Google Announces 'Stricter Criteria' on YouTube Videos Qualified for Monetization
Google recently announced there will be "stricter criteria" that YouTube creators need to meet before their videos are qualified for monetization.
In a blog post titled "A New Approach to YouTube Monetization," Google explained the new set of requirements that content creators need to complete before they get paid from the advertisements on the platform.
However, it was apparent that the major changes mostly affected new creators. For example, in the new guidelines, Google requires new YouTube channels to gain at least a thousand subscribers and a total of 4,000 hours of watch time from the past year.
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While Google also said that the new guidelines would be applied to "existing channels" in the YouTube Partner Program, it was obvious that some of these rules virtually did not affect well-established YouTubers like Logan Paul.
Paul was hit with massive criticism earlier this year due to a now-deleted video taken in the Aokigahara park in Japan where he continued filming an apparent suicide case found in the area.
However, Google reiterated that despite the numerical requirements, it "will closely monitor signals like community strikes, spam, and other abuse flags" on all channels included in the YouTube Partner Program.
"Both new and existing YPP channels will be automatically evaluated under this strict criteria and if we find a channel repeatedly or egregiously violates our community guidelines, we will remove that channel from YPP," Google further explained.
The company maintained that all YouTube channels and user accounts that have acquired "three community guidelines strikes" will be removed from the platform.
The technology company also announced that it was introducing a new approach in how to treat channels included in the Google Preferred program. The program is composed of the site's most watched channels that are likely favored to get a continuous stream of ads or monetization.
Its new approach in handling Google Preferred is to "manually" review channels and identify which of them "meet [their] ad-friendly guidelines." Those that will qualify will continue getting monetization through ads. Google said it expected to finish its manual evaluation by mid-February for U.S.-based YouTube channels and before the end of March for user accounts worldwide.
Even before the new guidelines were announced, Paul's YouTube channel had already been removed from the Google Preferred program while his projects with the subscription-based YouTube Red were also put on hold.
These changes will be effective starting Feb. 20.
