Anyone watching Youtube over the past year has probably noticed the rise in numbers of people who are using the old “bait-and-switch” routine to lure people into watching their videos. It’s easy to do, you simply place a picture of an attractive woman – or body parts thereof – at exactly the middle point of the video that you’re uploading and “presto” the preview picture of your video, seen by the the swarming masses of Youtube users will be that sexy picture.

Needless to say, lots of losers are using this tactic to get more impressions on their videos, hoping to pump up their stats.

Youtube’s AtheneWins is a big abuser of this tactic and it’s gotten them into the “most viewed” category daily for the past few months. Admittedly, others on the “most viewed” list use this tactic too: HotForWords and Lisa Nova come immediately to mind.

The difference is that both Lisa Nova and HotForWords both use their sexy, yummy, scrupulousness in a way that fits their own production style. They know that they are sexy and they certainly do use it to attract viewers – shake it if ya got it, baby. But, it’s part of their “shtick”. It’s part of their online persona (or personas in Lisa Nova’s case). I’m not the only one to notice this.

Athene Wins, on the other hand, uses overt sexuality to get eyes on their videos (BAIT) which end up usually being long discussions between a couple of Belgian 20-somethings about such topics as “net neutrality” or their pet projects “iPower website” (SWITCH)…by the way, I’m not going to link to their website here, they don’t need any more SEO credits.

Don’t get me wrong, now, I like sex. I’m a big fan. I’m also sincerely interested in the topic of net neutrality. What I can’t stand is the childish tactics used to lure viewers. Frankly, I don’t think that promising someone Tania’s juicy boobage and then hitting them up with a sermon about net neutrality is really that effective to the net neutrality cause. It may get them visitors and subscribers, but that’s a long way away from effective grass-roots political movement. Check out Brave New Films to see online video used effectively for a political movement.

What’s even worse is how mediocre their videos are. Seriously, these guys bore me to tears. Don’t believe me? Here’s a taste:

Did I promise too much? No, I didn’t. These guys suck, even when talking about sex and relationships.

And the really sad thing is that they aren’t stupid. They actually had international attention and were quite clever in creating the 40000 Blowjobs campaign and see here. It’s all been downhill since then.

Here’s the BOTTOM LINE: I’m not gonna review these twerps, they don’t deserve it. And if you happen to see their videos on youtube or elsewhere, make a point NOT to watch them.