UPDATE 1: We heard loud & clear how much the badge means to you. Channels that currently have verification will now keep it without appeal. We’ll continue reviewing those channels to ensure we’re protecting creators from impersonation. More on our changes:https://yt.be/help/BqJy
Would you be willing to share by what logic anyone at @TeamYouTube though there would have been any positive results from this in the first place? It's not like this was just some poorly implemented feature, it was literally an idea that could only make the platform worse.