Since its inception in 2005, YouTube has grown into a sprawling community of content creators. For nearly any topic you can imagine, there is anywhere from a single channel to a massive network of channels devoted to bringing you regular content on that topic. YouTube is now the largest video hosting service on the internet.

Somewhere along the way, someone discovered you can make good money from YouTube. Every time an ad plays before a video, some of the revenue from that ad goes to the owner of that channel, the content creator. Today, countless people have turned YouTube into a career: quitting their day jobs and living off ad revenue, donations and sponsorships. However, that lifestyle is being threatened by YouTube itself in a time dubbed the “Adpocalypse.”

In the past year, YouTube has started to crack down on content that is “unsuitable for advertisement:” i.e. violence, swearing and offensive or sexual content. The only problem is that 400 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute. This amount is difficult to moderate. So, YouTube relies on AI, or artificial intelligence, and algorithms to flag sensitive content.

Unfortunately, these AI aren’t very smart, and advertisers aren’t very forgiving. Because of this, a gaming video entitled “EPIC KILLSTREAK!!! [CoD:MW4 Remastered]” might get flagged for containing the word killstreak, denying the content creator any revenue from views on the video. ASMR (autonomous sensory meridian response) videos, due to their intimate nature, are often flagged for sexual content.

A single “fuck” can get a video flagged—imagine if uttering a single swear word at work forced you to forgo that day’s pay. Ethan Klein of h3h3productions, a YouTube channel with 4.7 million subscribers, recently reported an 85% drop in ad revenue per month.

Content creators can request manual review of flagged videos, meaning a YouTube employee has to sit through the whole video to verify it is in violation of advertiser standards. YouTuber Breezy highlights the frustration of this system:

Update: YouTube is approving nearly every video I request for review. So if they're safe for ads, WHY DEMONETIZE THEM IN THE FIRST PLACE 😭
— Bree (@BreezyTheButt) September 9, 2017

Not only that but they won't review your video until it has 1000+ views, meaning if their automated system tags your video falsely (cont.)
— Bree (@BreezyTheButt) September 9, 2017

You have to somehow rally up UNPAID views before they will fix the issue. It's so abusive and thoughtless to creators 😢
— Bree (@BreezyTheButt) September 9, 2017

Even if a video was indeed safe for advertisement, it can still suffer revenue loss in the time it takes to be reviewed. Furthermore, if hundreds of completely safe videos are being flagged, YouTube’s algorithms are clearly not doing their job.

So what can content creators do? Well, until YouTube adopts better policies (or in case it doesn’t), many popular gaming channels are picking up shop and switching to full-time Twitch streaming. Others are experimenting with alternative sites such as Vidme. Plenty of content creators allow fans to donate through services like Patreon.

YouTube grew up with the internet. Though it won’t be going anytime soon, tensions between YouTube and its creators have been steadily heightening over the past few years. It would be sad to see it pass, but luckily if it does there are plenty of alternatives for dedicated content creators.

As long as their viewer base remains loyal, YouTubers, or whatever we will call them, can continue to follow their passions, whether it be gaming, makeup, vlogging, singing or reporting on artificial drama. Websites pass; creativity does not.