Is Your YouTube Video Eligible for Advertising Money?

How can you tell if your video should be making money on YouTube?  Read on.

Several months ago, following a damning article publication over extremist videos on the platform, top advertisers pulled their ads from YouTube.  Content creators complained that they no longer earned enough money on the platform.  Now, the company has taken steps to assist content creators that have monetization issues.

Today, YouTube unveiled icons to help content creators understand how their videos are being monetized.  If they believe that the platform has misclassified them, it will also allows creators to appeal their videos in the Video Manager.  The icons will appear in the Creator Studio.

Green means enjoy that sweet advertising revenue money from top advertisers

The green dollar icon indicates the videos that can earn money from the broadest set of advertisers.  It will also earn money from YouTube Red.

Yellow means you'll make some money, but probably not a lot

The yellow dollar icon indicates the videos which can still earn money from YouTube Red.  However, unlike videos with the green dollar icon, these videos will have limited to no ads.  Why?

YouTube explained that the yellow dollar icon means that the platform has deemed these videos unsuitable for all advertisers.  It may also indicate that they've been demonetized because it doesn't meet YouTube's advertising guidelines.

No dollar means no money, no video, nothing at all

So, what happens with videos that have the slashed dollar sign?  These videos won't receive any revenue at all from ads nor from YouTube Red.  The YouTube Creator blog gives some insight as to why this may happen.

"This might be because of a copyright strike, Content ID claim, or Community Guidelines strike."

The slashed dollar sign means that YouTube has completely taken down the video from the platform.  Thus, it won't earn any revenue at all.

What should you do if you have a complaint?

YouTube has offered content creators the monetization troubleshooter to see what actions they can take on their videos.

The status of their appeal will appear in blue text below the monetization icon.  Successful appeals will see more ads on the videos.

Will the changes affect creators' wallets? Not at all.

YouTube will roll out the features in Creator Studio over the next few weeks.  Content creators will see a notification in their account once they can access these features.

The company also pointed out that the new features won't change creators' earnings in any way.  The Creator Blog states,

"Instead, this update gives you a more detailed understanding of whether your video has been identified as not suitable for all advertisers and provides the chance to appeal in Video Manager."