YouTube Demonetization means that creators lose the ability to receive income from one video or even an entire channel. It’s actually very common and there are many reasons why this can occur, including the violation of copyright or video hosting rules or controversial content. Let’s dive deeper to discover how to save your income and avoid punishment.
What is the Adpocalypse?
The Adpocalypse is a process where an independent creator gets demonetized on YouTube and will not receive income for videos on the platform resulting in reduced income from the video hosting platform. Three events have led to the current situation affecting YouTube content creators:
Adpocalypse 1.0
The first case was fixed in 2016 when the owner of the well-known YouTube channel PewDiePie, Felix Kjellberg, downloaded anti-Semitic imagery and language. A popular journal on Wall Street issued a report claiming that YouTube places advertisements over videos from terrorist organizations and other extremist groups.
As a result, YouTube had to change its’ advertising guidelines and gave creators more control over the placement of their ads.
Adpocalypse 2.0
One more popular YouTube star had played a key role in the second Adpocalypse. In 2017 Logan Paul shared a video featuring the body of a man who had committed suicide. It's not hard to guess that the video caused a huge uproar. YouTube had no choice but to put Paul’s channel on hold and remove it from Google preferred.
Consequences of this incident for channel advertising:
- Creators must have 4,000 hours of accrued watch time in the past 12 months
- 1000+ subscribers
- Smaller creators lost their little ad revenue
Of course, this was not the only case that caused these additional changes in the YouTube advertising guidelines.
Adpocalypse 3.0
The last wave is called the «Vox Adpocalypse» because of the squabble between Vox commentator Carlos Maza and conservative talk show host Steven Crowder. After Crowder had been making several vile anti-LGBTQ comments and “jokes” about Maza and requested YouTube to demonetize Crowder’s channel.
This event has had a side effect on all YouTube creators - the algorithm automatically demonetized a lot of creators with friendly content that just occasionally covered some controversial issues.
Demonetization Rules: Main reasons for YouTube to Demonetize Your Videos?
If your channel is demonetized or monetization is limited you will see different types of signs:
- Yellow icon. The symbol indicates that monetization is limited. This means that the video does not comply with some video hosting rules. This icon will be accompanied by a comment to help you make the necessary changes. Yellow monetization means partial or complete loss of income;
- Red icon. The icon indicates that video monetization is not available. A common reason for red monetization is a serious violation of video hosting rules;
YouTube channel monetization policies are the main resource you must follow to be allowed to monetize your channel. However, these rules are very strict and confusing, and it is very easy to get demonetized on YouTube. Let’s look through the main reasons for demonetization:
- Spam, deceptive practices, and scams
- Nudity and sexual content
- Compromising child safety
- Harmful or dangerous content
- Hate speech
- Harassment and cyberbullying
Avoid these things and you’ll avoid demonetization. However, YouTube also has such a thing as Advertiser-friendly content guidelines. These guidelines include:
- Inappropriate language - be careful to not use rude words, profanity, or vulgarity.
- Violence - blood, injury, violence, etc., are restricted to show in your videos.
- Shocking content - content that may upset, disgust, or shock viewers.
- Drug and tobacco-related content - as drugs and tobacco are harmful to society YouTube will not allow such content.
- Firearms-related content - creators are not allowed to promote aggressive behavior and content focused on the sale, assembly, abuse, or misuse of any type of firearms.
- Controversial issues.
We recommend you check the full list of restrictions here Advertiser-friendly content guidelines.
One more thing, if your videos are often being reported by the viewers this also can lead to YouTube demonetization.
How to Report That Your Video is Demonetized
If you have problems with your account, or experience technical or service issues, you can contact the YouTube Creator Support team.
However, if your video or the entire channel is demonetized the only way to contact YouTube is to make an appeal via the letter you received in your email. This process can take months, which is why a lot of creators work in partnership with special YouTube certified services that can quickly resolve issues.
As a YouTube Consulting Service, we can help you regain monetization in a short period.
How to Avoid YouTube Demonetization?
There are a few simple steps to follow:
- The most important thing - strictly follow the youtube advertising guidelines and policies.
- Do not think of YouTube only as a source of revenue. Try to be focused on important metrics such as quality, value, and impact.
- Engage in Cross-Platform Content Distribution to save all your work and earn extra income.
- Remember - YouTube is a platform that covers marketing needs as it is the world’s biggest video search engine.
YouTube’s Blacklist of words
YouTube has specified words that break its’ rules and your channel can get demonetized for using them. These words are closely connected with the points described in the paragraph above:
Rude words such as pornographic terms, anything related to violence, racial slurs, insults, swear words, drug use, etc. Also included are LGBT terms, for example, “gay”, “lesbian”, and “trans”.
Outside studies done on YouTube’s algorithm found that if you use these words, your channel will be demonetized: “Brazil”, “Idaho”, “Muslim”, “Jews”, “Racism”, “Palestinian”, “Swastika”, and even the name of the 46th Vice President of the USA, “Dick Cheney”.
Check the main YouTube rules on the content type restrictions https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/6162278?hl=en
How to get Monetization Back?
We recommend you follow these steps to get monetization back:
- The first step is to identify the main reasons your channel was demonetized.
- Secondly, discover ways to eliminate violations.
- Contact the YouTube Team via email and request a review of your channel monetization.
To speed up the process of regaining channel monetization, work in cooperation with a YouTube consulting service.
YouTube Monetization Rules
Specialists from YouTube analyze videos that describe the topic of the channel in the best way, but not the entire channel. Here are some points to pay attention to:
- main topic
- most popular videos
- last added videos
- the videos with the longest watch time
- video metadata (titles, icons, and descriptions)
However, you should remember that YouTube can check other materials if needed.
One more update to know about — as of 2021, Google may begin withholding US taxes from your YouTube-generated US revenue. This means that every creator must enter tax information into your AdSense.
Alternative Ways to Monetize Your Content on YouTube
If for some reason you can’t or do not want to monetize your content in the standard way, check these other ways to earn:
- Advertising revenue. Revenue from display ads, overlays, and video ads.
- Sponsorship. Your channel's sponsors pay a monthly fee in exchange for the special bonuses you offer.
- Souvenir section. Fans can choose and buy official products with the branded design of your channel, which is displayed on the pages of your videos.
- Super Chats and Super Stickers. Fans pay for the opportunity to highlight their messages in the chat feed.
- Revenue from YouTube Premium. Get a share of the YouTube Premium subscription fee when users view your content.
- Patreon. The platform for creators to distribute their work on a paid subscription or provide additional content for their subscribers, called "patrons".
We hope this article will help you to gain and keep monetization for your YouTube channel!
