What is a legitimate view bot, and how can it be used ethically?

Wow, thanks for all the insights, everyone! I didn’t expect so many thoughtful replies.

After reading through, I think I’m leaning more toward organic growth tools like TubeBuddy and VidIQ. I’ll probably steer clear of anything labeled as a "view bot" since it seems like most of them are sketchy.

Has anyone here actually tried TubeBuddy or VidIQ? I’d love to hear your experiences before diving in.

Also, shoutout to the person who mentioned BuzzSumo—I’d never heard of it before, but it sounds super useful for finding trending topics.

Thanks again, y’all! This was super helpful.