Questions people ask.
About verdicts, captions, the extension, the digest, your data, and paying.
Verdicts
What is a verdict?
One of three words: watch, skim, or skip. It comes with one sentence of reason, judged from the transcript against what the title promised.
Can a verdict be wrong?
Yes. It is a judgment from the transcript by a model, checked by code for shape and timestamps, not for truth. Two careful people would disagree on some of them.
Does it read the video itself?
No. It reads the captions. A video whose value is in what is shown rather than said can be misjudged.
Where do the timestamps come from?
From the captions. The model cites numbered 30-second blocks, and code turns each into the start time of its first caption. The model never writes a time.
What does "skim" mean?
There is substance, but it sits in parts. Read the points and jump to the ones you want.
Why did a video get no verdict?
It has no captions, or its captions are song lyrics, or there were too few words to judge. The panel says which.
The extension
Does it work on every video?
On any video with captions, human-written or auto-generated. A video without captions gets an honest "no verdict".
Does it read my YouTube account?
No. It reads the captions the page already has, in your own browser. It sends the captions, the video id, the title, the channel, the length, and the caption language. A random install id or your session goes with them. Nothing else.
Why does it need permission for youtube.com?
To put the panel beside the player and to read the caption track on the page. It runs nowhere else.
Does it work in dark mode?
Yes, in both of YouTube's themes, and it switches when the theme does.
Does it slow the page down?
It does nothing until you click the chip. Then it reads the captions and makes one request to our server.
Which browsers?
Chrome, and browsers that install Chrome extensions. Firefox and Safari are not supported yet.
The digest
Where does the digest get new videos?
From each channel's public feed of its latest uploads, read once an hour for channels at least one person follows.
When does it arrive?
At 7 am in your time zone, or the hour you choose. If nothing new came in, no email is sent.
How many channels?
1 on the free plan. Up to 30 on Pro.
Why does a video in the digest say "no captions"?
A new video's captions can take hours to appear. It had none when the digest was built.
Your data
What is kept?
Your email, your plan, your channels, your digest settings, and the verdicts you saved on Pro with their transcripts. Verdicts are also cached by video id, with nothing personal attached.
What is not kept?
Transcripts you did not save, your questions and answers, your YouTube account, your watch history, your cookies.
Is anything used to train a model?
No.
Can I delete everything?
Yes, from the account page, in one step. Receipts stay on file for accounting, without your name or email.
Paying
What is free?
5 verdicts a day in the extension, any cached video in the web app, and 1 channel in the digest. Videos anyone has already asked about do not count against the five.
What does Pro add?
Unlimited verdicts, Ask the video, the library and exports, the digest for up to 30 channels, and a weekly roundup. Pro costs $4 a month or $36 a year.
What is a Founding seat?
Pro for as long as Worthwatch runs, and at least five years, for the first 300 buyers, paid once. The count is on the pricing page.
How do I cancel?
From your account page. Pro runs to the end of the period you paid for and does not renew.
Who processes payments?
Stripe. Worthwatch never sees your card number.
The company
Who makes Worthwatch?
Brett Wharton, Founder of NexusMKTG in Boston.
Is Worthwatch affiliated with YouTube?
No. Worthwatch is independent and not affiliated with YouTube or Google. Their names appear only to say what the tool works with.
How do I reach you?
brett@nexusmktg.com, or the contact page. Brett answers himself.