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New rulesIf you curse too early on YouTube, you won’t earn any more money
Youtube has issued new rules for the monetization of videos. These upset the community. A single wrong word can mean that millions of views are suddenly worthless.
If you want to make money on YouTube, you have to stick to the “advertiser-friendly content guidelines”. These define exactly to what extent videos are suitable for advertising and can be monetized (see box). The guidelines were adjusted in November and are causing a lot of trouble in the YouTube community because they are also applied retrospectively to videos that have already been published.
Don’t swear at first, after that it’s okay
The new guidelines seem very specific, but still leave a lot of room for interpretation. Obscene expressions such as “S**t” or “F**k” must not appear in the first seven seconds of a video, in the title and in the thumbnail. Such expressions must not be depicted on clothing either. Otherwise, a video will be immediately demonetized. From second eight you can curse again, but not too much. Because anyone who “consistently swears throughout the video” also risks that a video is no longer eligible for monetization. According to the YouTube guidelines, occasional swearing “such as in music videos” does not necessarily mean that a video is unsuitable for advertising. Abbreviations like “WTF” or “TV-ready” expressions like “damn” are also okay.
Gamers are also suffering under the new guidelines
A few sections relate specifically to depictions of violence in games. “Brutal killings or serious injuries with a focus on bodily fluids and body parts such as decapitation and dismemberment” may not be shown in the first seven seconds, but from second eight they are okay again. Game videos depicting sexual violence, torture or violence against young people are also no longer suitable for advertising.
Several users have already felt the effects of the new rules. A video by Youtuber “Stan from Poland” was demonetized due to the new regulation. The reason: In a section of the video, a Chinese word could be seen on his friend’s T-shirt. It is used in Chinese to describe a stranger and translates as “strange ghost”. Despite a complaint, YouTube insisted it would no longer allow the video for advertising. The word was classified by the video platform as “extreme obscenity” (see video).
Youtuber “RTGame”, real name Daniel Condren, filed a complaint on YouTube. A best-of compilation of his videos from 2022 was classified as adult content without justification and was therefore also unsuitable for advertising. After he asked YouTube to remove the classification, he classified another twelve videos as “18+”. On Twitter he announced that he now needs a break from YouTube. And he’s probably not the only one.
