Creators Could Lose Money This Month, Warns YouTube

At the start of July, YouTube announced a change to its monetization guidelines. The revised guidelines, which officially take effect on July 15, will more accurately identify “original” and “authentic” content eligible for monetization.

YouTube has kept the details largely under wraps. However, what we do know is that the monetization policies will crack down on two areas in particular:

1. Mass-produced content
2. Repetitious content

If your videos are flagged in these areas, YouTube may remove your channel from the YouTube Partner Program (YPP), which will stop you from earning revenue from your videos.

These changes won’t impact most businesses that post valuable and high-quality YouTube videos.

While we can’t be entirely clear what YouTube’s latest guidelines will deem ineligible for monetization, YouTube further explained that “this update better reflects what “inauthentic” content looks like today.”

With this in mind, it stands to reason that the YPP update could put AI-generated content under the microscope. 

Leading up to July 15 (when the YPP changes take effect), I recommend assessing your content strategy to reduce the impact of the update on your profits.

My top tips for preparing your content for this update are:

• Use unique video metadata: YouTube’s monetization policy states that reviewers check your video titles, thumbnails, and descriptions. To avoid your content being flagged, make sure these elements are distinct from each video. If you use templates to create video metadata, you should edit them considerably.
• Reduce reliance on automations: Automations across videos often produce similar results. Always review your AI-generated metadata and AI video edits to make sure there isn’t major overlap.
• Beware of repurposing clips: It can be tempting to break up lengthy live streams, online events, and workshops into shorter videos to maximize content. When doing this, try to differentiate the clips from each other. Multiple similar videos from the same event may be seen as mass-produced content.
• Prioritize your key content: YouTube explains that reviewers often look at your newest and most viewed videos, as well as videos with the highest watch time and those covering the core channel themes.

While the changes to YouTube’s monetization policies might cause dread, it’s important to remember that, if you’re posting original, authentic, and valuable YouTube videos, your business won’t be impacted.

Over the next week and a half, I recommend reviewing your key videos and their metadata. To avoid being penalized, make amends to anything that could be flagged as mass-produced or repetitious.