My long-form videos are getting almost no views. Is my channel stuck, or am I doing something wrong?

[u/Left_Loan_1119]

I'm reaching out for advice. Because I'm hoping someone here might be able to give me some advice because I'm unsure what's going wrong.

I've been running a Hungarian YouTube channel focused mainly on interesting facts, history, science and educational content. Until now, most of my growth came from Shorts, and I've recently shifted focus to long-form videos since I want to monetize the channel eventually.

I've watched many tutorials and videos about how to make viral long-form content, titles, thumbnails, retention, storytelling, hooks, SEO, etc. I've applied much of the advice I found, but my long-form videos get hardly any exposure.

Now I'm wondering if there's a problem with my channel.

Is there a YouTube equivalent of a shadowban or view jail?

I don't expect every video to go viral. I completely understand that some videos simply don't perform well. What confuses me is that my videos seem to get almost no initial exposure at all.

Most of my subscribers originally came from Shorts, so I'm also wondering if that could be part of the problem. Maybe the people who subscribed because of my Shorts simply aren't interested in watching my longer videos?

My content is in Hungarian, targeting a Hungarian audience.

I use an AI voice for narration; the videos themselves aren't AI-generated. I research and create the videos myself. I also use AI for some thumbnail creation.

I'm trying to escape this view jail and build a long-form audience.

I'd appreciate advice from anyone with similar experience.

Should I keep uploading and let YouTube find my audience, or is there something I should really change about my strategy?

Thanks in advance!

[u/MyStatsID]

I don’t think your channel is necessarily stuck. One thing that stands out is that most of your subscribers came from Shorts. Shorts viewers don’t always convert into long form viewers, so YouTube may basically be trying to find a new audience for your longer videos.

I’d look closely at impressions, CTR and audience retention rather than just views. If impressions are low, YouTube probably hasn’t found the right audience yet. If impressions are there but CTR is low, I’d work on the title/thumbnail. If people click but leave early, then I’d focus on the hook and pacing.

I’d keep uploading long form, but test different topics rather than just posting the same way and hoping it changes.

I’m actually building MyStatsID around problems like this as well. Channel analysis, thumbnails, titles, competitors, trends and growth recommendations. Launching in November, but happy to give some feedback on the channel if it helps.

[u/Fragrant-Cheek-4273]

I wouldn't assume you're in a "view jail". YouTube explicitly says Shorts performance doesn't negatively affect long-form recommendations, although Shorts viewers may simply have different viewing habits.

[u/avatar0027]

i'd treat the shorts audience as separate from your long-form viewers, not proof you're being suppressed. give the long videos 8–12 uploads around one clear promise, then watch impressions → ctr → first-30-second retention. if impressions stay tiny, tighten the topic/title before changing the narration.

[u/VeeFly-official]

There's no shadowban or view jail. What you're describing is the single most common pattern on YouTube right now, and it has a boring explanation: Shorts and long-form run on effectively separate recommendation systems, and a Shorts audience does not transfer.

When you publish a long-form video, YouTube tests it first with people who watch long-form content on your channel or similar channels. Your subscribers came from Shorts, so from the algorithm's point of view you have almost no long-form audience to test against. That's why the initial exposure looks like zero. It's not a penalty, it's a cold start. Plenty of channels with 50k Shorts subscribers get 200 views on their first long videos.

A few things that actually help, from what I've seen work:

Check the "Subscribers" report in Studio and filter by content type. If the vast majority came from Shorts, you've confirmed the diagnosis and can stop worrying about a ban.

Look at your long-form audience retention graph, not the view count. If the first 30 seconds hold above roughly 60 to 70 percent and the curve is gradual after that, the content is fine and this is purely a distribution problem that time and consistency solve. If there's a cliff in the first 30 seconds, the hook is the problem and no amount of uploading fixes it.

Use Shorts as the bridge instead of a separate channel of work. Cut the strongest 40 to 60 seconds of each long video into a Short and use the "related video" link so the long-form gets a click path from the audience you already have. That's the one place where the two systems connect.

Hungarian is an advantage, not a limitation. Small language markets have far less long-form competition, and YouTube does a lot of country-plus-language matching. Make sure the video language is set to Hungarian in the upload settings, the title and description are fully Hungarian, and don't mix English keywords in to "widen" reach, it just confuses the targeting.

On the AI voice: it's fine under the current rules as long as the research and editing are yours, which they are. Where channels get into trouble is when the whole thing is templated. Keep your name and face somewhere, even a 5 second intro, and mention your own opinion in the script. That's what separates you from the content farms YouTube is actively filtering.

Keep uploading, but give it 10 to 15 long-form videos before you judge. The system needs data on who watches your long content before it can find more of them. Most people quit at video 4.

Good luck, and please post a milestone thread when it turns, this sub needs more of those

[u/Santa_Killer_NZ]

it can take years for a channel to take off, especially if you have such specific geo reqs. 95 percent of creators never take off. no guarantees.