Verification
Two real, separate layers
IU never uses “verified” loosely. Two distinct, honestly-labeled badges can appear on a profile — a fully automated data check anyone's profile can clear, and a stronger credential that also requires real proof of ownership. They are never worded interchangeably anywhere on this site. Ranking in the opportunity feed is by match quality only, never by verification tier.
Layer 1 — Data verified (automated, pool-wide)
A fully automated check against data IU already has captured — no creator action required. Every creator in the index is checked. This confirms the DATA is real; it does not confirm the applicant is the actual account owner — anyone can point at a public channel's real stats, so “Data verified” alone is never sufficient grounds to treat someone as the confirmed owner of a channel.
- Reach authenticity
- The creator's views-to-subs ratio falls within a real, tier-appropriate range — not so low it suggests a bought or inactive audience, not so high it's implausible.
- Activity
- Recent posting activity, based on real, independently-captured upload data — not a channel that has effectively gone dark.
- Category accuracy
- The creator's declared category matches what their content actually covers, at a real confidence threshold — not a low-confidence guess.
- Scale
- A minimum real subscriber count, low enough that nano and micro creators are not excluded — this is not a quality bar, just a floor against empty shells.
- Entity type
- The account is an individual creator — not a brand account, news outlet, or record label mistakenly indexed as a creator.
Layer 2 — IU Verified (ownership proven)
Everything Layer 1 checks, plus real proof the applicant controls the account — a code posted to the real channel description (removable once confirmed), or signing in through the platform itself. Both a passing Layer 1 check and real ownership proof are required; either alone is not enough. This is the badge a creator can point a brand to as a portable credential.
- Identity
- Real proof the claimed profile is controlled by the person or team who actually runs the account — a code posted to the real channel, or platform sign-in, not just an email address.
- No fraud record
- No documented history of taking payment for a collaboration and not delivering it, reported through IU or discovered independently.
IU Verified is revocable — and the rules are public
The badge is not a one-time stamp. If a Verified creator takes payment for a collaboration and does not deliver, or a periodic recheck of Layer 1 no longer passes, IU can revoke it. This is deliberate: the first time a Verified creator takes money and disappears, the party held accountable is IU, for having certified them — so the badge has to be something IU can actually take back, not just a rule written down.
Revocation only removes the badge — immediately, from every place it's shown. It does not remove the creator's claimed profile or their ability to use the platform: claiming a profile proves account ownership, which is a separate, permanent fact from whether IU currently vouches for the creator's reliability. A revoked creator can be reinstated once the underlying issue is resolved and Layer 1 passes again.
IU Verified status is always one of four states, shown as-is, never softened: unverified, pending, verified, or revoked. Data verified status is separately always one of passed, failed, or insufficient_data — the last one meaning IU genuinely doesn't have enough captured data to judge yet, not a failure.
Layer 1 is rechecked periodically (at least every 30 days) for every creator. A Verified creator whose recheck no longer passes is flagged for human review before any revocation — an automated regression is never enough on its own to pull the badge.
Have a report about a Verified creator, or a correction to your own profile? Claim your profile to keep your data accurate, or reach us through your account.