Machinima offers payment for positive Xbox One videos

Written by David Hing

January 21, 2014 | 09:22

Tags: #ethics #machinima #xbox-one #youtube

Companies: #microsoft

Video game themed Youtube channel Machinima has launched a campaign where its video partners earn an extra $3 CPM (cost per-thousand views) for posting videos featuring positive content about the Xbox One.

The promotion led by Machinima and Microsoft was leaked to Ars Technica. A Machinima UK community manager also confirmed the offer in a tweet that has since been deleted.

To qualify, Machinima partners needed to post a video that included at least 30 seconds of Xbox One game footage and that explicitly mentioned the Xbox One. The video should also include the tag XB1M13.

The contract also stipulates that video creators are not allowed to say anything negative about the Xbox One or any of its games, nor can they mention any details about the promotion in the first place.

A similar deal also ran in November where an additional $1 CPM was offered on videos promoting the Xbox One and its release games.

Whilst the line between editorial and advertising content does sometimes blur in the journalistic world, that there is a line and the two streams of content should remain divided is far from an obscure rule in the media in general.

Several Youtube personalities have frequently come under fire from the traditional press for questionable ethics when it comes to taking money or freebies in exchange for promoting games.

Whilst it is by no means all prominent Youtubers that fall into this trap, the Youtube ecosystem is definitely more of a wild west when it comes to blurring the line between advertising and editorial content and advertisers are increasingly seizing on this opportunity to tap into the fan bases of popular personalities.
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