In a bid to further protect its users, advertisers and creators, Youtube has announced three significant changes to its advertisement policy. This was made known in a post on Googleblog by Paul Muret, VP, Display, Video & Analytics at Google.
According to Paul, the tough but necessary changes rolled-out in 2018 are coming on the heels of “the challenges we faced in 2017” on the platform. He further noted that these changes will not only make users comfy, it will help advertisers better achieve their goals.
“These changes will help us better fulfill the promise YouTube holds for advertisers: the chance to reach over 1.5 billion people around the world who are truly engaged with the content they love”, he said.
That being said, let us consider the three key changes briefly:
Stricter criteria for monetisation
The first important note is that Google is making big changes to the process that determines which channels can run ads on YouTube.
Before now, channels had to reach 10,000 total views to be eligible for the YouTube Partner Program (YPP). Now, from February 20th, 2018, new channels will need to have 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 hours of watch time within the past 12 months to be eligible for ads. And, peeps are bothered about the small players:
https://twitter.com/EmperorBigD/status/953921239176839168
Google has also said that size alone is not enough to determine whether a channel is suitable for advertising. It will closely monitor signals like community strikes, spam, and other abuse flags to ensure they comply with its policies.
And, don’t even think that you are safe because you have been around for a while. Google has said that it automatically evaluate both new and existing YPP channels under this strict criteria and remove any channel that “repeatedly or egregiously violates” its community guidelines. Now, you will remember some big channels that are casualties (Logan Paul).
Everyone: Please do something about the favoritism towards your biggest creators like Logan Paul
YouTube: Ok fine we’ll cancel his show …………. also now all creators under 1,000 subs don’t qualify for monetization or custom thumbnails HAVE A NICE DAY 👋
— Mykie (@GlamandGore) January 17, 2018
“Google Preferred” will be manually reviewed
What’s google preferred?
— Marcel (@BasicallyIDoWrk) January 11, 2018
Google preferred is a list or grouping of top Youtube channels—across categories such as Beauty & Fashion, Entertainment & Pop Culture, Foods as well as other groupings such as age appeal, location etc. Youtube created these aggregates to offer brand advertisers access to place their ads on popular content and get maximum results.
The gist now is that before now, Google ranks your channel based on your traffic alone. So, being popular will guarantee that ads will show on your videos and you will get paid.
Now Youtube is saying that the channels included in “Google Preferred” will be “manually reviewed” and ads will only run on those videos that have been verified to meet its “ad-friendly guidelines”. That is bad news for the wrong guys!
At the same time, we know that size alone doesn’t indicate whether a channel is suitable for ads. That’s why we’re also changing Google Preferred: moving forward, the channels included there will be manually reviewed and ads will only run on videos that meet our guidelines.
— YouTube Creators (@YouTubeCreators) January 17, 2018
Youtube plans to complete manual reviews of Google Preferred channels and videos by mid-February in the U.S. and by the end of March in all other markets where Google Preferred is offered.
Controls over where ads appear
According to Paul, Youtube will introduce a “three-tier suitability system” that will allow advertisers to reflect their view of appropriate placements for their brand while understanding potential reach trade-offs.
This means that you can now determine which channel you want your ads to show on and Youtube will inform you of the possible number of users you can reach from those channels (understanding potential reach trade-offs).
This is good news! Personally, I have seen some ads that do not really apply to me while watching some channels. Now, you can weed out some channels you are sure your customers will not likely be viewing.
What is next?
From the foregoing, only one thing is clear: Google is very serious and the stakes are higher now!
Google knows that more needs to be done to ensure that ads run alongside content that reflects values. So, users, content creators and advertisers must fall into line! You can ask for follows if you do not have the numbers.
Important news…
As you know, youtube as changed they're policy and make content creations lives more hard. As a beginner youtuber I ask for your help. I'm at 583 subscribers and I need to reach 500 more. Or else sonic and miku will be no more. Retweet this and share this. 🙁— Kyo Saeba (@kyosaeba) January 18, 2018
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