Thoughts on this channel stats?

[Online Vulture]

Hey all,

So I am monitoring a competitor and I have some concerns on their growth. Seems a little strange and just want to see what your opinions are on it.

So I have monitored this channel for the past 5 months. They have grown exponentially, from 25k subs to 65k plus. They started with videos that weren't great - poor voiceover (sometimes AI), not so great edits and thumbnails. All of a sudden in June of 2021 they flew off. Looking at their videos during that time, they had a massive shift in quality. Their titles, meta data, content ideas, edits and thumbnails became good quality. Now they are really good. But what got me thinking, is why did it happen so fast and how are they now hitting massive views and subscribers.

I know quality is key, which I can definitely pin as part of their success. But, something doesn't seem right. The niche is very competitive, but a very big audience.

Every video gets around 1-2k views from the get go, the likes seem to add up, but comments are a big question mark. They seem very low for the amount of views - unless I am getting engagement rates wrong. But now their views tend to stabilize around 10k and quite a few videos seem to take off.

Do you think that they have been approached by a channel manager? Maybe cross promotion? Or possibly an initial boost from SMM panels? From the initial push on each videos, it makes me think that they send HR views mixed with likes and drip feed CTR views to push it over a period of 7-10 days. But that is just a possible theory.

Here are images of the stats:

any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[YTPro]

You think anyone uses SMM panels / artificial & blackhat methods for the last 5 months? I don't

So I have monitored this channel for the past 5 months. They have grown exponentially, from 25k subs to 65k plus. They started with videos that weren't great - poor voiceover (sometimes AI), not so great edits and thumbnails. All of a sudden in June of 2021 they flew off. Looking at their videos during that time, they had a massive shift in quality. Their titles, meta data, content ideas, edits and thumbnails became good quality. Now they are really good.

Everything you want to know is answered by you yourself right here.

 

[l3est]

maybe they were aging the channels with low quality content
because you know youtube doesn't give a f most of the time when the channel is new
I'd do the same with mostly shorts and some long videos for first 3-6 months

 

[Evander]

Put the channel link in backlink checker to find any external sources that is actively driving traffic.
Yet, those sudden spikes suggest that they are buying HR(UAV) views, which is evidently what has helped them grow so far.

 

[Online Vulture]

Put the channel link in backlink checker to find any external sources that is actively driving traffic.
Yet, those sudden spikes suggest that they are buying HR(UAV) views, which is evidently what has helped them grow so far.

You are my saviour! Thank you so much for advising this, It has just confirmed a few things.

Would you mind if I send you a DM with what I have found? Just want your advice on what tactics they are most likely using.