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In case you haven't been keeping up, YouTube is in a rough spot. The uber-popular video delivery platform has come underfire of late due to the discovery of adverts being served on some racist videos, which has had the knock-on effect of brands pulling support from the platform. Many high-profile content creators have revealed a sudden, sharp decrease in advertising revenue – even we're seeing a similar trend on a much smaller scale on our Push Square channel, though this could just as easily be a consequence of the new fiscal year.

Either way, amid what he's deemed the 'Adpocalypse', the site's most subscribed member Felix 'PewDiePie' Kjellberg has launched a weekly Twitch show. While he admits that this is something he's been planning to do for a while, the timing is interesting to say the least – though he was recently dropped by network Maker Studios, so probably has a bit more freedom than he had before.

While the decline in revenue is unlikely to affect the millionaire, it could kill off fledgling channels if the situation persists. "I pray for everyone that's a smaller channel that they can hang in there for now," Kjellberg said in a brand new video. "This month, most likely, a lot of creators are not going to get paid."

In all, it's shaping up to be a very tough year for YouTube, as it attracts more and more controversy from the mainstream media. Whether the old guard is simply trying to stall the increasingly important platform out of spite or raising legitimate points, it's looking like the company's going to have to put out some important fires in 2017. And exactly how it does that while keeping everyone happy remains to be seen.

[source youtube.com, via eurogamer.net]