We have confirmed that UserLocal Inc. and its “VTuber Fan Count Ranking” have been criticized by many people for posting channels that may or may not be considered VTuber.
The “VTuber Fan Ranking” is a website operated by UserLocal, Inc. that lists the number of VTuber celebrities’ official YouTube channel subscribers in a ranking format.
The criticism of the company and the site was triggered by the fact that the site posted the channel of an Indonesian distributor named “Obit”, who uses a dog avatar. Obit’s channel has approximately 4.73 million subscribers (as of July 15, 2:00 / PST), and as shown in the image above, his channel is listed as No.1 on the ranking list.
On the other hand, there seems to be some debate over whether Obit is a VTuber or not, and the site has been criticized for “Posting channels too quickly when it is desirable to make a careful decision on whether or not to post them”.
In addition, the site has long been criticized for sloppy management (updating of information) for a company-operated site.
The site continued to list channels that had effectively retired or were inactive (Kizuna AI, Kaguya Luna, etc.) in the rankings, listed channels whose identity as VTubers could not be verified, and even listed live-action channels (such as a Japanese politician “Maruyama Hodaka (丸山穂高)”). In the comments section of the site, some viewers pointed out the opaqueness of the criteria for inclusion and the sloppiness of the management.
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VTuber Fan Count Ranking
In the past, some VTuber-related companies used the site’s data in their press releases and other materials, but in recent years, some have replaced it with their own data, perhaps in light of the site’s current state and declining reliability.
We believe that the criticism of UserLocal and its “VTuber Fan Count Ranking” is a reflection of the growing demand for correct information to be posted on the site, which has had problems for some time.
UserLocal Inc.
(P2y.EN)
