on their social channels.
• Pieters told INSIDER he is technically an influencer himself (his YouTube channel has nearly 1 million subscribers), and he often gets sent "really arbitrary things."
• "I just started to wonder is there anything you could send an influencer that they actually wouldn't post about," he said. "Then a moonrock seemed to be something that was so far fetched but also semi-believable, so I thought it would be funny to see whether influencers would actually post about it."
• Visit INSIDER's homepage for more stories.

YouTuber Josh Pieters uploaded a video to his nearly 1 million subscribers on August 3, where he revealed how he tricked several influencers into thinking they'd received pieces of the moon.

Pieters and his friend, magician Archie Manners, packed 40 boxes containing a piece of gravel in a plastic container, a certificate of authenticity, and a note that said it was from the National Space Centre. Then, they sent them out to some British influencers under the guise of being a gift to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the moon landing.

Most of them are current or former cast members of the E4 reality TV show "Made in Chelsea."

Pieters told INSIDER the idea came about through "basic intrigue" into what influencers will actually post about. He said it was partly a prank for fun, and partly a social experiment to see whether influencers really check up on what they're promoting.

"Obviously with me being technically an influencer myself, we do often get sent really arbitrary things, and I just started to wonder is there anything you could send an influencer that they actually wouldn't post about," he said.

"Then a moon rock seemed to be something that was so far fetched but also semi-believable, so I thought it would be funny to see whether influencers would actually post about it."

Read more: 26 photos show the wild antics inside Jake Paul and Tana Mongeau's $500,000 Vegas wedding, including a 'Game of Thrones' sword and a massive mid-ceremony brawl

The whole video took about 10 days to make, he said, including the creation, packing all the boxes, and hand-delivering a bunch of them.

"With these kind of videos if you put in the effort and work, sometimes it pays off," Pieters said. One of his other recent videos shows him and Manners buying quails eggs from the supermarket in the hope of one of them hatching — and it does.

"It's definitely that angle of 'is that possible? Let's test it out and see if it works,'" he said.

Almost nobody has seen an actual moon rock in real life before, Pieters said, so he thought it would be something relatively easy to fake. Although, a quick Google search would show you that a rock from the moon would be an incredibly generous free gift.

"To be completely honest I didn't hold much hope for it," said Pieters. "But we sent them out and of the first day of sending them, Louise Thompson did her first story, and her reaction to it was just brilliant. So then we sent out more boxes and got a few more."

In an Instagram story, Thompson exclaims: "As if this is from the moon!"

"This is the coolest thing I've ever received in my life," she said. "I have the moon in a jar." Then she excitedly jumps up and down yelling "MOON!"

Among others tricked were current "Made in Chelsea" cast members Harry Baron and Sophie Habboo, beauty influencer Shazney Radley, and YouTuber Oli White.

White excitedly showed the camera his piece of "the moon," in a video.

"No way do I actually have a piece of the moon," he said. "Oh my gosh."

"This is genuinely the most awesome gift ever," Baron said in his story. "Thank you Space Centre, cheers guys."

"I've basically got this, like, letter all about the moon and stuff," said Radley, showing off what was in the box. While Habboo said it was probably "one of the coolest things I've ever had."

Pieters said half of the influencers he sent boxes to were his friends, while the other half were picked more or less at random. So far, nobody has angrily called him out for it.

"Most of them seemed to take it really well, I've gotten messages from them afterwards saying, 'ha ha you got me," he said. "I'm sitting waiting for a horrible message but I haven't received one yet."

He added: "I'd probably have fallen for it to be honest."

Read more: The Instagram influencer whose 100,000-strong following got wiped says she called the police because it felt like 'a murder'

But when Pieters came clean to his friend and fellow YouTuber Jack Maynard, he was sent back a screenshot of a response from the real National Space Centre.

"Thanks for tagging us in your story," the message said. "However, we don't believe this 'Moon Rock' has come from us at the National Space Centre."

The message continued, saying this was not an "official compliment slip" and "we are not sure who has sent this to you."

It ended with asking Maynard whether he knew who sent it, and that the centre was "looking into" the matter.

"I'm sorry National Space Centre," Pieters said at the end of the video. "But on the positive side, I think you got thousands of pounds of good promotion from our very special influencers who decided to promote the moon rock."

You can watch the full video below.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: 7 lesser-known benefits of Amazon Prime

• YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki recently say down for an hour-long interview with British vlogger Alfie Deyes.
• During the interview, Wojcicki echoed earlier comments from YouTube that the platform's policies regarding "creator-on-creator" harassment would be getting revamped before the end of 2019.
• Wojcicki said YouTube has seen some "high-profile examples" that have been "problematic," but did not directly mention the much-covered controversy in June regarding right-wing YouTuber Steven Crowder and journalist Carlos Maza.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

As YouTube works on a new policy regarding "creator-on-creator" harassment, CEO Susan Wojcicki says that the platform is still struggling to figure out the line between harassment and criticism.

YouTube has been working to revamp its policies surrounding how creators can comment on each other's content, and will release the policy update by the end of 2019, Wojcicki said in a recent interview with British vlogger Alfie Deyes. The tricky part comes when YouTube has to relay that policy to its team of 10,000 moderators, who need an "enforceable" and "understandable" set of rules to decide what constitutes harassment and what is just "free speech," Wojcicki said.

"These are great questions and I would like to know the answers to all of them, too," Wojcicki said in response to questions about YouTube harassment policies.

Wojcicki acknowledged that YouTube has recently taken another look at its creator-on-creator harassment policies due to "some high-profile examples" that she described as problematic. However, she did not explicitly name the incident in June that spurred fervent debate around YouTube's free speech policies: right-wing YouTuber Steven Crowder's use of homophobic and racial slurs about Vox journalist Carlos Maza.

YouTube decided that Crowder's videos didn't violate its harassment policies and kept his videos online, a decision that prompted backlash from both employees inside YouTube and those in the community.

Read more: YouTube says it will update its harassment policies to curb 'creator-on-creator' harassment, but won't say how

YouTube has said before that it's working on updating its policies regarding "creator-on-creator" harassment. Chief product officer Neal Mohan said last month at VidCon that YouTube "will be updating our approach," but did not provide details on how YouTube would be doing so.

YouTube declined to provide Business Insider with further details about its upcoming policies for this story. YouTube has been tight-lipped about what the new policy would entail, and a letter from Wojcicki to creators in April said only that the platform "will do more to discourage" harassment.

YouTube's long-touted four "pillars" include "freedom of expression" and "freedom to belong," and it's unclear which one takes priority in this situation. In her sit-down interview with Deyes, Wojcicki said YouTube's issue lies with deciding what content constitutes free speech and what constitutes harassment.

"I understand the harassment issue, and I understand that it's really a dark and difficult part if that's happening to a creator, and it's not something we want to encourage," Wojcicki said. "But the policy needs to be written in a way that creators can comment on each other and criticize each other. So the question is, how do you draw the difference between creators criticizing each other and being part of this free speech, open ideas? Where do you draw that line? Where do they cross the line that it's no longer just about ideas, but they're criticizing them as a person?"

SEE ALSO: A prominent transgender YouTube star was deadnamed at a panel on LGBTQ activism, and it sparked a big discussion and several apologies

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: The incredible story behind Slack, the app that's taken over offices everywhere

• YouTubersTana Mongeau and Jake Paul got married last month in a Las Vegas wedding costing $500,000.
• In a video posted Monday, Mongeau said that the wedding itself wasn't legally binding on paper, but that the relationship between the couple is real.
• Mongeau's comments add authenticity to rumors that they never obtained a marriage license, and further speculation that the relationship itself is faked for views and clout.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

YouTuber Tana Mongeau has confirmed that her wedding to fellow creator Jake Paul isn't legitimate on paper, but insists that the relationship itself is completely real.

Mongeau posted a video to her YouTube channel Monday showing her getting ready on her wedding day and talking about her relationship with Paul. Mongeau tells the camera that she didn't want to make the marriage legally binding because it's "unnecessary" and "takes away the love."

"To everybody that's calling it fake because we rushed into it or because I don't do things traditionally, because I wanted to not do it legally," Mongeau says. "But any wedding I have, if I have three more fucking weddings, I really wouldn't want to do it on paper because I think that legally binding yourself to someone takes away the love."

However, Mongeau maintains that her relationship is the real deal, despite "all of the people who think that it's not real and we're just putting on this show as two f---ing sociopaths."

Read more: YouTube stars Jake Paul and Tana Mongeau are getting married this weekend, but no one can tell if their relationship is for real. Here's what we know so far.

Many fans, and some fellow YouTubers, have long believed that the relationship between the two is all a big ploy to garner views and followers. Those rumors grew louder last week when a clip emerged from Mongeau's reality show, MTV's "Tana Turns 21," that showed her saying the wedding was "for fun and for content."Mongeau later defended her comments as being taken "out of context."

Mongeau maintained that her relationship with Paul has been "unconventional," but insists she loves him.

"That's all I know to tell those people," Mongeau said in her video posted Monday. "We are just f---ing crazy, and that's what you can talk s--t about."

The July 28 wedding between the two YouTubers was, as expected, eventful. The $500,000 event took place in Las Vegas, with the ceremony at a mansion graffitied for the occasion and the reception at the restaurant Sugar Factory. Photos of the wedding show Paul, Mongeau, and their friends flying in on a private jet, a brawl breaking out seconds after the couple was pronounced husband and wife, and Paul cutting the wedding cake with a "Game of Thrones" replica sword.

Shortly after the wedding, celebrity magazine InTouch reported that there's no record of Mongeau and Paul obtaining a marriage license in Nevada. The person who officiated the wedding — Arman Izadi, who has been convicted of attempted battery and pimping, according to The Daily Beast— reportedly doesn't have a license to perform such ceremonies.

Since getting together in late April, the two got engaged at Mongeau's 21st birthday party, then announced at online-video convention VidCon they would be getting married.

SEE ALSO: YouTube barred a 14-year-old conservative personality after she called the LGBTQ community pedophiles. The girl reportedly then posted a photo threatening YouTube HQ with something that looks like a gun.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: I cleaned my entire apartment with 4 of Amazon's highest-rated cleaning robots, but I could've done a much better job myself

• Logan Paul is one of the most controversial personalities on YouTube, where he has amassed nearly 25 million subscribers across his channels.
• The 24-year-old star is often embroiled in controversy: He filmed a video of a dead body in Japan's "suicide forest," Tased dead rats in another one, and said he was "going gay" for a month.
• Here's how Logan Paul rose to internet notoriety, and the biggest events that have happened in his career as an online creator.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

The past few years have been a roller coaster ride for Logan Paul. 

The 24-year-old social media star built a career off the now-defunct Vine app and later, off of two simultaneous YouTube channels. His Midwestern good looks, slapstick humor, and intricately planned and executed viral videos have earned him millions of dollars and legions of diehard fans. 

But Paul has become embroiled in multiple controversies in the last two years, costing him advertising on YouTube and a movie deal with YouTube Red. 

Here's how Paul went from a 10-year-old making homemade videos in his backyard in Ohio to one of the most famous — and controversial — social media stars in the world:

SEE ALSO: People are getting refunds after paying $50 to watch the 'glitchy' and 'terrible' livestream of wedding between YouTubers Tana Mongeau and Jake Paul

Paul got his start at age 10, posting videos to the internet using an app called Zoosh.

Source: Insider

By high school, Paul transitioned to now-defunct video-sharing app Vine. He started sharing Vine videos that usually included him doing stunts, telling jokes, and playing pranks.

Paul amassed a huge following on the platform. By the time Vine shut down, he had 9.4 million followers.

The Vine app is obsolete now, but Paul's channel still exists online. 

Thanks to his success on Vine, Paul was able to transition to other social media apps like Facebook and Instagram. Advertisers came calling, and Paul began earning hundreds of thousands of dollars in advertising revenue for sponsored posts.

Source: Forbes

Paul dropped out of Ohio University and moved to Los Angeles in 2014 to pursue a career in entertainment.

Source: Business Insider

He began taking acting classes and snagged a few small roles in TV shows like "Law & Order" and "Stitchers." He told Business Insider in 2015 that he hoped to become a household name and appear in R-rated movies. "It's time for me to grow up and expand my brand of comedy," Paul said.

Source: Business Insider

"I want to be the biggest entertainer in the world," Paul said at the time. "That's my deal. I'll do whatever it takes to get that. As many hours as is needed."

Source: Business Insider

Paul began posting videos to YouTube, and now runs two channels — an official channel and a "Logan Paul Vlogs" channel — which have about 5.3 million and 19.7 million subscribers, respectively.

Paul's YouTube channels bring in a lot of money for the star. In 2017, Paul made $12.5 million.

Source: Business Insider

Paul has also started doing his own ad campaigns. He was the face of Dunkin' Donuts' first social media star campaign, appeared in a Hanes ad, and partnered with Pepsi.

Source: Insider

Paul's younger brother Jake also got his start on Vine, and has since gained fame on other platforms.

Jake has nearly 20 million YouTube subscribers, but has also been embroiled in controversy. In 2017, he was accused by his neighbors of turning his neighborhood into a "war zone," and subsequently left his show on Disney Channel.

Source: Deadline, Insider

Most recently, Jake Paul got married to fellow YouTuber Tana Mongeau. Logan Paul was in attendance, and has since made comments hedging that the relationship between the two is fake.

Source: Business Insider, ET Online

Logan Paul, by contrast, remained relatively scandal-free until 2017. In June of that year, Paul appeared at VidCon, a popular convention for teens to see their favorite online creators. Paul hid $3,000 in a secret location and was mobbed by screaming fans, and was filmed being tackled to the ground by security guards.

Source: We The Unicorns

Then, in September, old tweets were unearthed in which Paul perpetuated racist stereotypes about black and Asian men.

Source: Next Shark

Soon after, another scandal hit: In December 2017, Paul posted a video of him and his friends discovering a body in Japan's so-called "suicide forest."

In the video, Paul and his friends were planning to camp in the forest overnight but stumbled upon a corpse hanging from a tree. Paul blurred the face of the body, but he and his friends stood around the corpse and filmed it before leaving the forest.

Outrage over the video was swift, and nearly 200,000 people signed a petition to have Paul kicked off YouTube. He was removed from Google's Preferred Ads program, and a planned YouTube Red movie deal was suspended.

Source: Insider, Business Insider

Soon after, Paul issued an apology for posting the video. "I've never made a mistake like this before," Paul wrote on Twitter. He announced he was stepping away from posting on YouTube and "taking time to reflect."

Source: Twitter, Insider

By the end of January, Paul was back on YouTube with a documentary about suicide survivors. "From this point on, I want to make an effort to contribute and immerse myself in the conversation. So I'm pledging to donate $1 million to various suicide prevention organizations," Paul said.

Source: Insider

But only a few weeks later, Paul made another misstep when he posted footage of himself Tasering two dead rats. YouTube temporarily suspended ads on videos made by Paul, citing his "recent pattern of behavior," but they were reinstated by February.

Source: Business Insider

Many big YouTubers took to social media to criticize Paul, with some calling for YouTube to kick him off. However, YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki said that Paul hadn't violated policies enough times to get terminated, and that suspending his ad revenue was "actually a pretty strong statement."

Source: Business Insider

In light of the incident, Paul saw his views and new subscriber numbers tank. Between December 2017 and March 2018, SocialBlade statistics showed a 47% drop-off in views, and an 88% slowdown in subscribers. The controversy also cost Paul an estimated $5 million worth of business deals.

Source: Business Insider, Business Insider

Just a month later, a model who appeared in a Paul's music video for "No Handlebars" spoke out about her experience filming with the YouTuber. The model, Eliza Johnson, said that she "felt kind of abused," and felt she was treated differently as the only plus-size model at the video shoot.

Source: Business Insider

During the first half of 2018, Paul drummed up interest for a fight against fellow YouTuber KSI. The fight between the YouTube stars ended in a draw, but brought in an estimated $11 million in revenue between in-person tickets and a pay-per-view livestream.

Source: Business Insider

News emerged in July that Paul was dating actress Chloe Bennet, who stars in the TV show "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." However the two reportedly split up in October 2018.

Source: Business Insider, Dexerto

Almost a year after Paul posted the Japan suicide forest video, YouTube released an original movie called "The Thinning: New World Order" starring the controversial star. YouTube defended the movie as a collaborative effort that was released "in fairness" to fans and other cast members.

Near the end of 2018, Paul launched his podcast, "Impaulsive," where he interviews and chats with friends and fellow YouTubers. The show recently celebrated its 100th episode.

But it took no time at all for his comments on the podcast to turn controversial. In an early episode, Paul said that he was planning to "go gay" for a month for "male-only March," which was criticized for forwarding the view that sexuality is a choice or phase. He later apologized for his "poor choice of words."

Source: HuffPost

Paul was filmed in May practicing and training for a slapping competition taking place in Russia. In a video posted on Twitter, Paul is shown slapping a man so hard that he falls down, seemingly unconscious. Paul later said he pulled out of the competition to "preserve the health and wellness of everyone competing."

Source: Business Insider

Paul re-entered the spotlight in July when he gave a bizarre interview on Fox Business. Paul claimed on TV that he had "graduated" to become an "ex-controversial" YouTuber, and shared that his expenses surpassed his income recently.

Source: Business Insider

Paul held a track-and-field tournament in July for YouTubers and video creators called the Challenger Games, where he bet $100,000 that he was the fastest YouTuber on the planet. However, during the race Paul pulled his hamstring and had to be helped off the track.

Source: Business Insider

The latest estimate of Paul's wealth puts his income at $14.5 million between June 2017 and June 2018.

Source: Business Insider

• Preston Arsement, commonly known as "Preston" online, grew his digital YouTube brand into a full-time business, hiring 24 people to help him. 
• When he started his channel, previously named "PrestonPlayz," Arsement filmed gaming videos. Now, he creates kid-focused vlog-style content like challenge videos and pranks. 
• With the help of his team, Arsement runs an in-house merchandise line and has made several investments in real estate and game development. 
• In response to his fame, Arsement said parents of his fans often show up to his office uninvited, bringing their children to see him. He'll usually wear a hat if he wants to avoid getting recognized, but his younger siblings are also often recognized from being featured in his videos, he said. 
• Click here for more BI Prime stories.

When Preston Arsement first started to gain a following online, he had no idea he would eventually hire his parents as part of the 24-person team working for him.

At the time, Arsement was 15 years old and didn't know where to even start. Now, almost 10 years later, Arsement — who is commonly known as "Preston" online — has 10 million YouTube subscribers, a merchandise business, and several lucrative investments. 

Arsement, now 24, spoke with Business Insider about how he got started and grew his digital brand into a full-time business. 

Turning a YouTube channel into a brand 

Arsement graduated high school early at 16 years old, and soon after, he partnered with the now defunct online-entertainment network, Machinima.

This partnership was when Arsement and his family began to realize that YouTube could become more than a hobby, he said. 

But Arsement's business really started to heat up a few years later, at 19, when he launched, with a business partner, a company that develops video games within "Minecraft" (another video game).

During the early stages of development, Arsement planned to hire roughly 50 contractors to work on this "extremely lucrative project," he said. 

"We had no legal agreements in place — none whatsoever," Arsement said. "That's when I put my mom on [the team]."

She was his first employee, and together they "buttoned things up within the company" and found a certified public accountant they trusted.

So far, his "games within 'Minecraft'" company has been his largest revenue development, he said. 

"The business of that sometimes is so lucrative that it actually outweighs my YouTube compensation," Arsement said. "We've taken the distribution of the funds and built a game studio in Toronto, which is working on our first ever mobile game." 

Once everything was organized, Arsement extended his brand by building his own in-house merchandise line.

Arsement has a warehouse where he ships T-shirts, hoodies, and other branded accessories, which he sells online through the e-commerce platform Shopify.

This is unlike some of YouTube's other top creators, like James Charles (15.9 million subscribers) and David Dobrik (13 million), who sell their merchandise through companies like Mad Merch and Fanjoy. 

"I didn't want to work with somebody else," Arsement said, referring to his merchandise line. "I wanted to do it ourselves because I wanted to hire people, provide good jobs."

Arsement's company operates in a 5,000-square-foot office in Texas, where he and his team also work on video production and creative for the six YouTube channels he appears in.

Besides his main channel, Preston (with 10 million subscribers and formerly known as PrestonPlayz), the other YouTube channels within the Arsement brand include TBNRfrags (5 million subscribers), PrestonRoblox (1.7 million), PrestonMinecraft (2 million), BriannaPlayz (1.4 million), and KeeleyPlayz (200,000).

When Arsement was 19, he was producing almost four videos a day alone, he said.

Now, he's invested in building a team to help him produce his videos. Arsement began working with the digital talent agency Night Media in 2017 and said that having a team behind him has largely contributed to his quick rise in numbers. 

He and his family have also invested in real estate and vacation rentals through the travel company VRBO, and his dad maintains that aspect of the business.

From one-off brand deals to longer ones 

Besides his game-development and merchandise businesses, Arsement works with brands who pay him for sponsored posts and other promotions.

In the beginning, companies like Disney and Nickelodeon approached Arsement with one-off brand deals, he said.

Now he works on longer-term deals and is in his second year working for Nestlé's Hot Pockets. 

These yearlong contracts usually require about six YouTube videos where Arsement will mention the product and several Instagram posts, he said.

Switch up the style

Part of Arsement's continued success comes from his ability to read trends in the industry. This pertains not just to business opportunities but also his style of videos.

When he started his channel, Arsement filmed gaming videos and streamed himself playing "Call of Duty" and "Minecraft." Now, he creates kid-focused vlog-style content like challenge videos and pranks.

Videos mentioning words like "Fortnite,""prank," or "worst" get more than five times as many views as videos without those words, according to a recent report from the Pew Research Center. 

This new style of content has helped his channel grow tremendously, nearly doubling his subscriber count in one year. In July 2018, Arsement had 6.5 million YouTube subscribers, according to the YouTube data-tracking website Social Blade. Now he has over 10 million.

Business Insider previously spoke with Reed Duchscher, the president of Night Media — where Arsement is a partner — about how certain keywords and phrases in the title of a video could drive views and subscribers. 

Duchscher has been a major player in Arsement's business and overall growth, Arsement said.

The price of success 

Arsement's videos primarily reach a younger demographic, and because of this, he takes responsibility for his content as a role model, he said.

"It's a heavy responsibility," Arsement said. "If you are at the airport, Target, anywhere, you will see kids look at you, and their faces brighten up and it's the sweetest thing ever. But you also have to understand that because you are influencing this generation, you have to always be on your toes and best behavior. Not that we aren't off camera, but we can't always be as 'laxed." 

And Arsement said parents of his fans will often show up to his office uninvited, bringing their children to see him. He will typically just wear a hat if he wants to avoid getting recognized, he said. But it's not always easy. His younger siblings are also often recognized from being featured in his videos.

"They can't just be normal students anymore at school because they are known all over the place," he said. 

SEE ALSO: How YouTube star MrBeast, who has 22 million subscribers, uses keywords and the 'shock and awe' effect to maximize views

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: How to choose between IMAX, 3D, and Dolby Cinema at the movie theater

• YouTube is a massive platform. Fortunately, there are many hacks you can use to make your YouTube watching easier, more efficient, and more enjoyable.
• Your YouTube experience on both mobile and desktop can be enhanced with these hacks, with some working on both systems, and others tailored for a single type of device.
• Knowing the best ways to search for videos on YouTube, for example, can help expedite the process of finding  the content you want from among the millions of videos on the platform.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

YouTube offers everything from live sports to network TV shows to original programming to a staggering amount of material produced by influencers with every interest imaginable. 

YouTube has grown so large that it can be intimidating to navigate the site or the mobile app. Searching for your favorite videos and engaging with the platform can be tricky. But once you've learned a few handy YouTube hacks, you'll be able to engage with the site much more easily.

We worked with YouTube to assemble a list of seven hacks that will help you make the most of your time using YouTube, both on the iPhone and Android mobile app, and on a computer.

Check out the products mentioned in this article:

iPhone Xs (From $999.99 at Best Buy)

Google Pixel 3 (From $399.99 at Best Buy)

SEE ALSO: The best iPhone for every type of person and budget

Swipe left or right to switch videos on mobile

While watching a YouTube video in the mobile app, you can easily jump to the last video you watched or the next video in your queue. Just swipe your finger from right-to-left or left-to-right, respectively, across the video that is currently playing.

10 second fast forward or rewind on mobile

If you're watching on mobile and want your YouTube video to rewind 10 seconds so you can see something again, double-tap on the left side of the video window. 

To hop forward 10 seconds, tap twice on the right side of the screen.

Turn on captions and change speed settings on mobile

You can alter your mobile YouTube viewing experience in numerous ways by tapping the three vertical dots at the top right corner of the video window. 

The pop-up menu will allow you to turn on (or off) captions, choose a faster or slower playback speed, and set different video quality settings for most clips.

Use keyboard shortcuts to save time on a computer

There are many keyboard shortcuts you can use to speed up your interaction with content on YouTube's desktop site. 

Pressing number keys will move you to a different point in the video: 3 advances you to the 30% mark, 6 to the 60% mark, and so forth. 

K pauses a video. J and L fast forward and rewind 10 seconds, respectively. 

And maybe most notable, press M to mute a YouTube video.

Watch later with one click

If you don't want to forget to watch a particular video on your computer but don't have time, hover over its thumbnail and click on the clock icon that appears. It will be moved into a "Watch later" playlist you can access from your desktop or on mobile.

Use "Dark Theme" for best video viewing experience

On both mobile and a computer, you can use a setting called "Dark Theme" that sets the background of the page to black. This lets the color of the video that's playing show more clearly. 

Tap your icon at the top right corner, then click "Settings" and toggle on "Dark theme."

Make your YouTube searches extra efficient

There's a lot of content to comb through on YouTube. Save time and search better by using the right keywords and punctuation, examples of which are:

• Add quotation marks to search for exact keywords in a specific order. 
• Use plus (+) or minus (-) signs to include or omit results.
• Add the term "allintitle" in the search box before the keywords to make sure you only get results including all the keywords you searched for in the title.

Add HD to your search query to get high-definition results; you can also add 3D for three-dimensional content.

• Preston Arsement, commonly known as "Preston" online, grew his digital YouTube brand into a full-time business, hiring 24 people to help him.
• Arsement told Business Insider that understanding and measuring metrics as a YouTube creator is important for overall business success.
• He shared what he considers a successful click-through rate and watch time for his videos.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Preston Arsement, commonly known as "Preston" online, grew his digital YouTube brand into a full-time business, hiring 24 people to help him. 

Arsement has diversified his business through an in-house merchandise line and has several investments in areas like real estate and game development. But he has 10 million subscribers on YouTube and still relies heavily on the video platform for his overall success. 

"If YouTube dies, the blood is going to be cut off from the merch line and the brands that we work with, so it's very important for us to understand our metrics," Arsement said. 

On average, Preston's content aims to get 55% to 60% watch time, and a 20-minute video needs to get about 12 minutes of watch time to be considered successful, he said. 

"If that watch time is below 40%, usually we know to stay away from that content, or look into if there is something else going on," he said. "We want to make sure a video is engaging and entertaining – and if a brand sponsors that video, we want to make sure that is being viewed for a long time." 

Click-through rate, or the percentage of users that saw the video and clicked on it, is based off of the impressions on a video. This is also an important metric used to gauge a channel's success, Arsement said. 

"If you want to be in the top, of the top for YouTubers, you should be getting anywhere for 10 to 15% CTR, sometimes higher," he said. 

For his wife Briana's YouTube video titled, "I Built A Giant Underwater Lego House! - Challenge" with 3.5 million views, the team spent 45 minutes on creating just the thumbnail image to maximize its CTR.  

Overall, this video had a high CTR of 19.8%, meaning nearly 20% of the users who saw the title and thumbnail image clicked on the video, he said. 

In an interview with Business Insider, Reed Duchscher, the president of the digital media agency Night Media, said that using keywords like "24-hours,""slime," and "challenge" in a video's title is a popular technique for driving views – and a recent study from the Pew Research Center found that videos with keywords like "prank" or "Fortnite" in the title receive five times the views as videos without those words. 

Duchscher is heavily involved in Arsement and his wife's YouTube channels and said that this strategy is one way creators get their videos promoted to the trending page on YouTube.

"The roller coasters of YouTube, from when you upload a good piece of content, to when you don't, is extremely stressful,"Arsement said.  "It will really weigh on you if you get into the numbers too much." 

For more about the YouTube star Preston Arsement, check out the full interview on Business Insider Prime:

YouTube creator Preston Arsement has built a 24-person business and gained 10 million subscribers. He told us how.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: How to choose between IMAX, 3D, and Dolby Cinema at the movie theater

• You can set up and customize your YouTube TV subscription to access countless hours of programming, including broadcast TV, sports, news, and more.
• YouTube TV also allows you to record unlimited shows, movies, or live events, and you can add or change these preferences at any time. 
• You can watch YouTube TV programming on a computer, on mobile, on a smart TV, or by using a streaming device like Chromecast.

• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

YouTube TV has taken the whole cable ditching thing – the so-called "cord-cutting" movement – to the next level.

Whether you want to watch live TV, sports, news, record favorite TV shows for later viewing, or browse through an impressive archive of past programming, a YouTube TV subscription has you more than covered.

YouTube TV isn't a cheap alternative to cable: its $50 monthly cost is somewhat comparable to what you'd pay for legacy cable providers. But the many ways you can engage with the content and the range of programming offered makes YouTube TV an excellent service.

Once you have finished paying for a YouTube TV subscription, you will be led through a series of easy steps that allow for initial customization.

We worked with YouTube directly to put together these tips for getting your account set up and getting the most out of it.

Check out the products mentioned in this article:

Roku TVs (From $129.99 at Best Buy)

Apple TVs (From $149.99 at Best Buy)

Android TVs (From $379.99 at Best Buy)

How to navigate the 3 main tabs on a YouTube TV account

These tabs are LIBRARY, HOME, and LIVE. The home tab is where YouTube gives you recommendations of what to watch. 

You can tap the "+" button next to programs you'd like to add to your library, and YouTube TV will automatically record all programs as they air. You can then access all of them in the Library tab. 

The Live TV tab shows you everything that's playing right now. Check out your local live broadcast channels and watch sports, local news, or catch primetime shows airing on those broadcast networks. 

You can scroll down further to see over 70 popular cable networks and local sports networks.

How to personalize your Live Guide on YouTube TV

You can customize the Live tab to match your viewing preferences. For example, you can reorder networks in the guide or hide certain networks so that only your favorite networks appear. 

To do this, select "Sort" on the Live tab, tap "Edit" and customize your Live tab.

How to set up live recordings and build a library 

Add any show, sports team, event, movie, and so on to your library just by tapping the "+" button. YouTube TV will record all current and upcoming airings. 

You can add as many programs to your library as you like – YouTube TV includes unlimited cloud-based DVR space, and recording doesn't take up space on your device.

How to watch YouTube TV on your smart TV or gaming system

You can watch YouTube TV on most smart TVs and gaming systems. 

Options include Apple TV, Roku, Xbox One, Android TV, and select Samsung, LG and Vizio models – with Amazon Fire TV forthcoming. You can also stream on your TV with AirPlay, Google Chromecast, or a Chromecast-enabled TV.

How to search for shows, sports, and movies by genre 

Head to the search area by clicking the magnifying glass at the top right. 

You can search via general terms like Sports, News, or Movies, or you can search for specific shows, movies, or televised events.

How to hide scores (and avoid spoilers)

You can turn on the "Hide all scores for this team/league" feature in YouTube TV to hide scores for specific sports teams and leagues. 

This will prevent spoiler information, like final scores or live previews, from appearing before you've started watching. 

To enable this feature, open YouTube TV, select the overflow menu three-dot on a team or league page, and toggle on "Hide all scores for this team/league."

Related coverage from How To Do Everything: Tech:

• 'What is YouTube TV?': Everything you need to know about YouTube's subscription streaming service

• How to upload a video to YouTube and customize its settings on desktop and mobile

• How to make the most out of the YouTube app on your Roku device

• How to cancel subscriptions on your iPad in a few quick steps

SEE ALSO: The best 4K TVs you can buy

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: All the ways Amazon is taking over your house

• The YouTube personality Brooke Houts uploaded a video on Wednesday that showed her hitting and appearing to spit at her dog.
• The video, which has since been deleted, was the unedited version of one she meant to post on her YouTube channel, on which her Doberman is often featured.
• Houts issued an apology to her fans on Twitter, saying that she was having a bad week and that she's not an animal abuser "in any way, shape, or form."
• Houts did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment. 
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

A YouTuber inadvertently uploaded the unedited version of a video to her channel that showed her hitting and appearing to spit on her dog.

Brooke Houts has since deleted the video from her channel, but YouTube users were quick to spot and upload their own versions online. In the video, Houts is seen on at least three separate occasions screaming at and smacking her dog after he playfully jumps up on her while she's trying to film the YouTube video.

Houts, who has just over 300,000 subscribers on YouTube, often uploads content to her channel featuring her dog, a Doberman named Sphinx. The most recent video was an attempt at a popular pet prank, dubbed the "invisible challenge," where owners put up plastic wrap in the frame of a doorway and see how their animals react to it.

In one clip from the video, the dog jumps on Houts while she's filming for the video. In turn, Houts holds down the dog, yells "stop" at him, and appears to spit on him just out of frame of the camera — although Houts has said she didn't do that.

Houts has since issued an apology on Twitter to "anyone who has been effected negatively by the footage." In an extensive statement written in the iPhone Notes app, Houts wrote that she had been having a "less than exceptional" week and said she was showing him "as a dog parent" that his behavior was unacceptable.

"I am not going to play the 'victim card' or anything of that sort, but I do want to point out that I am rarely as upset as what was shown in the footage," Houts wrote on Twitter. "Anyone who knows me personally know I have an immense love for animals, including my own ... He was not hurt, nor has he ever been purposefully hurt by me."

Many of the 31,000 users who have commented on Houts' apology tweet have called on the dog to be taken out of Houts' care. The YouTuber Ethan Klein, who runs the comedy channel H3H3 productions, volunteered on Twitter to adopt the dog at "any price."

SEE ALSO: How Logan Paul went from making videos in his backyard to becoming a 24-year-old millionaire and one of the most controversial stars on YouTube

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: I cleaned my entire apartment with 4 of Amazon's highest-rated cleaning robots, but I could've done a much better job myself

• We're facing a national crisis with mass shootings, and as open platforms, YouTube and Facebook have contributed to the problem, contributor and former BI advertising editor Mike Shields writes.
• But they're also in a position to effect a massive change in the situation.
• There should be an industrywide initiative to promote an anti-violence campaign, and the tech companies' CEOs Mark Zuckerberg and Susan Wojcicki should use their giant megaphones to widely promote it — and yes, even if it means alienating some of their users.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Last year, facing intensifying scrutiny over the level of hate speech and misinformation flowing across his platform, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg got reflective.

"It's important to me that when [my kids] Max and August grow up, they feel like what their father built was good for the world," he told The New York Times.

Similarly, YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki has been through the ringer in recent years, trying to scrub a preponderance of hate videos, pedophilia videos and other scary extremes. 

Read more:Instagram's lax privacy practices let a trusted partner track millions of users' physical locations, secretly save their Stories, and openly flout its rules

Wojcicki told the Times that while every decision she makes at YouTube in terms of content is tough, but she tries to use an overarching principle.

"If someone were to look back on the decisions that we're making, would they feel we were on the right side of history? Would I feel proud? Will my children feel like I made good decisions?"

Well, here's how things are going in the world for the kids of Silicon Valley titans, and all the rest of us:

• America is plagued by a never-ending string of mass shootings, with more shootings than days this year.
• Grade school kids and day care infants are doing active shooting drills.
• Politicians aren't sure whether they should ban assault weapons, while a TV network is telling viewers that white supremacy is a made-up "hoax."

What the hell, America?

Of course, all of this can't be blamed on Wojcicki, Zuckerberg and their platforms.

But YouTube and Facebook have certainly played a role as vehicles and magnifiers for the darkest people in our society, whether that's Russian election meddlers, neo-Nazis or would be school shooters. So have Twitter, 8chan and other sites that let the worst human thoughts permeate message boards and spread hateful ideologies.

Could Facebook and YouTube have done lots more much sooner to stop spreading all the bad stuff they've spread over the last few years? For certain.

Facebook and Youtube were able to amass billions of users without having to take responsibility for the content posted by users. That's not likely to change, even if we all scream for them to step up and ban all the bad guys.

Wojcicki and Zuckerberg are, however, in a unique position to effect a massive societal changes.

They, like no other two people on Earth (including politicians) can exert influence over the gun debate. Instead of yelling at them to cleanse the bad messages, they could flip the viral, propagandizing power of their algorithms for good. Borrow some of the tricks used by the conspiracy crazies.

And here's the thing: Wojcicki and Zuckerberg owe us.

They've apologized and promised to do better plenty. They need to do something big to pay us all back for all the problems they have — and continue to  — cause.

It's time for the most important ad account of our lives: A massive anti-gun violence campaign

I ranted on Twitter the other day that the advertising and media industry is uniquely situated to effect the gun catastrophe in our country, and they aren't doing nearly enough beyond a few fundraisers.

We need the best creative talents in the industry to come together and create a massive campaign aimed at ending gun violence. They need to dial up the pressure on lawmakers like we've never seen. They need to turn this into a national cause.

I argued on Twitter that these creatives should do this campaign for free, and that the media and tech companies should give them billions in free ad space to help deliver it. 

I had that partially wrong. Wojcicki and Zuckerberg should pay for it.

Obviously, both YouTube and Facebook should hand over loads of premium ad inventory for such a campaign, and they should lean on their recommendation engines and algorithms hard to make sure whatever ads this fantasy creative team comes up with gets seen by the whole world.

In addition though, YouTube and Facebook should literally pay for the work. Put aside a few million, maybe $50 or whatever it takes, and pay for the most important ad account of our lives.

I'm not putting this all on Facebook and YouTube. This should be an industry wide initiative. Disney, NBCU, WarnerMedia, CBS/Viacom — should all be ready and willing to hand over millions, if not billions, in premium ad space for this campaign. For free.

Wojcicki and Zuckerberg should shame Bob Iger and Steve Burke and whoever else needs to be involved into ponying up. I'm talking about free prime-time ads, ads in NFL games, even Super Bowl spots.  I'm not kidding when I say this should be the ad world's, "We Are The World."

This is a national crisis, after all.

The tech companies need to stand by their principles

Think an ad campaign can't have much of an impact on how people think and feel?

Consider that the famous "Swift Boat" ad effort that turned a genuine war hero (2004 Presidential candidate John Kerry) into a virtual war criminal in the minds of many.

Or better yet,  the fact that after decades of advertising, including commercials featuring gruesome lung surgeries and people breathing out of holes in their throats, smoking rates have plummeted in this country (if it weren't for vaping, teen smoking was increasingly a non-factor).

It wasn't all advertising for sure (lawsuits, public health initiatives, etc., helped). But campaigns like the famous Truth effort were major players in turning many off cigarettes.

We need to bring the same grim images to the gun fight. People need to see bullet-strewn kids on the big screen in their living room during the family hour for this to hit home. 

I know what you're thinking. Wojcicki and Zuckerberg will never go for this. Singling out a particular creator or campaign goes against everything for their neutral, open-to-all-platforms DNA. They can't play favorites or take sides.

The thing is, what is the other side in this case? The pro-school-shooting crowd? The white supremacists?

You need to get over your principles. We all do. This is too important. You might piss off a few conservatives, and you may lose a few users.

You have billions of them — you'll be just fine.

If nothing else, do it for your kids.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Jeff Bezos is worth over $160 billion — here's how the world's richest man makes and spends his money

• YouTube creator Preston Arsement switched up the type of content on his channel from strictly gaming videos to vlog-style content, and in the year since doing so, he's gained 3.5 million subscribers. 
• Arsement's channel was previously called "Prestonplayz," and after creating strictly gaming videos for 5-plus years, he decided to drop "playz," and switch up his content.
• Arsement told Business Insider that he pays close attention to his video metrics on YouTube and what techniques work.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

YouTube creator Preston Arsement switched up the type of content on his channel from strictly gaming videos to vlog-style content, and in the year since doing so, he's gained 3.5 million subscribers. 

Part of Arsement's continued success comes from his ability to read trends in the industry. This pertains not just to business opportunities but also his style of videos.

When he started his channel "Prestonplayz" nearly 10 years ago,  Arsement filmed gaming videos and streamed himself playing "Call of Duty" and "Minecraft." Now, he creates kid-focused, vlog-style content like challenge videos and pranks and has renamed the channel "Preston."

Arsement's most popular YouTube video, titled "5 WAYS TO PRANK YOUR LITTLE BROTHER'S MINECRAFT HOUSE," has 25 million views and was uploaded January 2019. 

Although Arsement is playing Minecraft in the video, the overall style is more conversational and engaging than his previous gaming-style content.

He engages his followers by addressing them directly – holding the camera up to his face at the start and end of each video. 

"[My channel] use to be Minecraft for 5-plus years straight," Arsement told Business Insider. "But, I knew that people were really interested in that real life content. I wanted to do something more than just play Minecraft, because I could make another Minecraft channel - the real life stuff is something I'm really interested in."

There was a learning curve that came with switching up his content, and he quickly began paying attention to his channel's metrics, which helped him figure out what techniques worked and what didn't, he said. 

"A real life video takes like 4 hours to film, 4 hours of prep work - definitely different than a gaming video," Arsement said. "But, at the same time, fun and very challenging." 

Business Insider previously spoke with Reed Duchscher, the president of Night Media — where Arsement is a partner — about how certain keywords and phrases in the title of a video could drive views and subscribers.

Duchscher told Business Insider that using keywords like "24-hours,""slime," and "challenge" in a video's title is a popular technique for driving views – and a recent report from the Pew Research Center found that videos with the keywords like "prank" or "Fortnite" in the title receive five times the views as videos without those words.

Arsement began following this keyword formula in the past year, and has had success like with his video titled, "I Said Yes to My Little Brother for 24 Hours," with 17.8 million views.  

This new style of content has helped his channel grow tremendously. In July 2018, Arsement had 6.5 million YouTube subscribers, according to the YouTube data-tracking website Social Blade. Now he has over 10 million.

For more about the YouTube star Preston Arsement's business, check out the full interview on Business Insider Prime:

YouTube creator Preston Arsement has built a 24-person business and gained 10 million subscribers. He told us how.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Alexander Wang explains how to wear all black without looking boring

• Brooke Houts, a YouTuber, accidentally uploaded a video to her channel this week showing her hitting and appearing to spit at her dog.
• Since the news spread, the Los Angeles Police Department has launched an animal-cruelty investigation, and PETA has called on YouTube to remove Houts from the video platform.
• Houts has removed the video and apologized on Twitter, maintaining that she's not an animal abuser "in any way, shape, or form."
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Police have launched an animal-cruelty investigation into a Los Angeles-based YouTuber who accidentally uploaded a video online that showed her hitting and appearing to spit on her dog.

The Los Angeles Police Department confirmed to Business Insider that its animal-cruelty task force is aware of the situation with the YouTuber Brooke Houts and "looking into the matter."

In the video, Houts is seen on at least three separate occasions screaming at and smacking her dog after he playfully jumps up on her while she's trying to film the YouTube video. The video in question has since been deleted from YouTube, but others were quick to upload their own versions, and Houts was subsequently reamed online.

Additionally, the Los Angeles chapter of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has been alerted of the incident after receiving multiple reports from concerned people, the organization wrote on Twitter. The animal-rights organization PETA has publicly called on YouTube to remove Houts from the platform.

Neither YouTube nor Houts has responded to Business Insider's requests for comment.

Read more:A YouTuber is defending herself after accidentally uploading raw footage showing her hitting and appearing to spit on her dog

Houts, who has just over 300,000 subscribers on YouTube, often uploads content to her channel featuring her dog, a Doberman named Sphinx. The most recent video was an attempt at a popular pet prank, dubbed the "invisible challenge," where owners put up plastic wrap in the frame of a doorway and see how their animals react to it.

In one clip from the video, the dog jumps on Houts while she's filming for the video. In turn, Houts holds down the dog, yells "stop" at him, and appears to spit on him just out of frame of the camera — although Houts has said she didn't do that.

Houts has since issued an apology on Twitter to "anyone who has been effected negatively by the footage." In an extensive statement written in the iPhone Notes app, Houts wrote that she had been having a "less than exceptional" week and said she was showing him "as a dog parent" that his behavior was unacceptable.

"I am not going to play the 'victim card' or anything of that sort, but I do want to point out that I am rarely as upset as what was shown in the footage," Houts wrote on Twitter. "Anyone who knows me personally know I have an immense love for animals, including my own ... He was not hurt, nor has he ever been purposefully hurt by me."

Many of the 31,000 users who have commented on Houts' apology tweet have called on the dog to be taken out of Houts' care. The YouTuber Ethan Klein, who runs the comedy channel H3H3 productions, volunteered on Twitter to adopt the dog at "any price."

SEE ALSO: YouTuber Tana Mongeau admits her wedding isn't legally binding on paper, but slams critics who think she and Jake Paul are 'just putting on this show'

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: 7 lesser-known benefits of Amazon Prime

• To make sure you're not spending too much time on YouTube, you can set take a break reminders on the app, which will pop up and pause your videos after the interval of your choosing.
• You can set take a break reminders on YouTube to occur as often as every five minutes or as infrequently as once daily.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

True story: In doing research for this article, I inadvertently watched old Seinfeld clips on YouTube for about 10 minutes before I snapped back to attention and realized I was in the middle of the workday. 

YouTube is an amazing platform with more content than you could enjoy in a lifetime, but if you're not careful, you'll spend too much of said lifetime watching videos.

To save yourself from your own YouTube addiction, it's a good idea to set regular break reminders, something the evidently self-aware YouTube app makes it easy to do. 

Here's how to do it via the YouTube app on your iPhone or Android.

Check out the products mentioned in this article:

iPhone Xs (From $999.99 at Best Buy)

Google Pixel 3 (From $799.99 at Best Buy)

How to set take a break reminders on YouTube

1. From the YouTube app home screen, tap your icon at the top right corner of the screen.

2. Tap the word "Settings" on the menu that pops up.

3. Tap the toggle beside the words "Remind me to take a break."

4. Scroll to the hour and minute frequency you wish, then tap "OK."

When the break reminder pops up, it will pause the video that's playing. You can dismiss it and get back to the video, or you can close YouTube and get back to your life. 

And note that you can also get to the break reminder by clicking "Time watched" on the Account menu (instead of clicking Settings in step two above) – in fact, after seeing how much time you have spent on the site, you just might want to do so.

Related coverage from How To Do Everything: Tech:

• How to delete a YouTube playlist from your account on a computer or mobile device

• 7 hacks to make your YouTube-watching experience easier and more efficient

• How to temporarily hide or permanently delete your YouTube account, and erase any trace of yourself from the site

• How to create a YouTube playlist, add or remove videos, and set its privacy settings

SEE ALSO: The best iPhone accessories from cases to lightning cables

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• You can hide sports scores on YouTube TV, so if you recorded a game and want to watch it later, you don't have to worry about spoiling the outcome before you watch it. 
• You can hide all scores for certain teams and even entire leagues – that way you can access YouTube TV's unlimited recording space for all the sports events you want to see. 
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Back in the 1990s, my dad, a passionate Washington Redskins fan, would often tape games we'd miss on our trusty VCR and watch them later in the day or even the week. 

The interval between the recorded game and the viewing was a fraught time, with leaps to turn off radios when past scores were about to be announced and ears covered as nearby conversations turned to sports.

In a truly great prank, one time a friend of his used an old dot matrix printer to create a massive banner with the final score of a game written out in block lettering. He taped it over the front door, ruining the suspense but giving us all a good laugh. 

YouTube TV can't necessarily give you a moment of hilarious family lore, but it can protect you from spoilers when it comes to sports.

How to hide sports scores on YouTube TV

If you want to enjoy sports spoiler-free on YouTube TV, you can do so with just a few clicks. 

Here's how: 

1. Launch YouTube TV on your computer.

2. Search for the team whose scores you wish to keep hidden and click on it.

3. On the team page, click on the three vertical dots at the top right corner of the window.

4. Click "Hide all scores for this team."

For more information on how to set up and customize your YouTube TV settings, read our article, "How to set up and customize a YouTube TV subscription, to access unlimited recording space, personalize your Live TV guide, and more." 

Related coverage from How To Do Everything: Tech:

• 'What is YouTube TV?': Everything you need to know about YouTube's subscription streaming service

• How to play YouTube videos in the background on your iPhone without having to keep the app open

• How to make the most out of the YouTube app on your Roku device

• How to cancel subscriptions on your iPad in a few quick steps

SEE ALSO: The best 4K TVs you can buy

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• YouTube creator Preston Arsement is sometimes recognized by fans multiple times a day, while at places like Target or the airport. 
• Arsement told Business Insider that he will typically wear a hat if he wants to avoid getting recognized. But he said that it can become annoying when the parents of his fans show up, uninvited, to his office with their children.
• He said that one family drove from Missouri to his office in Texas uninvited just to see him.  
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

One of the downsides to being a popular online influencer with millions of fans is the need to think about your personal security — all the time.

For the YouTube creator Preston Arsement, being recognized by his followers can happen multiple times a day. 

Arsement, commonly know as "Preston" to his 10 million YouTube subscribers, creates content primarily for a younger demographic, and because of this, he takes responsibility for his content as a role model, he told Business Insider. 

"It's a heavy responsibility," Arsement said. "If you are at the airport, Target, anywhere, you will see kids look at you, and their faces brighten up and it's the sweetest thing ever. But you also have to understand that because you are influencing this generation, you have to always be on your toes and best behavior. Not that we aren't off camera, but we can't always be as 'laxed."

Arsement said he will typically wear a hat if he wants to avoid getting recognized in public. But he said parents of his fans have taken things one step further, showing up to his office uninvited and bringing their children to see him.

"We had parents that drove all the way from Missouri to our office [in Texas] because they found it," Arsement said.  "I was like, 'OK– I appreciate that, but also this is a place of work.'"

He said this happens pretty frequently and if he is at Target, he will probably get noticed at least a few times walking in and out. 

Although fans don't show up to his house often, when they do it can get annoying. He said he noticed a spike in fans noticing him after he switched his content to vlog-style videos, rather than gaming videos. 

"I've been on a plane, going to my anniversary trip with my wife, and the kids sitting next to us knows who I am," he said. "We were just hanging out for 8 hours on the plane – and he's a fan, it happens everywhere." 

Many other top creators, like Jimmy Donaldson, who goes by MrBeast online and has 22 million subscribers on YouTube, and the popular YouTube twins Ethan and Grayson Dolan, who have 10 million subscribers, have spoken about their struggles with personal security.

On July 21, Ethan Dolan tweeted: "Hate to say this again but don't come to our house or the cops will be called. No ones home should be invaded."

Donaldson replied: "This is starting to become a big issue for me as well. It's creepy as hell."

Arsement said it doesn't bother him when fans approach him and ask to take a picture with him. But when his family is involved, it gets more complicated. He said his younger siblings are also often recognized from being featured in his videos.

"They can't just be normal students anymore at school because they are known all over the place," he said.

His younger sister was on a two-week mission trip in Israel, and said on her last day nearly 100 kids, and fans of Arsement's content, approached her, Arsement said. 

"They were all speaking in different languages and she was a little nervous," he said. 

Overall, Arsement hasn't changed much about his lifestyle, but has just become more aware of his general surroundings.

"I've never felt in danger at all, which has been really nice," he said. "I think it's due to the nature of the content and due to the fans that the content attracts. And I really like when the fans are respectful and send a letter." 

Arsment has a PO box where fans can send letters, which he encourages and said is a much safer way for his followers to reach out.  

For more about the YouTube star Preston Arsement's business, check out the full interview on Business Insider Prime:

YouTube creator Preston Arsement has built a 24-person business and gained 10 million subscribers. He told us how.

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• If you watch YouTube videos on your TV, multiple people can enjoy those videos at the same time and have a better viewing experience in doing so. 
• With a YouTube TV subscription, you can enjoy all sorts of content, including live shows, sports, and news on your television.
• You can control YouTube content on your television using a paired computer or mobile device.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Whether you're livestreaming a baseball game currently in progress, or you're watching that Weezer video with all the memes from the early 2000s, YouTube is always better on the big screen, meaning your television. 

And if you have a smart TV or a streaming device like Roku, it's remarkably easy to watch YouTube (or YouTube TV) on your television, and to control YouTube with your smartphone, tablet, or computer.

Check out the products mentioned in this article:

Roku Ultra 4K ($99.99 at Best Buy)

Smart TVs at Best Buy

How to watch YouTube on your TV

On your TV, launch the YouTube app. Then open the YouTube app on your phone or tablet.

In the mobile app, tap your icon (top right corner from the YouTube app home screen) and then hit settings.

Now tap "Watch on TV." If previously paired, your TV will start playing YouTube right away.

If not already paired, a numeric code will appear on the TV. Type it into the app to link your TV, and then you can get started enjoying YouTube on the television, and controlling the videos with your phone or tablet.

To use a computer to control YouTube on your TV, go to the website www.youtube.com/pair and then launch the YouTube app on the television. Then enter the code on the TV into the box on the computer that says "Enter TV code" and you're set.

Once you've done all this, you can watch any YouTube or YouTube TV video, and control every setting with your remote, mobile device, or computer.

Related coverage from How To Do Everything: Tech:

• 'What is YouTube TV?': Everything you need to know about YouTube's subscription streaming service

• How to set up and customize a YouTube TV subscription, to access unlimited recording space, personalize your Live TV guide, and more

• How to make the most out of the YouTube app on your Roku device

• How to cancel subscriptions on your iPad in a few quick steps

SEE ALSO: The best 4K TVs you can buy

Join the conversation about this story »

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• YouTube is the most popular video platform in the world.
• As YouTube has grown, it's struggled to police the platform.
• A new report from The Washington Post claims that YouTube moderation favors leniency for the platform's most popular channels — like Felix "PewDiePie" Kjellberg and Logan Paul.
• YouTube denies those allegations in a statement on Friday afternoon: "We apply these policies consistently, regardless of who a creator is," said YouTube representative Alex Joseph.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

With billions of visitors every month, YouTube is the largest video platform on the planet.

Alongside that massive size comes a massive issue: Moderation. YouTube has repeatedly run into controversies over how it polices content that violates its own guidelines, whether it's filming a dead body or one creator harassing another creator (or any number of other YouTube-related controversies over the years).

According to a new Washington Post report, there's a good reason for all the issues: Some of YouTube's most popular creators are allowed more flexibility with the platform's rules.

The report cites 11 past and current YouTube moderators who claim that big names like Logan Paul, Steven Crowder, and Felix "PewDiePie" Kjellberg are given more rope when receiving YouTube content moderation.

For its part, YouTube denies the claim and says that it applies the same policies "consistently, regardless of who a creator is." 

Read more:YouTube's week from hell: How the debate over free speech online exploded after a conservative star with millions of subscribers was accused of homophobic harassment

The relationship between YouTube and its biggest creators is mutually beneficial.

Simply speaking: The more subscribers a channel has, and the more views a channel gets, the higher the price to run ads. YouTube makes more money from those ad sales, and the channel's owner makes more money from YouTube. And, often, the first step in moderating YouTube's content is demonetizing a video — taking away its ability to make money on ads.

It's for this reason, the moderators who spoke with the Washington Post say, that YouTube lets its biggest creators get away with more.

SEE ALSO: How Logan Paul went from making videos in his backyard to becoming a 24-year-old millionaire and one of the most controversial stars on YouTube

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• Apple posted four "ASMR" videos to its YouTube channel without any explanation.
• ASMR audio and videos are hyper-focused on gentle, quiet, sometimes repetitive motions or audio that's designed to mesmerize, entrance, and relax. 
• Perhaps Apple wants everyone to chill out, or it's advertising that its iPhones can produce great ASMR videos.
• You can check out the videos below.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Apple has a playlist on YouTube comprising of four extremely relaxing and utterly mesmerizing "ASMR" videos, and they seemingly have nothing to do with Apple or its products. 

"ASMR" stands for "autonomous sensory meridian response." ASMR audio and videos are designed to be sensory experiences, where focused, high quality sound of certain things like a whispering voice, or "quiet repetitive sounds of a mundane task" are designed to create "tingly" feelings throughout a listener's body, according to Wikipedia. ASMR videos are popular, but the phenomena has yet to be officially recognized by medical professionals.

Apple suggests listening and watching the videos with headphones, which is typically recommended when listening to ASMR audio. 

The videos are between six to ten minute long, and they're extremely relaxing — almost therapeutic. So far, these videos have been extremely effective in chilling me out. 

There's nothing directly about Apple itself or its products in the videos. Perhaps Apple just wants all of us to chill out? Or perhaps it's advertising that its iPhones can capture great ASMR videos. 

Either way, check out the videos below:

SEE ALSO: The 21 most expensive products Apple has ever sold

Here's Apple's "Whispers from Ghost Forest" ASMR video.

Youtube Embed:
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Here's Apple's "Satisfying woodshop sounds" ASMR video.

Youtube Embed:
//www.youtube.com/embed/t0hk9CHr1d0
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Height: 450px

Here's Apple's "Crunching sounds on the trail" ASMR video.

Youtube Embed:
//www.youtube.com/embed/ELOQxTiX_B0
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Height: 450px

Here's Apple's "A calm rain at camp" ASMR video.

Youtube Embed:
//www.youtube.com/embed/C4QcnglJtfo
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Height: 450px