Being accepted into the YouTube Partner Program (YPP) is a major milestone in any Creator’s journey. As part of YPP, Creators can start monetizing their content, receive email and chat support, and get access to the Copyright Match Tool to help protect their content.
A key eligibility requirement for YPP is to follow YouTube monetization policies, which include YouTube’s Community Guidelines, Terms of Service, and Google AdSense program policies. These policies apply to a Creator’s channel as a whole, and not just individual videos.
Setting a higher bar for monetization
Over the last few years, YouTube has taken steps to strengthen the requirements for monetization so that spammers, impersonators, and other bad actors can’t hurt the ecosystem or take advantage of good Creators producing high quality content.
To apply for membership in YPP, channels must meet eligibility thresholds related to watch time and subscribers. Following application, YouTube’s review team ensures the channel has not run afoul of YouTube’s monetization, content, and copyright policies. Only channels that meet eligibility thresholds and follow all of our guidelines will be admitted to the program, which makes them eligible to receive access to ads and other monetization products.
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Advertiser-Friendly Content Guidelines
Just because a Creator is in YPP, it doesn’t mean all videos on their channel will be eligible to have ads. Each video must also comply with our Advertiser-Friendly Content Guidelines. This is by design, as we understand that there are important conversations that have a place on YouTube, such as discussion of mental health or sensitive world events, that might not be deemed brand suitable by advertisers. Other examples of content not suitable for ads include some form of inappropriate language, violence, adult content, and harmful acts.
To help Creators understand which videos on their channel are suitable for ads, we have worked closely with advertisers to create clear and comprehensive Advertiser-Friendly Content Guidelines. Eligible Creators also have the ability to self-rate their content per these guidelines and turn on ads monetization for individual videos in their channel.
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What action does YouTube take for videos that do not comply with Advertiser-Friendly Content Guidelines?
If a Creator has turned on ads monetization for a video but our reviewers and automated systems identify that the video does not comply with our Advertiser-Friendly Content Guidelines, the video will have limited or no ads appear against it. However, if Creators believe that their video is still suitable for all brands, they can request human review of that video.