How To Get More Views For YouTube Automation: The 2-Week Method Nobody Talks About

Most YouTube automation creators are wasting hours every week researching content that is already dead. The standard advice tells you to sort a competitor’s channel by “Most Popular,” grab whatever blew up over the past year, and recreate it. That approach sounds logical until you realize you are studying what worked twelve months ago, not what is working right now, and YouTube’s algorithm rewards relevance, not archaeology.

Alston Godbolt has run a YouTube automation channel selling everything from soundbars to web hosting to online courses, and in this video he walks through a different research method. Instead of chasing year-old performance data, he goes directly to the list of channels his own audience already watches, then filters for videos that earned big views in the last two weeks only. The idea is simple: if a video crushed it this week, the topic is alive right now, and a well-made version on your channel has a real shot at riding that same wave. Here is exactly how it works.

What You’ll Walk Out With

A clear explanation of why the “sort by most popular of all time” research method keeps failing automation creators
Step-by-step instructions for using YouTube Studio’s Audience tab to find the channels your viewers already watch
The 2-week filter technique that keeps your content calendar pointed at what is trending, not what is dead
A repeatable process for organizing your research across 15 or more competitor channels without losing your mind
Real numbers from Alston’s own channel showing what happens when you piggyback on recent viral content correctly
The exact rules for making your recreation original so YouTube does not flag it as a copy
A look at the honest limitations so you can decide whether this method fits your channel’s current stage
A way to find which niche is right for your specific background using finder.platformproof.com

What YouTube Automation Actually Is (Fast Version)

If you are already running an automation channel you can skip ahead, but for anyone who is new: YouTube automation means hiring a small team to build and run a YouTube channel on your behalf. You are the business owner and the visionary. The team handles the actual production.

A basic automation team usually includes three roles. A script writer researches and writes the video scripts. A voice actor or voice actress records the narration. A video editor assembles the footage, graphics, and audio into a finished video, and in many setups the editor also handles the thumbnail design. You bring the topic ideas, the channel strategy, and the business decisions. They bring the production hours.

The channel grows, earns ad revenue and affiliate commissions, and your time investment is spent on direction and management rather than sitting in front of a camera or spending ten hours editing every week. The whole model only works, though, if you consistently feed your team topics that viewers actually want to watch. That is where research comes in, and that is where most automation operators are currently dropping the ball.

The Old Method That Most People Are Still Teaching

Walk into almost any YouTube automation course or community and you will hear the same research advice. Find channels in your niche. Click on Videos. Sort by “Most Popular.” Look for videos uploaded within the last year. Grab the titles that are performing well, put your own spin on them, and go produce those videos.

This method is not completely useless. It does tell you what topics have broad appeal in your niche. But it has one serious flaw that most people do not acknowledge: “most popular of the last year” and “most popular of all time” can point you to the exact same videos.

Alston demonstrates this in the video by pulling up example channels and sorting their content. On some channels, the videos that dominate the “most popular” list are old. They blew up a year or more ago and have been accumulating views slowly ever since. If you sort by most popular and filter for “last year,” you can still accidentally land on topics that are twelve months stale, where the exact method discussed in the video no longer applies, the tools have changed, or the opportunity has closed.

Your team then spends real money and real hours producing a video about a method that no longer works. That is not just wasted production budget. It is a video that will get views early and then flatline because anyone who tries the method finds it does not work, so they do not engage, do not subscribe, and YouTube stops pushing the video. You are building on sand.

The YouTube Studio Feature Nobody Is Talking About

Inside your YouTube Studio there is a section most automation creators open once and then forget about. It is the Audience tab inside your channel’s Analytics dashboard.

To get there: open YouTube Studio, click Analytics in the left sidebar, then click the Audience tab at the top of the page. Scroll down and you will see two things that matter for this method.

First, you will see a section called “Other channels your audience watches.” This shows you the channels that your own viewers go watch after they leave your channel, or that they watch alongside your content. On Alston’s channel at the time of recording, this list included channels like Smart Money Tactics, Dave Nick, Smart Video Tactics, and Daily Daniels Hustle, among others. The list typically contains around 15 channels.

Second, you will see “Other videos your audience watched,” which is a list of specific videos, not just channels, that your viewers are consuming. This second list is a shortcut: YouTube is telling you exactly what your audience is watching right now, by name, without you having to do any digging.

Both of these lists are extraordinarily useful because they are specific to your audience. This is not generic market research. This is YouTube telling you, based on real viewing behavior from people who already watch your content, where those people also spend their time. That is a much stronger signal than guessing which competitor channels are probably in your niche.

How the 2-Week Window Works

Here is where Alston’s method diverges from the standard advice. Once you have your list of 15 or so channels from the Audience tab, you go to each one. Instead of sorting by “Most Popular” and searching for videos from the last year, you look at videos uploaded in the last two weeks only and find the ones with the highest view counts.

The logic is tight. If a video uploaded ten days ago already has 19,000 views, that is not a fluke. The topic is working right now, with current audiences, using current tools, about a current opportunity. You do not have to guess whether it will still be relevant when your team finishes production. You know it is relevant because the views are still coming in as you are doing your research.

Contrast that with a video that has 200,000 views but was uploaded fourteen months ago. That video is a proven topic in an absolute sense, but you have no idea whether it is still a live topic. The algorithm may have already exhausted its audience. The specific method in the video may be outdated. The software it references may have changed its pricing or shut down entirely. You are copying a solved problem, not an active one.

When you work the 2-week filter, you are always swimming with the current instead of against it. You are producing content about what people want to know this month, which is the state your channel should always be in if you want consistent view growth.

How to Organize the Research Across 15 Channels

Opening 15 competitor channels every week and scanning each one for recent high-performing videos is manageable, but it gets messy fast if you are clicking around without a system. Alston’s recommendation is simple: put everything in a spreadsheet.

When you sit down to do your weekly research, open each of the 15 channels from your Audience tab. Go to their Videos tab, sort by “Most Popular,” and then mentally or physically note which videos from the last two weeks stand out. Log the video title, the channel name, the current view count, and the upload date in a single spreadsheet row. By the time you have gone through all 15 channels, you will have a ranked list of the freshest, best-performing content across your entire competitive landscape.

From that list, pick the top two or three topics for your next batch of videos. Hand those to your script writer with instructions to research the topic independently, not to copy the original video word for word. The goal is a better version, or at minimum a distinctly different version, of the same topic.

Alston also notes that the “Other videos your audience watched” section in the Audience tab gives you an additional shortcut. This list sometimes surfaces specific viral videos before you would even find them by browsing channels. If a video is showing up there, your audience is already watching it, which means your viewers are primed to engage with content on that topic.

Real Example: How Alston Turned a 163,000-View Video Into His Own Winner

Alston does not just describe this method in theory. He shows a real case from his own channel.

While doing research, he came across a video from the BuilderPreneur channel. The video was titled something like “Earn Your First $100 With Affiliate Marketing in 24 Hours.” That video had earned 163,000 views, and it had been uploaded roughly a month before Alston did his research.

Instead of ignoring it because it was slightly older than two weeks, or copying it wholesale, Alston used it as inspiration. He recreated the concept but added his own angle: he put the phrase “I Tried It” at the front of the title. The new title communicated that he had personally tested the method rather than just explaining it theoretically. That framing shift makes the video more credible and more watch-worthy because viewers want to know if something actually works, not just if it sounds like it should work.

The result? Alston’s version earned 1,700 views and outperformed other videos uploaded on his channel around the same period. For a channel that was still growing, that is a meaningful signal. He did not copy BuilderPreneur. He saw what the audience wanted, understood why they wanted it, and delivered a version that added something new.

The “I Tried It” frame is one example of a differentiation angle. You could equally use “Here’s What They Did Not Tell You,” or “We Tested This With a Brand New Channel,” or “The Updated Version That Actually Works in 2024.” The point is to give viewers a reason to watch your version even if they already saw the original. You are not competing with the source video. You are serving the same demand with a fresh angle.

What Makes a Video Worth Recreating

Not every recent high-view video is worth recreating. As you go through your 15 channels with the 2-week filter, apply a quick set of criteria before you add a topic to your list.

First, the topic should be relevant to your channel’s niche. If your channel is about making money online and you find a cooking tutorial with 50,000 views in the last week, that is irrelevant. Your audience found you for a reason. Sticking to your niche keeps your subscriber base cohesive and helps YouTube understand who to recommend your content to.

Second, the underlying method in the video should still be viable. Quickly check whether the tools, platforms, or opportunities mentioned in the original video are still active. A video about a specific software that shut down six months ago is not worth recreating, even if it got recent views from people who found the old video through search.

Third, ask whether you can add something. If the original video is already excellent and you have nothing to improve or add, your version is just a lower-quality copy competing for the same audience. Look for gaps: missing examples, outdated steps, questions the original did not answer, or a more current context. Your version should give viewers a genuine reason to click yours over the original.

Fourth, consider your own channel’s view velocity relative to the opportunity. A topic with 83,000 views in ten days is a bigger opportunity than one with 3,000 views in ten days. Bigger is not always better because your channel’s size affects how many of those views are realistic to capture, but as a tie-breaker when comparing topics, higher is better.

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How to Make Your Version Original

Alston is direct about this: do not rip the original video off. Do not copy the script, do not copy the structure word for word, and do not use the same clips. Beyond the ethical problems with that approach, it also does not work as a growth strategy. YouTube’s content ID systems and its broader quality signals will identify your video as derivative and push it less aggressively than original work. You want YouTube to treat your video as new and valuable, not as a low-effort duplicate.

What originality looks like in practice:

Write a fresh script that covers the topic from a different angle, includes your own examples, and does not follow the original’s paragraph structure
Use different stock footage, screen recordings, or B-roll than the original video uses
Change the title to reflect your specific angle, not just the original title with a word swapped
Update any steps that have changed since the original was published
Add a section the original did not cover, such as common mistakes, case study results, or updated numbers
Adjust the target audience if you can serve a slightly different viewer, such as a beginner version of an intermediate tutorial

Alston points out that changing the title and tags is part of the differentiation. Your title determines who sees your video in search and suggested results. If your title is nearly identical to the original, you will compete directly with it and lose because the original has more views and more watch time history. A different title targeting a slightly different angle or search phrase puts you in a better position.

Never Running Out of Content Ideas

One of the underrated benefits of this method is that the content pipeline never runs dry.

If you follow 15 to 20 channels from your Audience tab and check them weekly for videos that blew up in the last two weeks, you will always have more ideas than your team can produce. The supply of recently-trending topics inside any active niche is constant. New videos go viral every week. New angles on old topics emerge. New tools launch and creators make their first round of tutorial content about them. New platform changes create a burst of “here is what changed” content that gets high engagement.

Compare that to the old method, where you eventually exhaust the top-10 most popular videos on each competitor channel and start wondering whether there are any more ideas left. There are not, at that point, not new ones anyway. You would be circling back to topics that were already overplayed.

The 2-week window method resets every week by definition. Last week’s list of hot videos becomes this week’s baseline comparison. New videos always enter the top of the list. You do not run dry.

Full Process Recap: Step by Step

Here is the complete research process in order so you can hand it to your team or run it yourself:

Open YouTube Studio and go to Analytics, then click the Audience tab.
Find the “Other channels your audience watches” section and copy down all channel names. You should see approximately 15 channels.
Open a new spreadsheet with columns for: Channel Name, Video Title, View Count, Upload Date, and Notes.
Go to each of the 15 channels, click on their Videos tab, and look at videos uploaded in the last two weeks only.
Log any video that stands out by view count in your spreadsheet. Aim to log at least two or three candidates per channel.
Also check the “Other videos your audience watched” list in the Audience tab for any direct video suggestions from YouTube.
Sort your spreadsheet by view count, descending. The top rows are your best candidates.
Apply the relevance and viability checks: is the topic still current, does it fit your niche, can you add something new?
Pick the top two or three topics for your next production batch.
Brief your script writer with the topic, the original video for research reference (not for copying), and your specific angle or addition.
Repeat weekly. The list refreshes itself because fresh content is always entering the two-week window.

Honest Drawbacks of This Method

This method is strong, but it has real limitations worth understanding before you commit to it.

It requires an active channel to work. The Audience tab only shows meaningful data once your channel has enough viewers to generate a sample. If you are just starting out and have almost no subscribers, the “other channels your audience watches” list may be sparse or empty. In that case, you will need to manually identify five to ten competitor channels in your niche to start with, and then switch to the Audience tab method once your analytics have enough data.

It works for long-form videos, not Shorts. Alston explicitly notes that he does not know whether this approach applies to YouTube Shorts. The view-velocity signals are different for short-form content and the research process may not translate cleanly. If your channel runs primarily on Shorts, test this cautiously rather than assuming the same logic holds.

Two weeks is a guideline, not a hard rule. Some high-quality topics have a longer shelf life than two weeks. A video about a major platform policy change might stay relevant for six to eight weeks. A tutorial about a specific tool might stay useful for months if the tool does not change. Use the two-week filter as your primary signal but stay flexible when the topic clearly has longer legs.

You still need a team that can produce quickly. The faster you can produce a video after spotting a trend, the better position you are in. If your production pipeline takes three weeks from research to publish, a two-week trending window is not going to do you much good. Tighten your production time if you want to take full advantage of fresh topics.

High view counts do not guarantee the topic fits your channel. A video with 80,000 views in a week is attractive on paper, but if the topic is a poor match for your channel’s positioning, chasing it will confuse your subscribers and muddle your channel identity in YouTube’s recommendation system. Relevance to your niche matters more than raw view counts on the source video.

Find Your X

Before you can apply any of this, you need to know what niche your automation channel should be in. The wrong niche choice means this entire research process is pointed in the wrong direction. You want to be in a niche where there is real demand, real monetization potential, and where your background gives you enough understanding to brief your team well.

If you are still figuring that out, go to finder.platformproof.com. It helps you identify the niche that matches what you already know and gives you the clearest path to your first $3,000 online. Starting in the right niche is a decision that compounds over time. Get it right at the beginning and the research method Alston teaches in this video becomes a durable growth engine. Start in the wrong niche and no amount of good research will save you.

Frequently Asked Questions

What if my YouTube Studio Audience tab does not show any other channels?

This usually means your channel does not yet have enough viewer data for YouTube to generate the report. You need a baseline of watch time and returning viewers before the Audience tab fills in. In the meantime, manually identify five to ten active channels in your niche that your target viewers are likely watching. Follow those channels, track their recent uploads manually, and switch to the Audience tab method once your own analytics have enough data to produce the list.

Is it okay to use the same title as the video I am recreating?

Alston advises against using the exact same title. Your title determines your position in search and suggested results, and an identical title puts you in direct competition with a video that already has a head start on watch time and engagement. A modified title that targets the same topic from a different angle, or adds a qualifying word like “Updated,” “Beginner,” or “I Tried It,” serves you better. It gives you a distinct audience segment to capture rather than fighting for the same clicks as the original.

How many channels should I track from the Audience tab?

Alston works with roughly 15 channels that YouTube surfaces in the Audience tab, and he notes there are about 15 by default. You can expand this by also tracking channels you discover through the “Other videos your audience watched” section and by manually adding competitors you know about that are not yet on the automatic list. The more channels you track, the more data points you have each week, but 15 is a solid starting number that is manageable without becoming a full-time research job.

Does this method work if I am not doing YouTube automation and am on camera myself?

Yes. Alston makes this point directly in the video. The research method works whether you are running a faceless automation channel or recording yourself on camera. The 2-week window technique is about topic research, not about production style. If you are an on-camera creator, you still benefit from knowing which topics in your niche are generating high view counts right now. The production workflow after you pick the topic is different, but the research process is the same.

What view count threshold should I use to decide a video is worth recreating?

There is no universal number because the right threshold depends on your niche. In a niche where most videos get a few thousand views, a video with 10,000 views in two weeks is a strong signal. In a broader niche where some videos routinely get hundreds of thousands of views, that same 10,000 might be unremarkable. Use your tracked channels as a baseline. Look at the normal view range for videos in that first two-week window, and treat anything significantly above average as a strong candidate. Over time you will develop a feel for what counts as high performance in your specific niche.

What should I tell my script writer when briefing a recreated topic?

Give your script writer the original video as a research reference only, not as a template to follow. Tell them the specific angle you want, any additions or updates you want included, and the audience you are targeting. Be clear that the script should be written from scratch using the topic as a starting point, with independent research to verify that the steps described are still accurate and current. The script writer should watch the original video once to understand the topic, then close it and write the script in their own structure with fresh examples.

Can I use this method to find video topics even before I have built my team?

Yes, and it is actually useful to do your research before hiring because the topics you find will help you understand what your channel needs to produce consistently. If you are in the planning stage, manually track five competitor channels for a month using the 2-week filter. Log the topics that keep performing well. This gives you a backlog of validated topics to hand to your first script writer on day one, rather than starting with a blank page. It also helps you understand the volume of content you will need to produce to stay competitive in your niche.

Why does YouTube’s algorithm seem to reward recently-trending topics more than evergreen content?

YouTube’s recommendation engine weighs click-through rate and watch time, but it also factors in how much engagement a video is generating right now, not just historically. A video about a topic that viewers are actively searching for this week gets pushed more aggressively into suggested feeds than a video about a topic that was popular six months ago and has cooled off. Evergreen content that stays consistently relevant over time is valuable for long-term search traffic, but for channel growth through suggested and browse features, being timely matters. The 2-week method keeps your content aligned with what YouTube is already pushing to your niche’s audience.

Sources

Alston Godbolt, “How To Get More Views For YouTube Automation 2022 (10X Views, 10X Money),” YouTube, https://youtu.be/bsOWw-4oo4Q
YouTube Studio Analytics, Audience Tab, sections: “Other channels your audience watches” and “Other videos your audience watched” (accessible inside any YouTube channel’s Studio dashboard)
BuilderPreneur YouTube channel, referenced as the source of the “Earn Your First $100 With Affiliate Marketing in 24 Hours” video Alston used as inspiration