[seretogis]

$30k/year seems high. This is the sort of work that would be likely outsourced, perhaps to the Philippines for less than $10k/year per person.

$2B is still nothing to sneeze at, but it's less than Microsoft paid for Minecraft.

[nostrademons]

$30K/year is minimum wage in Sunnyvale and Mountain View, where Google headquarters is.

YouTube could probably outsource it internationally, but that'd just spark a new round of outrage: "Why are global community standards set by an American technology company outsourced to poor workers in the Philippines? Are these the people we want deciding our values?"

[taxidump]

This is probably not the thought process this issue would travel down. Costs are typically the first consideration in a semi-skilled position if native english sounding isn't a requirement.

[deanCommie]

Because you'd be able to get humans with higher intelligence and better judgement for 10k/year in the Philippeans, than at minimum wage in the US.

[mc32]

They already outsource their moderation to mostly the Philippines so there’d be no change.

[scarface74]

Considering that rumors are that YouTube is still barely above break even, that is a lot.

[icelancer]

>> $2B is still nothing to sneeze at, but it's less than Microsoft paid for Minecraft.

One is an investment/one time purchase and the other is a long-term annual liability, slated to grow.