Use this article to learn how to check your video’s monetization status and to understand what each monetization icon means. You can also learn what it means when the monetization icon next to your video changes.
Note: Whether you earn revenue on a video depends on several factors, including copyright claims, revenue sharing, and advertiser-friendliness. For more info, learn how to upload videos to monetize with ads.
Check video monetization status
To check your video's monetization status:
- Sign in to YouTube Studio.
- From the left menu, select Content
.
- In the Monetization column, you can find the monetization icons. For info about what each icon means, you can hover over it.
To filter your video list by monetization status:
- Click the filter bar
Monetization.
- To show videos with green icons, check Monetized. To show videos with red and gray icons, check Not monetized. To show videos with yellow icons, check Limited.
- Click APPLY.
Monetization icon guide
Use this table to learn what each monetization icon means.
| Icon and description |
When the icon shows |
What the icon means for your video’s monetization status | Tips about this monetization status |
|---|---|---|---|
| This icon shows next to a video when our systems are checking a video for ad suitability. | While the ad suitability check is in progress, we don’t show ads on your video. |
Our systems check for ad suitability during the upload process. This check usually takes less than 20 minutes and at most 1 hour. When the check completes, the icon turns green, yellow, or red. To maximize revenue potential, we recommend you wait for checks to complete before making your video public. |
|
| This icon shows next to a video when it meets our advertiser-friendly content guidelines. | The video is eligible for most ads. | Keep in mind that you may not get all the ad revenue for the video. Sometimes, your revenue may be temporarily held because of a copyright dispute or invalid traffic. | |
| This icon shows next to a video when its audience is set as made for kids. | The video is only eligible for non-personalized ads. | - | |
| This icon shows when you upload a cover video of a song, and a music publisher claims it. This music publisher previously agreed to share revenue with creators in YPP who make music covers. | The video splits revenue with the music rights holders. You get some, but not all, revenue for this video. | Learn more about revenue sharing and monetizing eligible cover videos. | |
| This icon shows next to a video when revenue is being held separately during the Content ID dispute process. | After the Content ID dispute settles, we pay the revenue to the appropriate party. | If the status description says “Copyright claim”: That means the video was found to contain copyrighted material, and the copyright owner is reviewing your dispute or appeal. Learn more about monetization during Content ID disputes. | |
| This icon shows next to a video when it doesn’t meet all our advertiser-friendly content guidelines. | Brands can choose to opt out of content that doesn’t meet our advertiser-friendly content guidelines. Therefore, the video may earn less revenue compared to content that’s suitable for advertisers. |
If the status description says “Ad suitability”: This description means that our automated systems assessed this video. You can request a review, which means a policy specialist reviews the video again, and if appropriate, can change the video’s monetization status. If the status description says “Ad suitability - Under review”: This description means a policy specialist is reviewing the video. The specialist can keep or change the monetization status, and their decision is final. If the status description says “Ad suitability - Confirmed by review”: This description means that our policy specialists reviewed the video and believe that it doesn’t meet our advertiser-friendly content guidelines. The yellow icon status can’t be changed. Note: If a video has invalid traffic, it won't result in a yellow icon. Yellow icons are only applied to videos based on our advertiser-friendly content guidelines. |
|
| Most often, this icon shows next to a video when there’s a copyright claim on the video. | The video can’t be monetized. | If the status description says “Copyright”: This description means that a rightsholder has either claimed your video using Content ID or has submitted a complete and valid copyright removal request. This situation happens when your video uses copyright-protected work without authorization. As a result, you're no longer monetizing the video. | |
| For Watch Page ads, this icon means you chose not to turn on monetization for the video. If you get this icon on your Shorts, it means that you haven't accepted the Shorts Monetization Module in YouTube Studio. | The video isn’t monetized. | If the status description says “Copyright”: That means someone else owns the copyright on content in your video. Ads are running and revenue is going to the copyright owner. The good news for you is that the copyright owner is open to sharing revenue with you. If you change the monetization status to “on,” you get partial revenue for this video. |
Why the monetization icon may change from green to yellow
Sometimes a video's monetization icon changes from green to yellow
. This change in monetization status happens because our systems continue to scan your video to find whether the video meets our advertiser-friendly content guidelines. We continuously work to make this process faster and more stable.
What you can do about icon changes
Before you set your video live
During the upload process, we recommend that you wait to publish your video until after the checks process completes.
After your video is live
After you upload your video, the video's monetization status may change during the next 24 to 48 hours. It generally stabilizes after 48 hours. Keep in mind that it can change again based on how viewers interact with your video.
If you think that the yellow icon on your video is a mistake, you can request human review. After a policy specialist reviews a video and makes a final decision, the monetization icon shouldn't change.