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Like, Comment, Subscribe

Like, Comment, Subscribe

Inside YouTube’s Chaotic Rise to World Domination

Summary

Brought to you by Penguin.

Since 2005, YouTube has exploded, giving a platform to unique and valuable voices, but also to propaganda, misinformation and illicit videos. The algorithm which determines whether a channel lives or dies - how or when videos are seen, and how much creators earn through advertising - is notoriously secretive, remaining a mystery to consumers and broadcasters alike. At the same time, the site is massively profitable for parent company Google, helping turn it into one of the most influential powers on the planet.

In Like, Comment, Subscribe, Bloomberg tech journalist Mark Bergen delivers the definitive account on YouTube, detailing how it started, how it works and ultimately how it drives Google's success. It can be seen as the story of a technical marvel that has upended traditional media and created stars out of everyday people, or the story of the rise of a ruthless advertising conglomerate with little regard for its impact on the world beyond the bottom line - but in reality, it's the story of both.

© Mark Bergen 2022 (P) Penguin Audio 2022

Reviews

  • A must-read, unparalleled in its access to the inner thoughts and workings of the people and departments that dictated what content can be seen and what can't.
    Chris Stokel-Walker, The New Scientist

About the author

Mark Bergen

Mark Bergen is an award-winning tech journalist at Bloomberg News. One of the world's foremost experts on everything to do with Google and YouTube, he has been covering the company for over half a decade. His work has been printed in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Time, Reuters and the New Yorker, while he also regularly appears on CNBC, Bloomberg TV/Radio, NPR and several other media outlets.
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