Insights & Trends

If you’ve reached the bar for YouTube monetization and Step 2, the AdSense step, still says In Progress, the hold-up is usually in AdSense for YouTube, not on your channel. And while Step 2 waits, YouTube hasn’t started reviewing your channel at all.

England's biggest football YouTuber walked onto the VidSummit 2026 stage and talked about what happens after the camera stops, mostly about thumbnails and what goes through his head when a video doesn't take off. "I think because I'm still delusional, I try and make everything work," he said.

Before dancehall veteran Papa Michigan released his album So Many Roads in August, TuneCore turned down one of its songs as AI-made. He had recorded it with live musicians, and the album came out without it. You can upload AI music to Spotify in 2026 through a distributor, with the AI part declared. The checks on the way are where releases stop, and they catch human-made tracks too.

Before a channel earns from ads on YouTube, automated systems and human reviewers look at it as a whole. AIR Media-Tech's Safety team, who handle strikes and policy reviews for the channels we work with, say the review covers the banner and description, your newest, most popular and oldest videos, and any video the algorithms have flagged. Their advice is to delete videos that break the rules 30 days before you apply. The exception is a video with an active strike, since deleting it doesn't remove the strike.