YouTube tightens monetisation rules, making it tougher for smaller channels to earn

YouTubeYouTube has made changes to its monetisation policies, which will make it tougher for some creators to be rewarded for their work.

The Google-owned video sharing platform has put in place stricter requirements for which channels can run ads on its platform. Previously, channels only had to have at least 10,000 total views to be eligible for the YouTube Partner Program (YPP). Now, channels will need to have at least 1,000 subscribers, and 4,000 hours of watch time within the past 12 months – on top of the 10,000 views – to become eligible for ads on their content. In addition, YouTube will also review violations of community guidelines against each channel which applies for the YPP. The criteria will be put in place for exiting channels from 20 February.

On top of those changes, YouTube will now manually review Google Preferred – which surfaces YouTube’s most engaging channels to its customers. Ads will only run on videos that have been verified by YouTube’s advertising guidelines. These manual reviews are expected to be completed by mid-February in the US, and by the end of March in all other markets where Google Preferred is offered.

Google is promising greater transparency surrounding over ads on YouTube. In the next few months, a three-tier suitability system will be introduced to enable advertisers to review appropriate placements for their brand versus potential reach trade-offs. In addition, Google is looking at ways to offering transparency to advertisers on where their ads run. To solve this, YouTube has begun working with Integral Ad Science (IAS) and DoubleVerify, while exploring partnerships with Openslate, comScore, and Moat also.

“Google’s announcement is a welcome step forward for brand safety, as they’ve been taking on quite a bit of negative press over the past year with the fallout from last year’s content placement issues. Since then, they’ve improved their policies tremendously, which is reflected in the newest shift towards content review,” said Dale Lovell, co-founder and CDO at Adyoulike.

“While this is a great start, I believe that technology, specifically artificial intelligence, will continue to be the real game changer within the wider advertising industry. Integrating tech solutions will be crucial for agencies’ relationships with brands as we move forward.

“Ad tech can lead the way forward in correcting content placement issues and ensuring that any inappropriate content is flagged and removed in a timely manner. Continuing to rely on human expertise will mean the process is inefficient and imperfect, while machine learning allows suppliers to take control and scan thousands of web pages instantaneously.”