Buy or Create: Unveiling the Reality and Risks of "Purchasing" Viewing Time!

1. Introduction: The Reality of 4,000 Hours as Told by Numbers

The essential condition for YouTube monetization, "4,000 total watch hours in the last 12 months," is said to be much harder to achieve than gaining 1,000 subscribers. According to a study by the data analysis service Tubics, an average small-to-medium creator would need approximately 320 10-minute videos to earn 4,000 hours through organic traffic alone. As a "shortcut," the watch time purchase service emerges. The Brazilian media outlet Adital released their "6 Recommended Sites for 2025," which garnered significant attention.adital.com.br

2. Market Overview: Why Brazilian Services Are Strong

The watch time selling business rapidly expanded in Eastern Europe and South Asia around 2019, but since 2023, the Portuguese-speaking regions have become the main battleground. There are three reasons for this: (1) the CPM for Portuguese speakers is lower than in English-speaking regions, allowing for reduced purchase costs, (2) the culture of instant payment through card payments and PIX is well-established in Brazil, and (3) the influencer economy exploded on TikTok and Kwai, leading to the cross-sharing of video know-how. These factors support the strength of Portuguese-speaking services, known for being "cheap and fast."publiconline.com.bryoutube.com

3. In-depth Analysis of Adital's "6 Recommended Sites"

Analysis

• Followgram offers three tiers: 1,000h/2,000h/4,000h. After purchase, specify one video URL, and it will automatically distribute across multiple videos.

• Seguidores allows progress tracking via dashboard. Full refund for unprocessed cancellations.

• Word SEO incorporates browser playback, making it easier to appear in the "related videos" tab, according to many testimonials.

• Subsly uses API integration for a gradual injection of 120–240h per hour.

• Criador de Youtubers is popular for its "all-in-one" package of 4,000h + 1,000 subscribers + 10,000 views.

• Jovem Bilionário offers discounts exclusively for finance and investment channels, attracting many users in this genre.

4. Comparing Costs and Retention Rates

When plotting each company's average retention rate and unit price on a bar graph, the cost performance is in the order of Seguidores > Subsly > Followgram. Jovem Bilionário, with the lowest unit price, has a retention rate of around 65%, requiring further review according to some reviews. On the other hand, Word SEO offers added value that cannot be measured by pure watch time unit cost when considering its SEO effects.revistademarketing.com.brsnshelper.com

5. Controversy Erupts on Social Media

Proponents

• "Passed the review in 3 days. Higher ROI than ad costs" — Lo-fi YouTuber from Porto Alegre (X post, 2025/04/12)

• "For language learning channels with long playlists, purchasing is realistic" — Educational creator on Discord

Opponents

• On Reddit r/NewTubers, a thread titled "Bot views get caught instantly" and "It only poisons the algorithm" received over 2,000 likes.reddit.comreddit.com

• Clipchamp's official blog also warns that "purchasing offers short-term benefits but doesn't yield true engagement."clipchamp.com

• Socialnomics, in a January 2025 article, introduced the "risk of channel suspension" with specific examples.socialnomics.net

6. Risks and YouTube Policies

6.1 YouTube's Explicit "Invalid Engagement" Policy

Google's support page clearly states that "artificial increases in watch time or subscribers can lead to the revocation of the YouTube Partner Program (YPP)." While the purchase itself is not directly "illegal", methods involving fraudulent activities (bots/click farms, etc.) are against the terms.support.google.comsupport.google.com

6.2 Roadmap to Channel Termination

1. Warning — First time can be lifted with deletion/improvement within 90 days

2. Strike 1 — 1-week upload suspension

3. Strike 2 — 2-week upload suspension

4. Strike 3 — Permanent channel deletion
   If purchased watch time is detected by the algorithm, it often starts with Strike 1. In late 2024, a gaming commentary channel's case of being wiped out at Strike 3 went viral on Twitter/X.

6.3 Business Risks

• Loss of brand deals

• Lower credit score (Brand Safety metrics for advertisers decrease)

• Future recommendation decline (as retention rates are treated as "zero")

7. Hybrid Strategy: The Art of Succeeding with "Purchases"

1. Purchase only the missing hours
   If you've earned 2,800h naturally, buy only the missing 1,200h. Excessive injection is unnatural.

2. Combine with live streaming
   Conduct a 1–2 hour live stream immediately after purchase and guide chats to overwrite with "real view" signals.

3. Simultaneously deploy comment strategies
   Solicit Q&A on SNS and respond within videos to boost engagement.##HTML_TAG_518