MKBHD denies “conspiracy” that he makes mistakes in reviews to farm engagement

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Popular tech reviewer Marques Brownlee, known as MKBHD, has responded to a persistent online claim that he deliberately puts mistakes in his videos to get more views and interaction. He denies this is true.

I’ve seen this theory floating around online for ages – people saying that creators intentionally slip in little mistakes to get people talking, rack up comments, and get more views. Well, MKBHD actually tackled this head-on when he was going over his own errors from last year, and he totally shut it down. He said it’s just not true.

He addressed claims that he intentionally includes small errors in his videos to get more views, saying, ‘That’s not true at all. I always aim for accuracy and work hard to avoid mistakes.’

Responding directly to engagement claims

Brownlee directly responded to the conspiracy theory, explaining that any errors are unintentional and that he consistently strives to correct them.

He thanked the team for pushing him to do his best, and said he’s aiming to make his next videos even more detailed and factually correct.

Brownlee anticipates some errors will occur, but believes they’ll decrease as things run more smoothly. He asked viewers to assume mistakes are unintentional and simply a natural part of creating complex tech content for a large audience.

Brownlee details his fact-checking process

Brownlee pointed out that technology videos often include a lot of complex specifications and numbers, so it’s hard to be perfectly accurate, even when you prepare thoroughly. He emphasized that he’s careful about accuracy because he has a large audience who pay close attention to his work.

To improve accuracy, Brownlee explained that his team has been working for several years to streamline how videos are made. This includes having multiple people review scripts and edits, as well as a specific step for verifying facts before a video is published. Earlier this year, they created a formal process and then checked all their longer videos from 2025 to identify any remaining mistakes.

The review process included carefully re-examining each video, reading through comments and discussions on Reddit, and documenting every factual error that had been published. According to Brownlee, the findings showed some improvement, but also highlighted areas where further refinement was still needed.

Calling out the limits of corrections on YouTube

Brownlee pointed out a common problem: YouTube doesn’t offer good tools to fix mistakes after a video is uploaded. He explained that these errors are often small and don’t affect the overall message, but viewers still deserve accurate content.

Brownlee suggested that YouTube’s old annotation feature was actually better for making small, quick corrections, as pinned comments don’t always bring those fixes to viewers’ attention. He explained that bigger mistakes still need pinned comments or changes to the video description, but those updates often get overlooked compared to the video itself.

As a long-time reader, I was really interested to hear what Brownlee shared about the mistakes he’s found over the past year. It turns out there have been quite a few – everything from wrong info about which carriers a phone works with, to incorrect details about the phone’s specs, and even messed up pictures or confusing wording. He did point out, though, that even with these errors, the main takeaway of his reviews was usually still correct.

It’s not just me who’s been frustrated with YouTube lately! Marques is speaking out, but he’s definitely not alone. I’ve been seeing Linus Tech Tips call them out too – they’ve been pushing YouTube to fix that new collab thing, and honestly, they’ve been really critical of the membership program all year long. It’s good to see creators standing up for what’s right for both themselves and us, the viewers!

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2025-12-23 17:19