YouTube personalities and content creators H3h3 Productions, goofed really hard this weekend. In a now-deleted video, Ethan Klein, voice and figurehead of the channel, claimed The Wall Street Journal had doctored evidence to prove that YouTube was putting ads for companies like Starbucks, Coca-Cola and Toyota on videos featuring extremely questionable content.

Klein asked the original video uploader for screenshots of the video’s view count and ad revenue, trying to prove WSJ messed with the screenshot since the video was unmonetized, meaning the uploader had put no ads on it to make money. The view counts also seemed sketchy to Klein, who claims the view counter only goes up 30 views over the course of the screenshots, which according to WSJ were taken over the course of two days. YouTube doesn't count refreshes of a page by a user trying to see different ads, so the view counter would not have gone up by much, regardless.

WSJ released a statement of its own, standing by its research: “Any claim that the related screenshots or any other reporting was in any way fabricated or doctored is outrageous and false.”

Its newest video has Ethan backpedaling, arguing those videos could have been “claimed” by someone else, meaning another entity claimed copyright ownership of the video and put ads on it. Turns out they “may have been wrong,” so the video was taken down. It’s a bit ridiculous that we live in an age where a 127-year-old media outlet can get into a fight with two video creators on the internet.

Youtubers and news outlet sites have never seen eye to eye. It’s a battle between old media and new media, and both want to remain on top and get as many eyeballs on their product as possible. Klein should have done more research before slandering WSJ, but WSJ should stop attacking YouTube for ads on some questionable videos. The Daily Mail attacked YouTube as well, focusing on the Epic Slingshot channel, who showed a video how easy it is to get through a stab proof vest.

Patrolling the ridiculously large pool of videos on the platform is just impossible, but when one breaks through and catches their attention, it gets fixed as quickly as possible. YouTube took a serious hit when ads from major companies starting leaving left and right, who wanted nothing to do with any objectionable content. The platform is at a serious turning point, it can’t survive without ads but it’s also impossible to check every single video that has something “wrong” with it. Google might not seem like it needs the video, but if it lost billions overnight, you bet it would feel it in the morning.

I am a huge h3h3 productions fan, but it’s getting harder to follow them with each passing week. After JonTron, another popular YouTuber, had an incredibly nasty debate where he argued about eugenics and race ethics in an entirely inappropriate way, h3h3 didn’t make a video. They (usually) go after all the stupidity on the platform, even going so far as to get sued by one of their targets. Still, after this incredibly large and public clown fiesta, h3h3 didn’t make a sound and even still seem to be friends with the guy.

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