YouTube Has Terminated My YPP Contract

Hi there,

In January, we updated YouTube monetisation terms to enable new ways for partners to grow and earn money on the platform. As mentioned in our previous email, we are terminating your YouTube Partner Programme (YPP) contract because your terms are no longer up to date.

This adds insult to injury because a couple of years ago my channel was demonetised for allegedly using other people’s content in my channel. A claim which I vehemently refuted. The previous email referred to in the above announcement must have gotten lost in all the junk I receive, so I was unable to review the new Terms Of Service (TOS) for the YouTube partner Programme (YPP) or to accept them.

YouTube Has Tightened Up Its TOS

Over the years, YouTube has tightened its Terms Of Service (TOS) quite considerably. One of the first hurdles to appear was the 1000 subscriber threshold, then came the 4000 hours of watch time and finally the content scrutiny, an aspect that leaves a lot to be desired, especially if you know definitively that ALL your content is original and created by YOU. Hello algorithms!

Following the demonetisation event, I cleared a lot of rubbish content from my channel such as duplicated videos, videos with very few views and some that were badly edited. What I didn’t realise was that all the views (public watch hours) that those videos had accumulated were deducted from my account, thus making the battle to remonetise that much more difficult. I now have two hurdles to jump: reapply for the YouTube Partner Program (YPP) and to be accepted back into monetisation, both of which do not happen simultaneously.

There seem to be two layers of eligibility where the subscriber threshold is only 500 and public watch hours cut to 3000. However, it’s not clear how that level generates income.

YouTube Is Not A Hobby

The stark truth about managing a YouTube account is that it simply cannot be left to stagnate, not in this day and age, when technology, TOSs, and monetary considerations are always shifting. One can’t help thinking that YouTube is in a constant state of clear-out, with smaller accounts/channels bearing the brunt. The fact is that I cannot devote the amount of time necessary to build my channel into a worthwhile money spinner because it requires hours of dedication, video editing, and planning. On the other hand, if I were to film a unique Charlie Bit My Finger (7 million views) moment, I’d be laughing on the other side of my face and ask to be directed to the nearest branch of Wells Fargo to extract the loot.

…but I haven’t given up, so watch this space.

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