How Indie YouTubers Became Industry Players

Data Analysis
Information Design
YouTube API
EPFL
CS-401

My contribution: Category Cartographer (aka EDDIE)
Data enrichment
Website implementation
code

GO TO PROJECT WEBSITE

The setup

The question

How did YouTube creators evolve from independent creators into more professional, commercial channels?

Data

We combined the YouNiverse and SponsorBlock datasets, and used the YouTube Data API.

My focus

How did the YouTube ecosystem change as it grew bigger?
Did all categories grow in the same way?
How did different types of links (content, social, monetization) spread and change over time?
Which categories used monetization links the most?
Did channels become professional all at once or gradually?

My contribution

Analyzed how the YouTube ecosystem evolved across categories and over time.
Studied the adoption of content, social, and monetization links as signals of professionalization.
Enriched the data and used the YouTube Data API to verify channel activity in 2025.
Built the corresponding analysis, visualizations, and website section.

Key findings

From 2008 to 2018, YouTube shifted from indie-scale creation toward industry-scale content production as upload volumes grew.
Over the same period, different categories professionalized at different rates and in different ways.
Monetization, social, and content links became increasingly common as creators adopted more professional practices.