At AIR, we’ve got 200 people watching over 3,000 channels. That works because we have a playbook for every niche, adjusted for every channel. And we rewrite those rules every time YouTube sneezes.
Ignore the playbook, and problems pile up. That’s exactly what happened here.
Our partner didn’t pay attention to our advice, until they had to.
Ignored Warnings. Repeated Strikes. Monetization Gone.
All through 2024, our team flagged violations on the channel: unsafe thumbnails, reused content, guideline breaches. One of our partners, managing a massive library of channels, kept brushing it off.
- We escalated.
- We sent presentations, checklists, and step-by-step instructions.
- We spent 16.5 hours building a cleanup strategy just for them.
Still… minimal action. Until May.
Between May 13–14, two major channels lost monetization. That was the wake-up call.
May 14: The Turnaround Begins
After months of delays, the partner finally came through. Starting May 14–15, they launched a full network-wide cleanup:
- Problematic uploads removed
- Metadata and thumbnails updated
- Upload processes tightened
- Strike-prone formats deprecated
- New review system set up
- Content rechecked for child safety and compliance
Half the channels disconnected from AIR Premium — either by their choice or ours. The rest? They started climbing.
The Result: +168.3M Views. +$21.9K Revenue. All in 5 Weeks.
We tracked growth from May 15–June 23 and compared it to the 40 days prior.
Here's the shift post-cleanup:
→ Views: +89.7%
→ Watch Time: +28.5%
→ Revenue: +30.5%
The channels that implemented cleanup surged. Traffic bounced back. Recommendations returned. Monetization spiked. It means cleanup equals comeback.
Some Channels Carried the Whole Surge
Across the network, results varied, and that’s normal. A few channels stayed flat, some even dipped. But the overall portfolio exploded, thanks to a cluster of standout performers.
|
Views |
Watch Time |
Revenue |
|
|
Channel #1 |
+251.3% |
+260.8% |
+212.6% |
|
Channel #2 |
+162.0% |
+262.0% |
+219.0% |
|
Channel #3 |
+134.4% |
+164.7% |
+128.4% |
Their traffic more than tripled. Watch time and revenue followed the same pattern: over 200% growth in less than six weeks.
These were the channels that took the guidelines seriously. Followed every recommendation. Cleaned everything. And it paid off.
Learn Rules or Lose Monetization
YouTube doesn’t hand out second chances forever. When you ignore red flags, things break: monetization disappears, content gets suppressed, your growth stalls.
But when you fix what’s broken (properly, at scale), you can turn the whole ship around.
If you want to avoid demonetization, survive the next update, and actually grow, talk to us.
We’ve done this for thousands of creators. We know what works. And more importantly, we know what gets you banned if you don’t.
Let’s fix it before it breaks.
