Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions
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Want to make money on YouTube? There are qualifications you have to meet before you can monetize your videos with ads, but you don’t have to have a huge channel.
Here’s everything you need to know to join the YouTube Partner Program and start earning ad revenue:
YouTube’s Partner Program, or YPP, allows creators to monetize their YouTube videos through ads. If you are a YouTube Partner, that means you are earning revenue from the ads being shown before and during your videos.
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In order to qualify for YPP, you need to prove that you’re creating consistent, original, content and that people are watching your content. YouTube believes that has been proven when you reach these qualifications:
Not quite there yet? Here’s a list of actionable tips that can help you grow your channel.
If you meet these requirements and are approved for monetization, but then drop below them, your channel will not be automatically demonetized. YouTube may review your content and demonetize you if you seem to have stopped posting videos, but this will not be automatic.
Remember: meeting these milestones does not grant you automatic monetization.
You can apply for YPP when you reach the milestones above, but your channel will still need to be reviewed by a human working for YouTube. Reviewers will be watching for:
If your content violates any of YouTube’s Community Guidelines you may be denied monetization. Learn more about YouTube’s Community Guidelines here.
Once you qualify for YPP, applying for monetization is easy.
If you’re approved, you can start earning money as soon as your AdSense account is set up!
If you’re not approved, you can apply again in 30 days.
To make sure you’re approved the next time you apply, review all of YouTube’s related policies (Partner Program policies , Terms of Service , spam policies , and Community Guidelines ) and remove the content that might be holding you back.
In order to start monetizing, you’ll need to link your channel with an AdSense account. You must be over 18 to create an AdSense account. YouTube creators under 18 can link to the AdSense accounts of their parents or guardians.
Here’s how to sign up for AdSense through YouTube:
Note: you can only have one AdSense account. Do not make a second one if you already have one. Duplicate accounts may be banned, which will stop you from monetizing your videos.
Not all content that meets YouTube’s Community Guidelines will be considered ‘advertiser-friendly’. Companies don’t want to run ads alongside content that doesn’t match the values of their brands.
YouTube may disable ads on any video it doesn’t think is ad-friendly. Videos which may be flagged as inappropriate for ads include (but are not limited to):
If you want to make sure all of your content is advertiser-friendly, here are some best practices suggested by YouTube:
In order to receive a payment from AdSense, you need to earn at least $100.
For example, if you only earn $10 in a month, you will not receive a payment that month. You will not lose that $10 – you will receive it when your total earnings reach or exceed $100.
You will also need to provide AdSense with tax information and verify your identity and address in order to start being paid.
The most popular way to get paid through AdSense is via an EFT (Electronic Funds Transfer). To receive your payments this way, you’ll need to link your bank account to your AdSense account.
Here’s how:
Not all ads pay the same, and not all videos will be able to attract the ads that pay the most.
How much money your video has the potential to earn depends on:
That the size of your channel matters probably isn’t a surprise. The biggest brands want to run their ads beside videos that are getting more views.
Whether or not your YouTube niche has a high potential for profit will depend on a couple things:
The more people there are making similar videos to you, the thinner the available ads are spread.
If the products are free or inexpensive (i.e. free online games) then that limits your earning ability. In large niches like gaming, the few higher paying ads will go to the most popular channels and the low-paying ads will be spread amongst everyone else.
If you have a very specific niche, i.e. luxury cars, then you will have less competition and the ads available will likely be for more expensive products (and thus the ads themselves will be higher paying).
Even if you are in a large niche, you can still make videos on specific topics designed to attract higher-paying ads and more revenue. Pay attention to the analytics in your Creator Studio to learn which of your videos earn the most. Then, make more videos on similar topics to boost your earnings.
Another factor that can affect what ads appear alongside your videos is the viewing habits of individual viewers. People are shown ads that YouTube believes are more relevant to their interests.
A lot of people think your ad revenue is determined by your view count. This isn’t true – it’s determined by ad impressions.
How much revenue you earn from the ads running around your videos depends on these three things:
CPC: ‘cost per click’. Most of the ads on YouTube are CPC, meaning that an ad impression is only recorded when an ad is clicked on.
CPV: ‘cost per view’. Skippable pre-roll ads are the only ads on YouTube which record ad impressions without clicks. These ads record ad impressions when viewers watch 30 seconds of the ad instead of skipping it.
CPM: ‘cost per mille’ or ‘cost per thousand’. This refers to how much money gets paid out for 1000 ad impressions.
Your CPM will be affected by a multitude of things including the ads themselves and the size of your channel. AdSense has made it a rule that you cannot disclose your CPM to anyone, which makes it difficult to determine what you should expect.
Note: never click on ads near your own videos or instruct your viewers/friends to do so. If your clicks are higher than what AdSense considers normal they may ban you.
Sites like Social Blade provide estimated earnings for any channel you want to look up. Looking up channels that are where you plan to be in the near future could help you set your own expectations.
Are you able to monetize your videos? How many more subscribers or hours of watch time do you need?
Richard Bennett
Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.
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