YouTube allows monetization policy easier to understand for content creators

Earlier this year, the YouTube content creation community, advertisers, and YouTube itself were struggling to find an agreeable way to monetize videos.

Advertisers want their ads displayed on relevant videos but don't want them shown on controversial or inappropriate videos. YouTube and content creators both want to maximize ad placement to increase profits.

Numerous companies including AT&T and Verizon pulled their ads from Google and YouTube a few months ago after they appeared on content promoting terrorism and hate speech. There were also numerous stores of videos being taken down due to false copyright or content ID claims.

As a result, YouTube has announced a new feature to the Video Manager that makes it easier for content creators to understand the policies and their videos. Three icons can now appear next to a video on the Creator Studio. The first is a green dollar sign which indicates your video is earning money from the broadest set of advertisers as well as YouTube Red. This is no change from the previous policy. The next classification is a yellow dollar sign, which means creators are still earning from YouTube Red but there are limited or no ads on the standard YouTube platform. This applies to videos that don't meet YouTube's advertising guidelines and is not suitable for all advertisers. The final classification is a crossed-out dollar sign. This means the video in question will not get any money from ads or YouTube because of Copyright strikes, Content ID claims, or a Community Guidelines strike.

The new policies don't change the amount of money earned by creators. Rather, they make the process more transparent and give creators an easy way to launch an appeal if they believe their videos have been incorrectly classified.