YouTube has introduced a tighter criteria for content creators to make money from advertisers, as well as confirming that it will manually review every video on Google Preferred channels to ensure the content is brand safe for advertisers.
The change is expected to see thousands of people kicked out of its ad revenue-sharing program, and will make it much harder for new content creators to get into the program and make money.
The new criteria comes in the wake of YouTube's latest brand safety scandal involving vlogging star Logan Paul, who recently published a video of a dead body in a Japanese forest known for suicides. The backlash to his video from both viewers and advertisers alike has forced YouTube’s hand to ensure that advertisers don’t have their wares and services attached to controversial or inappropriate content.
The new rules, which will come into play on February 20, are as Google VP of engineering Paul Muret describes: “Instead of basing acceptance purely on views, we want to take channel size, audience engagement, and creator behaviour into consideration to determine eligibility for ads.
“First off, while channels previously needed just 10,000 views in order to apply to the YouTube Partner Program, they’ll now need 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 hours of watch time within the last 12 months to be eligible to make money from ads.”
Previously, channels had to reach 10,000 lifetime views to be eligible for YouTube's Partner Program.
