It is always a fantastic feeling to know your YouTube is generating you some dollars. But how can you tell that is happening? I will tell you that in a jiffy, but first, it is worth noting that you can’t check whether your channel is monetized by analyzing your videos with a tool. The only way to know that is if any advertisements are displayed.
If you are not monetized, you will see the eligibility indicator below:
Once you are monetized, you will go through these steps:
YouTube Partner Program Ads
Abbreviated as YPP, this program allows popular content creators to monetize their videos. YPP ads are offered when you partner with YouTube, and videos monetized with this program will always display one of the following types of ads.
TrueView Ads
These are YouTube’s standard video ads. You pay for a TrueView ad when viewers either interact with or watch your video advertisement. True View ads are available in two formats In-Steam and Discovery Ads.
TrueView In-Stream Ads
These appear before you watch specific videos on YouTube. After watching them for 5 seconds, viewers are given the option to skip. A frequently used ad is a bottom left overlay featuring nothing more than a thumbnail of the advertiser, an enticing title, and a link.
These ads are very versatile and allow creators a broad scope of customization. Channels monetized with TrueView in-stream advertising can potentially have ads displayed anywhere within the Google Display Network.
TrueView Video Discovery Ads
These are the ones you see on YouTube search result pages, the YouTube homepage, and related videos on watch pages. You will identify them by the “Ad” text showing directly beneath the first video names appearing on any search results page. In other words, it features a designated thumbnail from your video, plus some ad copy.
Bumpers
Bumper ads are short videos (about 6 seconds each) and play before a viewer’s video. They are commonly used during brand launches and product launches to increase awareness. As soon as you see one, you know the video is monetized.
Pre-Roll Ads
These can run before, mid-roll, or after the video. All are referred to are Pre-Roll Ads, and they range between 15 and 20 seconds each. You also get non-skippable mid-roll video ads that are played during videos with a duration of 10 minutes or longer.
Other types of advertising
Below is a look at how to identify videos that have been monetized by other means.
YouTube Videos as Traffic for CPA (Cost Per Action)
CPA is a common type of affiliate marketing whereby the affiliate or advertiser is paid for leading a user to a complete particular type of action or sequence of actions such as game download, signups, and file downloads.
YouTube gives marketers a massive audience to harness for their traffic. Hence marketers not interested in the YPP’s advertising revenue use YouTube to drive traffic toward targeted offers hosted on their own websites or domains.
So whenever you find a video that displays no ads but instead lures you toward leaving YouTube using a link, or even at times typing in the URL, then you have probably found something that is a platform for a CPA offer.
Content locking
Content locking is a technique used by affiliate marketers to gain subscriptions, downloads, and signups for their services or products. They do so by using content lockers that cannot be closed unless a user performs a particular action, such as completing a double-opt-in subscription. Note that anything digital can be offered to lure of signup or download, even information. When you attempt to unlock any digital offering using a locked video, you earn the video creator an affiliate fee. Average email subscriptions and file downloads normally earn the advertiser around a dollar each.
Are YouTube videos automatically monetized?
For any video uploads, you have to activate monetization for them. You can do that from video settings as well as control the types of ads you want alongside your content on that page. You can automate this process by clicking on Upload Defaults and selecting monetization.
What makes a YouTube video demonetized?
When a video is demonetized, it losses its ability to earn advertising income. This is often because of changes in YouTube’s advertising algorithm. Usually, these are videos that either definitely, or could potentially contain content that advertisers don’t want to be associated with, such as hate speech, pornography, crime videos, etc. This is what happens typically:
- YouTube updates its algorithm
- Videos are removed from their Account Monetization program
Do you need 1000 subscribers on YouTube to get paid?
Yes, according to YPP requirements, you need at least 1,000 subscribers to be eligible to monetize your account through their account. But it is worth noting that other factors contribute to receiving a substantial payout from AdSense. These factors include the kind of viewership you have and the nature of ads.
Bonus! While you can’t control how alluring each displayed ad is to your audiences, you can control what kinds of ads display with your videos.
The Importance of video monetization
Advertising revenue supports and encourages passionate broadcasters to keep on creating good video content. That couldn’t be possible without this support. So, next time you like a video but are annoyed by the ads, keep a cool head and remember that the revenues brought in also made that very video possible.