Webdriver Torso

Webdriver Torso is a YouTube channel which was created back on March 7, 2013 by Google. Webdriver Torso would upload mostly 10 second videos every single minute. The channel may sometimes post videos from time to time.
Although initially a place of speculation for viewers, YouTube/Google have humorously acknowledged that this channel exists as an internal testing utility for YouTube's performance. The account was originally created by Matei Gruber, now it is managed by other engineers. The account kept uploading videos for every 3-5 minutes using Google's secret program titled "LoremVideo", the age of the program is about the same as the accounts.
As of 2019, the channels have remained largely inert, save for some intermittent new videos.
==Content==
===Typical Videos===
The time difference between the uploads is usually between 1 and 20 minutes, and never more than an hour. Most are 11 seconds long, although they can be 1 minute, 5 minutes, 10 minutes, or 25 minutes. Almost all are slideshows. The 11 second long videos have 9 slides.  Each slide is about 1 second long, has a solid white background, and contains two solid color opaque rectangles, one red and the other blue. Both rectangles have a random size, shape, and position in the slide.  When the two overlap, the red rectangle always appears over the blue one, and on rare occasions, the red rectangles completely covers up the blue one. Each slide has random computer generated wave tone. In the corner of each video it says "aqua.flv - slide, [number with four digits]." Early videos were called "aqua", then were changed to "tmp" followed by random characters.
===Unusual Videos===
Webdriver Torso has four unusual videos. In one of the rectangle videos, "tmpRkRL85", the red rectangle, becomes a silhouette of Rick Astley dancing in the second half of the video. The video "00014", which is also Webdriver Torso's most viewed video, is a video recorded in Paris that showed the Eiffel Tower being lit up. At the end of the video, the camera is put down, and the Webdriver Torso Facebook page is visible for a few frames. The video, "0.455442373793" is only viewable in France, requires a payment of 1.99 euro to watch, and payment can only be made with a French credit card. It shows an episode of the American adult cartoon show Aqua Teen Hunger Force. , which is currently private. The last one, titled "16. November 2020", shows an iMac and a desk. The video was recorded at an office. The video was only 2 seconds long. It was quickly deleted within a day after it uploaded.
The YouTube channels "Webdriver YPP", "Ekaterina Basic", and "Webdriver IVPE" all have similar content. Some of the videos made by "Webdriver YPP" have random phrases, such as "Jim knows about the glass" and "Contact his highness and ask about the pen". Webdriver YPP also sometimes posts blank comments.
==Speculation==
Prior to YouTube's confirmation of the channel as a test channel, there was some speculation about the identity and content of the videos.  
===“Matei” Speculation===
On the video “00014" Webdriver Torso commented "Matei is highly intelligent."  The "Matei" being mentioned is unknown. Basarab Matei, Matei Mancas, Matei Gruber, Matei Ciocarlie and Mike Matei have been suspected. A few months later, Webdriver Torso stated that "I am Matei,” for unknown reasons.  
===Cicada 3301 Speculation===
:See also:   and the Uncovering Cicada 3301 Wiki.
The combination of the cryptic videos with the use of the phrase "highly intelligent" in the "Matei" comment led many to believe that Webdriver Torso was a part of the ongoing Cicada 3301 recruitment puzzle. Cicada 3301 had previously posted messages with hidden codes in an attempt to recruit "highly intelligent individuals.”  
==Solving the Mystery==
The channel was later revealed to be a quality testing channel, (see below).  
===Soggetto Ventuno's Discoveries===
An Italian blogger named "Soggetto Ventuno" discovered that Webdriver Torso and all similar channels belong to a network of accounts called "ytuploadtestpartner_torso."  Ventuno then discovered some other accounts with similar videos, many of which were pulled or made private after Ventuno's investigations were published.  The network linked to a Facebook page and a Twitter page, which have now both been taken down.  The Facebook page had mentioned "Johannes Leitner" a Google Zurich employee.  Leitner was friends with another employee, "Matei Gruber."  "Matei” was mentioned on 00014, (see above).  Ventuno then compared scenes from pulled videos with Google Zurich photos, and noticed matching things, indicating that the pulled videos were recorded at Google Zurich, and that the channel and all similar channels were run from Google Zurich.  
===Purpose of the Videos===
The videos are made to test YouTube video quality. After creation the videos are uploaded to YouTube. The uploaded videos are then compared to the videos before they were uploaded, to see how much quality was lost.  
===YouTube's Reply===
When YouTube was asked about Webdriver Torso, they replied “We're never gonna give you uploading that's slow or loses video quality, and we're never gonna let you down by playing YouTube in poor video quality. That's why we're always running tests like Webdriver Torso."  This is a reference to Rick Astley's 1987 song "Never Gonna Give You Up.”
It seems like YouTube is behind Webdriver Torso and that it is just a test; however, many people speculate that YouTube may be trying to pretend as though they are behind it, in order to hide the truth.
The name "Webdriver" is possibly referring to the framework, a browser automation and testing platform, and thus, might be the software YouTube uses to upload videos. The term "Torso" also hints that the channel is the "body" part of the automated testing, implying that there might be a "head" part of the automation, processing, validating and reports data of the automated uploads.
 
==Easter eggs==
*When "Webdriver Torso" is searched on Google (and formerly YouTube), the logo and search results will both look like a Webdriver Torso video.
*In the Android L developer builds, the Android Version Easter egg is a reference to Webdriver Torso videos.
*Out of all channels, Ekaterina Basic is the only channel with a custom username under the handle of "MrWebdriver."
==External Links==
*Ekaterina Basic YouTube Channel
*Webdriver IVPE YouTube Channel (Terminated)
*Webdriver YPP YouTube Channel
*Better Bandai YouTube Channel
==References==
es:Webdriver Torso
Category:Animation YouTubers
Category:Users who joined in 2013