The "BetterHelp" YouTube Virus is BACK
Summary
TLDRThe video script discusses BetterHelp, an online therapy platform, and its controversial practices. It highlights BetterHelp's aggressive advertising on YouTube, deceptive subscription cancellation tactics, and high refund rates. The script also reveals the platform's involvement in data privacy breaches, partnerships with controversial figures, and a history of misleading users about their data policies. The video urges viewers to be aware of BetterHelp's reputation and to consider more reputable sponsors for content creators.
Takeaways
- 😐 BetterHelp is an online therapy service that has been heavily advertised on platforms like YouTube, often by influencers who share personal struggles and endorse the service.
- 😕 Despite the positive advertising, many users have reported issues with BetterHelp, such as difficulty canceling subscriptions and feeling unsatisfied with the service.
- 😟 BetterHelp has been involved in controversies, including allegations of unnecessary fees and manipulation to keep users subscribed to the service.
- 😨 In 2023, BetterHelp had to issue $93 million in refunds, which accounted for 8% of their revenue, indicating a significant number of dissatisfied customers.
- 🤔 After a tragedy at Astro World, BetterHelp partnered with Travis Scott, who was implicated in the incident, to offer free therapy to those affected, raising questions about the company's ethics.
- 😯 BetterHelp's terms of service have included clauses that they do not control the quality of counselor services or determine counselor qualifications, which have since been removed.
- 📈 BetterHelp has significantly increased its advertising efforts on YouTube, sponsoring nearly 2,000 videos in the third quarter of 2023, a tenfold increase in just one year.
- 😱 BetterHelp has been fined for sharing user data with advertisers, contradicting their claims of keeping consumer information private.
- 😡 The company's CEO had previously dismissed the idea of selling user data as a 'conspiracy theory,' but BetterHelp was later found to have been doing exactly that.
- 😰 An investigation revealed that BetterHelp was silently sharing user data with third parties, including social media companies, potentially breaching privacy.
Q & A
What is the main subject of the video?
-The video discusses the controversial practices and history of the online therapy service BetterHelp, including its advertising strategies, user complaints, and privacy concerns.
What was the initial approach of BetterHelp to gain traction on YouTube?
-BetterHelp initially gained traction on YouTube by sponsoring a large number of creators who would talk about the value of the service and relate it to their personal lives.
What issues were users experiencing with BetterHelp's service?
-Users reported unnecessary fees, difficulty canceling subscriptions, and overall dissatisfaction with the service, including being misled by the cancellation process.
How much in refunds did BetterHelp disperse in a year, and what does it suggest about user satisfaction?
-BetterHelp dispersed $93 million in refunds, which constituted 8% of their revenue. This suggests that a significant number of users were dissatisfied with the service.
What controversial partnership did BetterHelp engage in after the Astro World tragedy?
-BetterHelp partnered with Travis Scott, who was implicated in the Astro World tragedy, offering a free month of online therapy to those affected.
What was the issue with BetterHelp's terms of service that raised concerns?
-A segment in BetterHelp's terms of service stated that they did not control the quality of counselor services or determine whether any counselor was qualified to provide specific services, which has since been removed.
What is the relationship between BetterHelp and the company Telo?
-BetterHelp is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Telo, which is a publicly-traded company that has to disclose financial information.
Why did BetterHelp's paying user base decrease significantly?
-The decrease in BetterHelp's paying users may be attributed to the loss of CareDash, a fraudulent platform that was funneling customers to BetterHelp, and the company's history of privacy violations.
What was the outcome of BetterHelp being charged for sharing health questionnaire answers and other data with advertisers?
-BetterHelp was fined, and affected users received less than $10 each, while the company continued to spend heavily on YouTube advertising.
What did the investigation by Jezebel reveal about BetterHelp's data sharing practices?
-The investigation revealed that BetterHelp was silently sharing data with third parties, including metadata from therapy sessions, which was then used for targeted advertising.
What is the video's final recommendation regarding BetterHelp and its advertising on YouTube?
-The video recommends that viewers and creators be aware of BetterHelp's practices and suggests finding more reputable sponsors for YouTube content.
Outlines
🤔 Controversy Surrounding BetterHelp's Business Practices
This paragraph discusses the sponsorship of BetterHelp by YouTube creators and the ensuing controversy. BetterHelp is portrayed as an online therapy platform, but users have reported issues like difficulty canceling subscriptions and unnecessary fees. The company's tactics, such as manipulative button placements to hinder cancellations, are criticized. Additionally, BetterHelp's large refund payouts and partnership with Travis Scott following a tragedy are highlighted, suggesting a lack of genuine care for users' well-being. The paragraph also points out a problematic clause in BetterHelp's terms of service regarding the quality and qualification of counselors, which has since been removed.
📈 BetterHelp's Aggressive Advertising Amidst Declining User Base
The second paragraph delves into BetterHelp's significant increase in YouTube advertising, suggesting a strategy to attract a younger demographic. Despite previous controversies, BetterHelp has escalated its sponsorships dramatically. The paragraph connects this to the aftermath of a fraudulent scheme involving CareDash, a platform that used unauthorized therapist profiles to funnel customers to BetterHelp. With CareDash's shutdown and a decline in paying users, BetterHelp appears to be compensating by intensifying its marketing efforts.
📊 BetterHelp's Legal Troubles and Data Privacy Issues
This section uncovers BetterHelp's legal issues, including a penalty for sharing user data with advertisers and a history of breaking privacy promises. The company's CEO's past denial of selling user data is contrasted with an FTC investigation revealing the opposite. The investigation found that BetterHelp used consumer data for targeted advertising, leading to substantial revenue. Furthermore, the paragraph reveals that BetterHelp silently shared user data with third parties, including social media companies, which raises serious privacy concerns.
🚫 Public Awareness Campaign Against BetterHelp's Unscrupulous Tactics
The final paragraph serves as a call to action, urging viewers to share the information and be wary of BetterHelp's practices. It criticizes BetterHelp's attempt to re-enter the YouTube community despite its history and implores creators to seek more reputable sponsors. The paragraph also promotes the sponsor Incog, which focuses on online privacy and data protection, positioning it as a stark contrast to BetterHelp's approach to user data.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡BetterHelp
💡Sponsorship
💡User Complaints
💡Refunds
💡Privacy Breaches
💡Incog
💡Data Brokers
💡CareDash
💡Teloc
💡Advertising Tactics
💡FTC Investigation
Highlights
The video discusses BetterHelp, an online therapy platform, and its controversial practices.
BetterHelp has been heavily advertised on YouTube, with creators often promoting it based on personal experiences.
Users have reported difficulties with cancellations and unnecessary fees, suggesting potential issues with the service.
In 2023, BetterHelp provided refunds amounting to 8% of their revenue, indicating a high level of customer dissatisfaction.
The company partnered with Travis Scott after the Astro World tragedy, offering free therapy to affected individuals.
BetterHelp's terms of service have been criticized for not controlling the quality of counselor services.
The company has increased its advertising significantly, particularly targeting younger demographics.
BetterHelp was charged and penalized for sharing health questionnaire answers and other data with advertisers.
CEO Alan Matas previously dismissed the idea of BetterHelp selling data as a conspiracy theory.
An investigation revealed that BetterHelp was silently sharing user data with third parties, including social media companies.
The video suggests BetterHelp is attempting to regain its user base through increased advertising after a loss of subscribers.
The company was affiliated with CareDash, a fraudulent platform that used unauthorized therapist profiles to funnel customers to BetterHelp.
BetterHelp is a subsidiary of Teladoc, a publicly traded company that must disclose financials.
The video criticizes BetterHelp's practices and encourages viewers to share the information and consider more reputable sponsors.
Incog, a company focused on online privacy and data protection, is highlighted as a sponsor of the video.
The video concludes by urging viewers to question everything and protect their data.
Transcripts
this video is brought to you by incog
which is actually kind of fitting given
the subject matter stick around to hear
more about the special offer they are
providing to the entire upper echelon
Community what is better help odds are a
lot of people watching this have
actively seen advertisements for the
service here on YouTube maybe Facebook
or elsewhere Loosely understanding it to
be an online therapy application for
matching patients with licensed
professionals pretty simple the ads
paint a picture of something kind or
approachable and the sponsorships they
authorize talk about how burnout is a
really difficult process and how help is
just a few clicks away but with tens of
millions of dollars pouring into the
YouTube ecosystem hundreds and hundreds
of videos promoting the service and a
rapidly growing list of creators
affiliated with them I wanted to examine
the full scope of this service because
it's not quite what people think it is
and prospective customers need to be
aware of that to do this we need to go
back in time 2018 was many things some
good some bad but relevant for today's
video 2018 was the time frame when
better help initially found traction on
the platform by sponsoring a very large
number of YouTube creators these
creators would very often talk about how
valuable the service is they would draw
connections to their own personal lives
or Express their own struggles which is
fine people can promote things that they
also believe in except there was a bit
of a discrepancy between what was being
said about the company and what users
were actually experiencing anecdotal
evidence is overly abundant here but the
gist of it then and still today now is
that many users were complaining about
unnecessary fees difficulty cancelling
subscriptions or problems with the
service that left them completely
unsatisfied as an example users who
actively subscribe to the platform often
had enormous difficulty canceling that
subscription they were repeatedly
required to confirm their intentions and
face with things like this typically
when you go to buy something or cancel
something green means yes do the thing
I'm trying to do and red means no I
changed my mind also buttons to the left
typically denote cancellation or go back
and buttons on the right signal conf
information or go forward better help
even though this is a relatively small
item in the grand scheme of things for
the video would pretty blatantly try to
trick their customers into hitting the
green button on the right which would
then actually halt the process of
cancellation because the goal wasn't
convenience or satisfaction the goal was
to manipulate their user base into
remaining on the platform with an active
subscription which would then continue
to rack up charges even in their absence
something else we can look at to kind of
help showcase this is that even last
year that being 2023 better help
dispersed 9 $93 million in refunds which
constituted 8% of their entire Revenue
stream it's difficult to find Direct
comparisons for that figure but it's
worth noting that the number of people
who actually pursue and complete a
refund process especially a difficult
one is substantially lower than the
number of people who are overall
dissatisfied with any given service
which begins to put things in
perspective you don't have to look very
far to start finding many more clues
about what kind of company this actually
is but try this one on for size after a
pretty horrifying tragedy took place at
a festival called Astro World in Houston
there's a 1200 page police report about
what happened which is pretty chilling
honestly but the gist of it is that a
hyped up crowd compressed in on itself
at a concert and multiple people died as
a result of that after that tragedy
occurred better help partnered up with
Travis Scott who many believ to be
partially responsible despite managing
to avoid criminal charges and offered a
free month of online therapy to all
those affected yeah the subpar remote
therapist application in partnership
with a negligent rapper who excited a
crowd and caused a tragedy are showing
how much they care together by basically
giving you four free tella Health
sessions on an application that breaches
your privacy and tries to keep you
trapped in a cycle of payments that's
really fantastic guys good job on top of
this as if that's not already enough to
form a judgmental opinion of them there
was a bit of a problem with their terms
of service according to archives their
to previously contained a segment which
said quote we do not control the quality
of the counselor services and we do not
determine whether any counselor is
qualified to provide any specific
service what now that particular passage
has since been removed obviously but it
further demonstrates that the company
has a really unstable foundation with
the public when it comes to common
perception and their chosen tactic to
remedy this is just lots of money I
already talked about how prolific better
help used to be when it comes to YouTube
sponsorships but what I didn't say is
that these YouTube Ubers were getting
paid something like $100 to $200 per
signup when they advertise the service
some affiliate websites show a minimum
Commission of $100 per trial user making
it an extremely lucrative thing to
advertise this mental health application
and make it seem like a worthwhile
service to use well that was then and
this is now so what precisely is
connecting these two points in time
answer better help is connecting these
two points in time because they are
exponentially dialing up their
advertising once again possibly relying
on the fact that internet users have a
very short attention span and probably
hoping to capitalize on a younger
demographic of adolescent teenagers and
early young adults who have been
aggressively told that their mental
health is the most important thing ever
in the history of the universe for the
majority of their living lives making
them not only hypers susceptible to this
but also relatively uninformed if they
didn't pay attention six years ago when
better help initially encountered
controversy on the platform which was
also preco which allows them to
capitalize even further on the
dramatically increased tolerance people
have for tella health and remote Medical
Solutions which weren't nearly as
popular before then according to
research by the out loud group better
help went from sponsoring roughly 392
videos in third quarter 2022 up to 636
in first quarter 2023
1237 in the second quarter nearly 2,000
in the third quarter that's a pretty
massive increase over time on track to
be roughly 10 times higher over the span
of just one year but seeing that made me
wonder why why are they doing this now
and what's the reason to dial up
advertising that much on a platform
whose Community previously ejected them
with very little sympathy before going
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your subscription big thank you to incog
for sponsoring the
channel so the question is why why would
better help come back and dump that much
money into YouTube right now well I dug
around for a while no luck here no luck
there but finally I stumbled on
something care Dash now for anyone who
doesn't know which is probably everyone
care Dash is a platform meant to connect
people to various doctors dentists and
therapists but I shouldn't say the word
is here because kashh doesn't exist
anymore yeah it turns out care Dash was
a fraud scheme that had been posting
profiles of real physicians clinicians
and therapists most importantly without
their knowledge or consent that might
seem strange but the incentive is
actually very very straightforward care
Dash would host the profiles of real
therapists but then if someone tried to
use their platform to actually book an
appointment with that therapist K Dash
would say oops sorry they're not
accepting new people right now and refer
that potential customer directly to
better help try to stay with me here I
learned through an escalated Federal
lawsuit that care Dash was operated by a
company called newfit media and newfit
media is a multi-million dollar startup
funded by a venture capital firm called
link Ventures it's got all the typical
bells and whistles worldclass
Partnerships and strong and passionate
creative teams etc etc but if we
compress it down to a basic point of
reference here kashh was a multi-million
dollar fraud platform driving traffic
through unauthorized use of therapist
profiles to better help which was shut
down in the first quarter of
2023 H this is where my Chrome window
almost crashed completely because I had
so many tabs open and yeah turns out
that better help is actually a holy
owned subsidiary acquired by a company
called tedoc in 2015 tedoc is a publicly
traded company thankfully which means
they have to disclose financials so
theoretically I should be able to check
what's happening and Presto goes the
dynamite yes I can in the second quarter
of 20123 shortly after the closure of
care Dash which was funneling customers
directly to better help through a
multi-million dollar startup platform
and directly before they started
exponentially increasing their
advertising push on YouTube here T do
disclosed that betterhelp had roughly
476,000 paying users however in the
fourth quarter of 2023 as betterhelp is
approaching a 10 times higher amount of
advertising on YouTube again according
to research from the out loud group
teloc disclosed that the number of
paying users for the platform had
actually decreased to 425,000 that may
seem small but it's actually about
50,000 users and it's over 10% of their
entire customer base from from my
perspective based on the information
I've collected so far it seems like the
company is desperately trying to make up
for the loss of care Dash which was
benefiting them tremendously as a
primary user intake method through their
affiliate program despite not being
directly associated with better help as
a company and they're bleeding
subscribers every single day as they
funnel money back into YouTube hoping
that people have somehow forgotten who
they are that's my guess thankfully
there's a couple more pieces of the
puzzle here that tie everything together
quite nicely so yeah let's go over those
before doing a final summary in July of
2023 betterhelp was officially charged
and penalized for sharing Health
questionnaire answers and other data
with advertisers it's a poultry sum to
be completely honest 7 whatever million
dollars affected users of which there
are roughly 800,000 are getting less
than $10 each while the company seems to
spend more on YouTube advertising in a
single year than the entire fine
demanded that they pay but regardless it
gives a foot in the door to see what's
really going on quote despite
representing to Consumers that better
help would keep consumers information
private and only use their information
for non-advertising purposes better help
used and disclosed information obtained
from consumers through the intake
questionnaire and signup process for
advertising end quote so they lied about
the data policies told their user base
we won't use this information and then
turned around immediately and used it
for advertising awesome but it gets
better or it gets funnier maybe that's
probably the wrong word these are
serious topics I know but consider this
in 2018 CEO Alan Matas published a
medium post that said quote one of the
favorite conspiracy theories was that
our business model is selling data to
third parties this is such a far-fetched
conspiracy that I feel awkward
addressing it our model is simple
members pay a fee to get counseling
counselors are paid to provide
counseling we are in the counseling
business not in the data business there
is nothing we take more seriously than
the security and privacy of our members
it also goes without saying that
counseling is a strictly regulated space
and selling such data would be a gross
violation of federal laws state laws
Hipp regulations and our own terms and
privacy policy end quote okay conspiracy
theory hardly even worth responding to I
guess according to one of the founders
but from 2013 to 2020 according to the
now settled FTC investigation docket
c4795 the service was quote continually
breaking privacy promises monetizing
consumers health information to Target
them and others with advertisements for
the service for example from 2018 to
2020 respondent used these consumers
email addresses and the fact that they
had previously been in therapy to
instruct Facebook to identify similar
consumers and Target them with
advertisements for the service bringing
in tens of thousands of new paying users
and millions of dollars in Revenue as a
result end quote oopsy so better help is
growing just fine while ignoring basic
data protection and privacy but then
after the practice is discontinued and
after an openly criminal affiliate of
theirs no longer funnels patients to
them with fraudulent profiles that's
when they suddenly take a nose dive and
start hemorrhaging customers correlation
does not necessarily equal causation but
I mean come on it actually goes even
deeper according to an investigation by
Jezebel which monitored traffic from the
betterhelp application and then compared
some of it to Associated personal data
records from Facebook from the moment
the intake questionnaire was filled out
quote betterhelp began to silently slip
data to dozens of third parties
monitoring our Behavior online and
signaling to companies like Facebook
Google Snapchat and Pinterest that we
were considering better help treatment
further down quote during a session with
a therapist we found that metadata from
every message though not its contents
was also sent to the social media
company meaning that Facebook knew what
time of day we were going to therapy our
approximate location
and how long we were chatting on the app
when we asked about this directly
betterhelp declined to elaborate on why
a social media company needed to know
quite so much about when and how we were
asking for help details that were
connected to our Facebook profiles and
thus our identities end quot that's a
lot but let's do a summary here better
help a prominent and very prolific
YouTube sponsor in the 2018 years was
paying enormous affiliate fees and
raking in tens of thousands of users
until the community caught wind of what
they truly were and basically ousted
them in subsequent years they collected
data from their user base used and
distributed that data illegally to
advertise with social media companies
got caught for it and paid a fine while
also benefiting from the illegal traffic
of a multi-million dollar medical
startup that was impersonating
therapists the FTC busted them directly
for the data care Dash got taken down by
the FTC as well after a complaint by the
nasw and right after all of this happens
better help starts bleeding tens of
thousands of subscribers meanwhile they
start massively dialing up their YouTube
advertising campaigns including the
number of videos that they actively
sponsor because what time to try it all
again as if the YouTube Community isn't
going to remember who you are and what
you did on top of the other stuff you
just did in the meantime while trying to
make a comeback really that's the plan I
can't say for sure and I don't have
absolute certainty but what I see is a
company trying to weasle its way back
into the ecosystem and I'm not having it
please let people know please make other
creators aware that while sponsorships
are perfectly fine of course I do
understand people need money if they can
it's probably best to find a sponsor
that's a little bit more reputable than
better help because pretty much any
YouTube sponsor is more reputable than
better help I don't normally ask this
but please share the video around if you
want to support there's links down below
protect your data with incog kind of a
perfect sponsor for this one locals in
patreon for monthly memberships etc etc
but I'll cut it there and stop rambling
as always thank you all for watching
question everything and have a nice
night
[Music]
[Music]
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