[My YouTube Journey]: Developing a new APP

Hamit Can said:

There are some apps which does the same, do you think its fair with YTB terms and they would allow it in long term

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We have studied the terms thoughtfully and there is nothing that explicitally disallows a service like this. We are sending real views, likes and comments through our App from real people.

The app will also have the ability for a user to watch the entire video if they find it interesting. This will not give them more coins, but at least, unlike other apps, they can view a video in its entirety if they so desire.

This is no different than embedding Youtube into a website, or even here on BHW.

good luck with your journey. Following

Good luck with your journey, following as a fellow South African

Manene said:

Good luck with your journey, following as a fellow South African

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Thanks so much!

embire said:

I recently realized that getting Youtube organic traffic is extremely difficult and using a bot is extremely risky. So I had a bit of a brainwave - what if I build an app that allows people to view each others videos for coins / credits which they in turn can spend towards having their own video watched, liked and commented upon.

I will be documenting my journey here as we develop the app, getting our first users onboard and so forth.

Herewith a link to what we have achieved so far:

Now I am aware that similar services exist, but we intend on offering more value per view than the competing apps in the form of coins per action. It's a balancing act of note, so watch this space as we develop (hopefully) a valuable new resource that is not focused on making money, but to actually help people get exposure.

Edit: (My Background)
I run one of South Africa's largest ISP's and as such we have an extensive amount of unused server resources at our disposal. (We have around 40% of our total available capacity in the form of IP's, Server Clusters etc that is unused at this point). My thought was to give people extra views on all campaigns in the form of Bonus Views using VPS machines that will "watch" their videos. The VPS views will be strictly limited to Bonus Views, and with over 5000 IP's at our disposal, we can rotate these constantly. Normal Views will be real human views only. All Subscribes, Likes and Comments will be real humans too.

Yes, we will have a VIP account that will allow people a flat 30% discount on the coin cost of a campaign, the removal of daily watch limits (how many videos people can watch per day) and a few other perks which we are yet to decide on. Ultimately we are not in it for the money, as people without VIP will be able to play up to 150 videos per day.

When a user wants to setup a campaign, they will be able to choose how many people they would like to watch their video as well as for how long. Anything from 45 seconds to 700 seconds.

Your thoughts, feedback and insight will be extremely valuable to us as we embark on this journey and hopefully make a few $ on the side whilst offering users the best value.

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You're doing what hitleap has done years ago but for websites. Good idea, I don't know if it will profitable.

Let us know if you start providing this service for forum members at some point in the future.

GenesisOne said:

Let us know if you start providing this service for forum members at some point in the future.

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Once I am eligible to upgrade to Jr VIP, I will definitely be taking that option and then create a post in the Marketplace where BHW members will get exclusive discounts and free coins for Beta Testing and interacting with my app. I would like to use this platform as its members are engaging and very responsive.

Update # 2:

The app development is going smoothly so far. I am engaging with the forum as much as possible so that I can reach my 100 message target and upgrade to Jr VIP. This will allow me to, as stated in my previous post, open the app up for Beta Testing on BHW.

The app is now fully functional with the following features working:

Create Campaign with Coins:
User can select a goal. These goals are available: Views, Subscribers and Likes. Views allows you to set the number of Views you would your video to get and the amount of seconds a viewer must watch your video for before they are awarded their coins. Subscribers allow you to select the number of subscribers you would like and the same goes for Likes.

View, Like and Subscribe:
Users can View videos and receive coins in exchange.
Users can Subscribe to a Channel and receive coins
Users can Like a video and receive coins

Buy Points:
Users have the option of buying coins if they would like to run a campaign to supplement their current balance or to avoid the need to watch other peoples content. We have partnered with another well known app that will allow us to deliver the campaign that a buyer sets up because at first we will not have enough members to fulfil larger orders. We pay them x amount for the campaign and they deliver it to their real users. We report back via an API link that we have setup. I do not think we will need to do this for very long as their is quite a demand for this type of app in the market and we will be spending quite a bit on marketing it from the get go. We already have 200 members on a waiting list that would like to join. If you would like to be added to the waiting list you can drop me a DM.

VIP Status:
Users can buy VIP Status for $4.45 per month which will remove any in app ads as well as give them a reduction across the board of between 15% and 25% for the creation of campaigns. It will also give you more points when you view, like or subscribe and offer you x amount of free daily coins for as long as you are a subscriber, which you must collect in app daily. (The coins arent automatically awarded to encourage users to interact with the app daily). If users buy a 3 or 6 month subscription, they will get a discounted rate. VIP also removes the limit on the number of videos you can play per day to earn coins. So you could literally use the app all day and it will autoplay videos and you can earn coins.


Mathematics:

I have had to delve into some number crunching so that the system balances itself out. We had to decide the worth of each coin, which wasn't as easy as one would think it is due to all the variables.

Once we hit 10 000 active members, the value of each coin increases drastically due to the amount of people that will be engaging with user content. Coins will be a valuable resource as they buy you real user engagement.

SMM Panel and Wholesale:

We have been in discussions with a large SMM panel provider who is interested in adding our engagement to his panel at a Premium. We will be able to sell him coins at a wholesale rate and give him API access for order delivery due to the partnership we have with one of the largest Apps in the market. Once we hit the 10 000 mark, we should be able to fulfill his orders ourselves and will no longer need to rely on the third party apps real users. We project reaching this number in 3 x months.

We have also received interest from another SMM Panel, but for now, we will start with only one large wholesale client. I am sure we will get many more offers in the future and will deal with these on a case by case basis.

What are we working on now?

We are ensuring that the app can scale quickly. We have setup our server cluster with plenty of extra resources so that a large influx of users do not break the system. We have also placed ads thoughtfully throughout the app.

Version 2:

We have already started the framework of version 2 which will introduce Instagram to the mix. Like, Comment and Follow will be possible in addition to all the Youtube features. Comments for Youtube will be implemented in Version 2 as well.

That's my update for the day. Thank you for following my journey.

Questions:

1. Would you be interested in beta testing the app?
2. Should we allow more than 2 x instances of the app to be run at the same time?
3. Should we sell real Youtube engagement (View, Like, Comment) 'off - app' on a dedicated website once we hit 10 000? Similar to an SMM Panel. This will not work with coins but with USD. You topup your wallet and can create campaigns as you wish which will be delivered by our userbase.
4. VIP offers users an ad free experience. Should we keep the 'Watch this Ad and get x amount of coins' active for VIP members? This feature will allow you to get bonus coins by watching 30 to 60 second long adverts. It will limit you to 3 x per day as a Free member. I want to increase that to 10 x per day for VIP members
5. Should there be a Diamond Tier that offers even more benefits at a higher monthly cost?

Very nice
Following

DeFiNFT1 said:

Very nice
Following

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Thank you so much! I appreciate all the well wishes I have received since the start of my journey. I want to ensure BHW members become an integral part of the app's existence.

Good luck!
Defiantly following.

Two questions that came up while I was going over this thread:
1. How will you prevent people from using bots on this app?
2. Will users be able to convert coins/credits to real money and withdraw it?

TaMNoNa said:

Good luck!
Defiantly following.

Two questions that came up while I was going over this thread:
1. How will you prevent people from using bots on this app?
2. Will users be able to convert coins/credits to real money and withdraw it?

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Thank you for your reply.

1. We have a built in bot detection mechanism that will flag a users account and suspend them pending a manual review. We have tested the system and it can detect bot style activity using a deep learning AI model with over 100 triggers built in. Its pretty much bot proof, that is why we will be able to proudly sell Coins as Real User Engagement. No bots will be allowed on the system at all. We have even taken an extra step called 'Sampling'. Every 15 minutes the system takes 10 random accounts and perform bot checks on them specifically. If a bot is detected, then we know there is something wrong with the app wise detector allowing us to investigate and fix.

2. No, Coins need to remain in the app in order for them to carry a value. You will however be able to transfer a certain amount of coins between Youtube and Instagram from Version 2 onwards.. But coins will only have in app value,

We are floating the idea of our own SMM Panel around with API access once we hit the 10 000 active user mark. This will allow you to purchase real Youtube and Instagram engagement without needing to interact with the app. With that number of users (and more), we will easily be able to deliver the purchased campaigns. However, the campaigns will be more expensive than other SMM Panels as we will only be selling real engagement that truly adds value to your channel and make the Youtube Algorithm very happy.

What we have learnt about the Youtube AG is that they favor channels that keep viewers watching. The app will be doing exactly that, so any channel that creates campaigns through us will automatically get an AG boost, as long as you run your account through our App and watch videos. (theoretically at least)

embire said:

1. We have a built in bot detection mechanism that will flag a users account and suspend them pending a manual review. We have tested the system and it can detect bot style activity using a deep learning AI model with over 100 triggers built in. Its pretty much bot proof, that is why we will be able to proudly sell Coins as Real User Engagement. No bots will be allowed on the system at all. We have even taken an extra step called 'Sampling'. Every 15 minutes the system takes 10 random accounts and perform bot checks on them specifically. If a bot is detected, then we know there is something wrong with the app wise detector allowing us to investigate and fix.

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Sounds good!
I hope it works well since these kinds of apps usually get ruined pretty quickly by bot farms.

embire said:

Questions:

1. Would you be interested in beta testing the app?
2. Should we allow more than 2 x instances of the app to be run at the same time?
3. Should we sell real Youtube engagement (View, Like, Comment) 'off - app' on a dedicated website once we hit 10 000? Similar to an SMM Panel. This will not work with coins but with USD. You topup your wallet and can create campaigns as you wish which will be delivered by our userbase.
4. VIP offers users an ad free experience. Should we keep the 'Watch this Ad and get x amount of coins' active for VIP members? This feature will allow you to get bonus coins by watching 30 to 60 second long adverts. It will limit you to 3 x per day as a Free member. I want to increase that to 10 x per day for VIP members
5. Should there be a Diamond Tier that offers even more benefits at a higher monthly cost?

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1. Of course.
2. Not sure, but that’s definitely a good parameter to test during your beta.
3. What will be the source of those engagements? The app or an external source?
4. You can let them choose. Just create a “Preferences” tab in the profile and allow users to enable or disable this option.
5. What kind of benefits are you thinking about?

TaMNoNa said:

Sounds good!
I hope it works well since these kinds of apps usually get ruined pretty quickly by bot farms.


1. Of course.
2. Not sure, but that’s definitely a good parameter to test during your beta.
3. What will be the source of those engagements? The app or an external source?
4. You can let them choose. Just create a “Preferences” tab in the profile and allow users to enable or disable this option.
5. What kind of benefits are you thinking about?

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Thank you for your reply.

3. The app will be the source, this is why I think we only start considering such a venture once we surpass the 10 000 user mark. Based off of my calculations, and the projected average time a user spends on the app per day, this is the bare minimum.
4. Fantastic idea!
5. Extra coins per engagement, 30% discount in the amount of coins it costs you to create a campaign and the ability to load 2 x Youtube channels to the app plus access to Auto Campaign Packs, where your campaign launches automatically when a new video is uploaded. Once we add Instagram to the mix, it becomes more interesting. Then we can offer a wealth of bonus features exclusively for Diamond members,

Update # 3:

Today's update is a short one, as I have already explained the mechanics of the app.

At this stage, we are looking at starting beta testing in the next 2 x weeks for Version 1.

I should have my Jr VIP by then upon which I will create a thread in the Marketplace and invite BHW members to join with some free credits. We can't be too giving with the coins at first until we hit at least 1000 active daily use members. This is the apps balancing sweet spot. Once we reach this level, we will be able to offer BHW members some bonus coins to combine with points earned to create your own Youtube campaign.

Update #4:

Alot has happened since my last update. We have uploaded the Beta Version of the App onto the Google Play Console and have entered Closed Testing. This phase requires a minimum of 20 beta testers to interact with the app for a period of 14 days before we are able to Publish it for the General Public to use.

I am a few days away from upgrading to Junior VIP. Once upgraded, I will place an invitation for BHW members to join the closed testing phase in my signature. You will have direct access to our Dev Team via email and will shape the future of the app.

Version 1 allows you to View, Like and Subscribe to other users Youtube Videos in exchange for Gems. For the View mechanism, you can select the amount of seconds a user must watch your video for in order to claim their gem reward when you setup your own campaign. All BHW members will get a starting credit of 1000 gems if they decide to join the Beta Testing phase. Once the App launches publically, you will also get VIP for one week to thank you for your contribution. You will remain a Beta Tester even after the app has launched and will get new versions of the App before anyone else.

Although this will not be available in the first release, you will get access to the new GUI design which is ready to be integrated as soon as the dust has settles on the App's initial launch.

Other perks include discounts on creating a Campaign for as long as you remain an active BHW beta tester. The discounts will be rolled out in version 1.1. This includes discounts on Gem purchases and VIP subscription purchases.

Version 2 of the App will integrate Reddit as our second platform. You will be able to Upvote, Comment and Subscribe to Subreddits on other user posts in exchange for Gems. Gems are Universal, meaning that Gems earned on Youtube can be used to start campaigns on Reddit and vice versa.

Our website has been built and will be advertised in my signature once I qualify to upgrade my account.

That's it from me for now. Watch this space, as the Closed Beta launch is imminent.

Question: Would you be interested in becoming a Beta Tester of my App?

embire said:

Update #4:

Alot has happened since my last update. We have uploaded the Beta Version of the App onto the Google Play Console and have entered Closed Testing. This phase requires a minimum of 20 beta testers to interact with the app for a period of 14 days before we are able to Publish it for the General Public to use.

I am a few days away from upgrading to Junior VIP. Once upgraded, I will place an invitation for BHW members to join the closed testing phase in my signature. You will have direct access to our Dev Team via email and will shape the future of the app.

Version 1 allows you to View, Like and Subscribe to other users Youtube Videos in exchange for Gems. For the View mechanism, you can select the amount of seconds a user must watch your video for in order to claim their gem reward when you setup your own campaign. All BHW members will get a starting credit of 1000 gems if they decide to join the Beta Testing phase. Once the App launches publically, you will also get VIP for one week to thank you for your contribution. You will remain a Beta Tester even after the app has launched and will get new versions of the App before anyone else.

Although this will not be available in the first release, you will get access to the new GUI design which is ready to be integrated as soon as the dust has settles on the App's initial launch.

Other perks include discounts on creating a Campaign for as long as you remain an active BHW beta tester. The discounts will be rolled out in version 1.1. This includes discounts on Gem purchases and VIP subscription purchases.

Version 2 of the App will integrate Reddit as our second platform. You will be able to Upvote, Comment and Subscribe to Subreddits on other user posts in exchange for Gems. Gems are Universal, meaning that Gems earned on Youtube can be used to start campaigns on Reddit and vice versa.

Our website has been built and will be advertised in my signature once I qualify to upgrade my account.

That's it from me for now. Watch this space, as the Closed Beta launch is imminent.

Question: Would you be interested in becoming a Beta Tester of my App?

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Definitely! I am interested.

Update #5:

Since my last update we have been stuck in the Google Policy Review machine. They keep rejecting our app for Closed-Testing, which is a requirement before an app can be published. The App is ready and working 100%, but we have been struggling to get Google to approve it.

I have hired a Google Policy expert (a former Google Play employee) to take us to the finish line. They know the intricacies of Google's Play policies and is busy working on crossing the t's and dotting the i's on our next submission.

Once approved for closed testing, we will release the app to 20 x beta testers who will test the functionality and different features of the app. As previously stated, this will take 14 days. We will then take their live feedback and implement it into the app design during the testing phase so that we can hit the ground running with the final version.

The annoyance of having Google delay this process is real. I am very confident in the app and its features and we could have had it listed in the Play store by now if it wasn't for this delay.

We are eager to get it published so that we can start working on implementing our new GUI. I attach a sample of what version 1.5 will look like. We are more eager to start work on version 2, which will integrate Reddit into the App. A user will be able to Vote / Comment and Share posts for Gems on Reddit.

Gems are universal, so Gems earned on Youtube for example can be spent on creating a Reddit campaign.

That's it for this update. I will post here once the app is approved for closed-testing and feedback on the changes we have had to make.

What's an "APP" and how does it differ to an App?