What Is the YouTube Partner Program?
The YouTube Partner Program is an initiative designed to allow creators to monetize the content that they upload to YouTube.
There are various criteria that must be met before you can apply for the Partner Program, though meeting them alone doesn’t guarantee approval.
This includes having at least 4,000 watch hours on your videos in the last year, 1,000 subscribers, and not hosting inappropriate content.
Once in the Partner Program, you can then run ads on your video—this includes those before and during playback.
The revenue from these ads is then split between YouTube and the content creator.
Only in occasional circumstances will ads appear on videos from those not in the Partner Program, like when a copyright owner has claimed a video but allowed it to remain public.
More Ads Will Now Appear on YouTube
As detailed on the YouTube help forum, a change to the YouTube Terms of Service means that the company now has the right to run ads on videos from those not within the Partner Program. This change is effective immediately.
The terms detail that “you grant to YouTube the right to monetize your content” and that it “does not entitle you to any payments”.
For now, YouTube claim this is rolling out on a “limited number of videos” in the US at first, but will become wider and worldwide in 2021.
When speaking to The Verge, YouTube confirmed that they will continue to not run ads on videos that focus on sensitive topic like religion and politics.
As a viewer, this means that you’re going to see more ads on YouTube, especially if you mostly watch small content creators who until now haven’t had ads on their videos.
Naturally, the response to YouTube’s tweet announcing the changes was not positive.
How to Remove Ads From YouTube
Are you sick of seeing ads when watching YouTube? The best ethical way to remove them is by subscribing to YouTube Premium. Not only does this remove all ads, but it also gives other benefits like access to YouTube Originals and YouTube Music.
