A good YouTube channel has a loyal, engaged community and a steady stream of great videos. Audiences grow when creators make great videos that they enjoy and their viewers love to watch. YouTube connects your channel to paying advertisers and you get paid when viewers watch ads, simple – or is it?
Occasionally someone will upload a video that is offensive, or inappropriate. YouTube have made it a priority to ensure the actions of a few don’t impact the majority who use their channels properly.
YouTube Partner Programme
You can join the YouTube Partner Programme (YPP), after you reach 4,000 watch hours in the previous 12 months and 1,000 subscribers, your activity is reviewed against the YouTube policies, if all meets the criteria you can join the programme and begin serving ads on your content. This threshold has been introduced to make sure creators are following the rules and guidelines of YouTube.
Making Your Videos Earn Revenue
Once you are approved for the YPP you can enable monetisation on your channel and ads can run on your videos. YouTube will connect your channel to paying advertisers and you get paid when viewers watch ads.
YouTube Pledge
YouTube had a lot of controversy in 2017 with several issues affecting the revenue earned from advertising through the YPP. YouTube have pledged that 2018 will focus on protecting creators and making sure revenue continues for those staying within the guidelines.
By tightening up the requirements for the YPP they are preventing against spammers and impersonators and continuing to reward those who enhance the YouTube platform.
Last year the YPP channel requirement was 10,000 lifetime views. This was reviewed and is now 4,000 hours of watch time in the past 12 months and 1,000 subscribers (minimum). These new figures will help prevent potentially inappropriate videos from monetising and damaging revenue streams.
Deadlines
Today, 20th February 2018, the new guidelines come into place, there will be a 30 day grace period for all existing channels. As of today channels with fewer than 1,000 subscribers or 4,000 watch hours will no longer be able to earn money on YouTube. When they reach 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 watch hours they will be automatically re-evaluated under the new guidelines. New channels will have to apply to the YPP to be able to earn money from their channel and their applications are evaluated when they hit these milestones.
Core Values
One of YouTube’s primary aims is to provide anyone with the opportunity to earn money from a valid channel, and prevent spammers, hackers and inappropriate content reaching genuine subscribers.
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