YouTube recalled its rules for monetizing videos, video channel owners consider it censored

Advertise in YouTube videos saw probably all. It is clear that once there is advertising, then there are those people who pay for it, as well as those who host such materials, receiving a certain fee for it. The duration of the commercial (there are other formats, but the commercials are the most attractive) is 15-20 seconds. Such video is inserted by the system in front of the video viewed by the user. For 15-20 seconds, the viewer gets a rough idea of ​​the product and either clicks on the advertisement or not. If it clicks, YouTube counts the transition, and the owner of the video gets some income. There are other monetization schemes, but now the conversation is not about them.

If a video uploaded to YouTube becomes popular, the owner of the video can get a decent amount. The more popular the commercials, the more money their creators get. Everything is logical here. The problem is that you can not monetize any video. YouTube has rules for monetizing video. According to these rules, it is possible to monetize not all subjects, but only some of them (for example, tourism, cooking and a number of other topics). Previously, YouTube moderators turned a blind eye to some abuses by users of the service, but now everything has changed.

Last week, many video channel owners received an e-mail stating that their content violated YouTube’s rules. According to these rules, videos that cannot be called “advertiser friendly” cannot be monetized. That is, no matter how viewed such a video would be, revenue from YouTube will not come.
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The list of prohibited topics is quite large . You cannot monetize those videos that:

• They contain sexually explicit scenes, nudity and obscene humor.
• They contain naturalistic images and refer to events related to the manifestation of violent extremism.
• Contain profanity.
• They present in a positive light the use of drugs and illicit drugs, as well as contribute to their sale, use and abuse.
• They touch on sensitive topics, for example, the topic of war, political conflicts, natural disasters, death and others.

These rules are not new, they have been around for several years. But earlier, as mentioned above, YouTube did not pay maximum attention to the correspondence of the monetized video to the list of allowed topics. Now, probably, the service management has decided to pay more attention to this issue.


Interestingly, there is another rule, according to which the movie, which can be attributed to one of the prohibited topics, can still be monetized. But this is only if the video news or is satire, and its creator set as its goal to inform or entertain the audience (and not insult or shock). But this rule is very vague, and the YouTube moderator can act on its own in virtually any dispute.

Representatives of YouTube said that nothing has changed, just "improved notification system and the process of handling appeals."

Video channel owners think a little differently. For example, one of the top vloggers (vlog is a video blog, the vlogger is the one who maintains such a blog) with 4.5 million subscribers calls demonetization of videos on certain topics “a kind of censorship.” At the same time, those vloggers whose videos are simply not eligible for monetization are still lucky. YouTube simply blocks some video channels without understanding what can be monetized and what is not. The management of the video platform, in response to complaints from disgruntled users, stated that now the service is simply trying to make it clear why this or that channel is being blocked or a certain video has been demonetized.



A number of loggers are outraged not by the fact of demonetization or blocking of channels, but by how subjective the service’s approach to monetizing videos is. “All this is very subjective. The rules of the service speak of "controversial topics", without talking about what it is. This allows moderators to block anything, if they wish, ”says Joe Redifer, owner of a gaming video channel with 157,000 subscribers.

Vloggery believe that now in their videos can not talk on some topics, or even joking, because such materials can be regarded by the system as not in accordance with the rules of monetization. Developer Brianna Wu (Brianna Wu) finds YouTube’s rules unclear and inaccurate. She and other users of YouTube claim that it is still not clear what materials the service considers to be “friendly to the advertiser”.


The games are full of scenes that are sexy. And even more scenes of violence. Is it possible to monetize game clips with such scenes?

A number of YouTube users say that the service rules are so streamlined that they can be used to block almost any video. Does someone fry meat? This is contrary to the beliefs of vegans, which means that this is an insult and the video is not subject to monetization. Someone talks about how to choose a leather jacket? Nature lovers against. The list of such examples can be extensive.

What to do?

Now the vloggers offer Google to clarify YouTube’s policy on monetized videos. But the problem is that YouTube is a private service, which has its own view of the rules that govern the relationship between the viewer, the author and the advertiser. To become a YouTube user, you must agree with the existing rules. Their service is free to change, as you like and when you want. To meet the owners of video channels YouTube is not required.

“Google’s advertising was once a significant source of income. I refused to work with the company after Google became a “big brother” - their solutions can be called “rude”, said Ryan Deert, CEO of Inluental. This company is committed to looking for advertisers to top bloggers on Twitter, Instagram Shapchat and YouTube. "If people are afraid that their videos are being demonetized, they'd better look for other ways to make money." According to Ryan, there are other ways to monetize their commercials. These are other partner services, allowing in one way or another to monetize your materials, and to advertise your own goods or services.

But if you want to earn income from the YouTube advertising system, and a video or channel is blocked or demonetized, there is another option. This is the filing of an appeal to the company's support service.


This does not always work, and in some cases it is difficult to call the time period for considering appeals small. But if you think that the moderators or the system punished you wrongly, there is always a chance to correct the situation.