Numerous partners are contacting us following the unusual message on their videos : « not suitable for most advertisers ». After the advertisers crisis, YouTube decided to update its monetization politic with additionnal rules. Here is a summary of what’s to know.

YouTube introduced this summer a new icon relative to video monetization : the yellow dollar sign. This means that the video it flags is not « suitable for most advertisers ». To be clear : this video will not be able to be monetized via advertising, but i twill still generate income from YouTube Red.

According to the official statement from YouTube, the following content will not be suitable for advertising : 

Controversial issues and sensitive events: Video content that features or focuses on sensitive topics or events including, but not limited to, war, political conflicts, terrorism or extremism, death and tragedies, sexual abuse, even if graphic imagery is not shown, is generally not suitable for ads. For example, videos about recent tragedies, even if presented for news or documentary purposes, may not be suitable for advertising given the subject matter.

⦁ Drugs and dangerous products or substances: Video content that promotes or features the sale, use, or abuse of illegal drugs, regulated drugs or substances, or other dangerous products is not suitable for advertising. Videos discussing drugs or dangerous substances for educational, documentary, and artistic purposes are generally suitable for advertising, so long as drug use or substance abuse is not graphic or glorified.

⦁ Harmful or dangerous acts: Video content that promotes harmful or dangerous acts that result in serious physical, emotional, or psychological injury is not suitable for advertising. Some examples include videos depicting painful or invasive surgical or cosmetic procedures, or pranks involving sexual harassment or humiliation.

⦁ Hateful content: Video content that promotes discrimination or disparages or humiliates an individual or group of people on the basis of the individual’s or group’s race, ethnicity or ethnic origin, nationality, religion, disability, age, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or other characteristic that is associated with systemic discrimination or marginalization is not suitable for advertising. Content that is satire or comedy may be exempt; however, simply stating your comedic intent is not sufficient and that content may still not be suitable for advertising.

⦁ Inappropriate language: Video content that contains frequent uses of strong profanity or vulgarity throughout the video may not be suitable for advertising. Occasional use of profanity won’t necessarily result in your video being unsuitable for advertising, but context matters.

⦁ Inappropriate use of family entertainment characters: Videos depicting family entertainment characters or content, whether animated or live action, engaged in violent, sexual, vile, or otherwise inappropriate behavior, even if done for comedic or satirical purposes, are not suitable for advertising.

⦁ Incendiary and demeaning: Video content that is gratuitously incendiary, inflammatory, or demeaning may not be suitable for advertising. For example, video content that shames or insults an individual or group may not be suitable for advertising.

⦁ Sexually suggestive content: Video content that features highly sexualized content, such as video content where the focal point is nudity, body parts, or sexual simulations, is not suitable for advertising. Content that features sex toys, sexual devices, or explicit conversation about sex may also not be suitable for advertising, with limited exceptions for non-graphic sexual education videos.

⦁ Violence: Video content where the focal point is on blood, violence, or injury, when presented without additional context, is not suitable for advertising. Violence in the normal course of video gameplay is generally acceptable for advertising, but montages where gratuitous violence is the focal point is not. If you're showing violent content in a news, educational, artistic, or documentary context, that additional context is important.

This list means that if your video fits in one of these categories, it will not be able to contain advertising. This is not an absolute rule, exceptions exists, but know that producing such content can expose you to demonetization. In this case, the yellow dollar icon will appear in the video manager, showing that this video cannot be monetized because it is not « suitable for all advertisers ». 

The content of my video does not fit in any of these categories, but I am still not monetized. What can I do ?

First of all, know that you can ask for a manual verification of the contents which were demonetized. You’ll find this option in your video manager. However, YouTube will only check videos that generated at least 1000 views during the last 7 days.

In most cases, this process is enough to re-install monetization on your video. However, this makes you lose precious time on the first days of publication of your content. That is why Wizdeo is advising you to think your publication calendar differently.

Indeed, try to publish your videos in Private first. If  you see that your video is still monetized after a few hours, consider passing it in Public. This way, you’re able to « test » your content and avoid losing the precious first hours of monetization of your content.

We also advise you to be careful regarding the title and the picture for the video both respect the rules given earlier. Indeed, both the title and the picture count in YouTube’s decision, as much as the real content of the video. 

It is also a good idea to give YouTube more context on what you show in the video through the metadata. It is this context that will help you in your appeal demand in case YouTube’s algorithm flags your content  as non compliant to the rules.

What’s to come next ?

Know that Wizdeo is very aware of the situation and is in tight contact with the YouTube team in order to get a better grasp on these new monetization measures.

YouTube has assured that they are still in an adjustement phase towards these new politics, and arbitrary demonetizations should not handicap creators for long. Each manual verification demand will allow the algorithm to learn and reduce its error margin.

Obviously, we will keep in touch with you concerning each new information we have on this politic.

Wizdeo will also soon allow you to follow the evolution of the RPM via a tool on Wizdeo Analytics. This tool will be accessible to all our partners on their Wizdeo Analytics accounts.