Like, Comment, Subscribe

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What to expect

Brought to you by Penguin.

Since 2005, YouTube has exploded, giving a platform to unique and valuable voices, but also to propaganda, misinformation and illicit videos. The algorithm which determines whether a channel lives or dies - how or when videos are seen, and how much creators earn through advertising - is notoriously secretive, remaining a mystery to consumers and broadcasters alike. At the same time, the site is massively profitable for parent company Google, helping turn it into one of the most influential powers on the planet.

In Like, Comment, Subscribe, Bloomberg tech journalist Mark Bergen delivers the definitive account on YouTube, detailing how it started, how it works and ultimately how it drives Google's success. It can be seen as the story of a technical marvel that has upended traditional media and created stars out of everyday people, or the story of the rise of a ruthless advertising conglomerate with little regard for its impact on the world beyond the bottom line - but in reality, it's the story of both.

© Mark Bergen 2022 (P) Penguin Audio 2022

Critics Review

  • A must-read, unparalleled in its access to the inner thoughts and workings of the people and departments that dictated what content can be seen and what can’t.

    The New Scientist

  • Mark Bergen has delivered the definitive look at how YouTube came to be and how the service has forever changed our society. Like, Comment, Subscribe takes the reader on a journey as a small, whimsical idea morphs into something that alters our collective culture in the most profound of ways-for better and for worse.

    Ashlee Vance, author of Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX and the Quest for a Fantastic Future

  • The intricately-reported, elegantly-crafted story of a website that came out of nowhere and changed everything.

    Brad Stone, author of The Everything Store and Amazon Unbound

  • An absorbing, alarming and essential modern histroy of Silicon Valley’s supersized platform age. YouTube has redefined celebrity, upended entertainment and politics, and unleashed the best and worst of humanity online. Mark Bergen’s deeply reported page-turner takes us on the company’s journey from scrappy startup to internet juggernaut, revealing the dark consequences of the pursuit of growth at any cost.

    Margaret O'Mara, author of The Code: Silicon Valley and the Remaking of America

  • A vivid, rollicking ride through the fluorescent-lit halls of one of the most powerful companies in the world as it struggles to steward one of the most anarchic yet culture-defining inventions of our time. Bergen has a novelist’s eye, a poet’s ear and a business journalist’s deadpan command of the heart of the matter. So engrossing I missed my train stop.

    Keach Hagey, author of The King of Content

  • Sharp and engaging

    The Times

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