Donna | Youtube: Creators, Advertisers, and Censorship @DonnaIRL | Uploaded September 2016 | Updated October 2024, 6 days ago.
Welcome to the #YouTubeisOverParty! Grab some drinks and a snack as we celebrate the end of YouTube! Hooray for censorship! If you didn't catch that, I was once again being sarcastic in the description of my video. I'm a little late on the game here, but now that the "YouTube is being Censored" hype has gone down, I figured people can now talk about this issue logically.
For the past couple of weeks, I've seen larger creators talk about the demonetization of their videos. A few days later, some call this "change" fair and some call this "change" censorship.
Before giving you my opinion on the matter, I'd like to give you some background information on myself so you know where I'm coming from. I am a small youtuber with about 1,458 subscribers (sub count at the time of upload). Each month, I earn about $6-$8 through the ads placed on my videos. When, I'm not creating videos I work as a social media manager for a small luxury vacation rental company. Through that job, I've had to work with a budget for advertising. I used that budget to pay for trueview ads on youtube to advertise our company.
Because of that, I have 2 perspectives on this matter. I have the perspective of the creator and I also have the perspective of the advertiser. Not counting sponsorships or affiliate links, a main source of income for a creator is money from the advertiser. The advertiser pays youtube, who then pays the creator a percentage of the advertiser's money. As a result the advertiser's ad is shown on a creator's video.
To keep this whole ecosystem going, advertisers HAVE to get sales from these ads they pay for. If not, they will place their ads some place else (blogs, TV, etc.). I think this whole censorship ordeal is YouTube's way of keeping advertisers on the site. "Controversial' videos unfortunately are not generating any sales because advertisers don't want to place ads on there. To be honest with you, I think a lot of youtubers are bias on this matter because this is how they make money.
I of course, understand it from their point of view. In order to create good content you need to make a living, but the fact of the matter is the people who pay for your content aren't making sales off of it. Because of that, you aren't entitled to demand revenue from youtube just because you get a number of viewers. Do you think your viewers would pay for your content through Patreon or buying your merch? If companies really wanted to place ads on their videos, they'd come to you personally rather than through youtube (sponsorships).
This in my opinion is actually a good thing. This isn't censorship, it's a notification process. If your video has tags that "aren't advertiser friendly" you can appeal it (if it is actually advertiser friendly) or create content that is advertiser friendly (if you're doing youtube for the money). This is ultimately how "free" content works. Nothing is actually free.
Last Video: youtube.com/watch?v=CbfmN_yweco
Subscribe: youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=designingdonna
Twitter: twitter.com/designingdonna
Instagram: instagram.com/psychirl
Sources:
Me at the Zoo: youtube.com/watch?v=jNQXAC9IVRw
Flambe Disaster: youtube.com/watch?v=DdxtXO34T5k
Cybergoon Squad: youtube.com/watch?v=YZ8rk5oqCHg
My Snowboarding Skillz: youtube.com/watch?v=LeAltgu_pbM
Premature Baldness: youtube.com/watch?v=Tbk7A5iPhFA
Articles:
thinkwithgoogle.com/products/youtube-trueview.html
gigaom.com/2007/05/03/youtube-starts-paying-star-users
unreel.me/2016/09/01/cant-monetize-on-youtube
YouTubers Talk about new policies:
youtube.com/watch?v=Gbph5or0NuM
Welcome to the #YouTubeisOverParty! Grab some drinks and a snack as we celebrate the end of YouTube! Hooray for censorship! If you didn't catch that, I was once again being sarcastic in the description of my video. I'm a little late on the game here, but now that the "YouTube is being Censored" hype has gone down, I figured people can now talk about this issue logically.
For the past couple of weeks, I've seen larger creators talk about the demonetization of their videos. A few days later, some call this "change" fair and some call this "change" censorship.
Before giving you my opinion on the matter, I'd like to give you some background information on myself so you know where I'm coming from. I am a small youtuber with about 1,458 subscribers (sub count at the time of upload). Each month, I earn about $6-$8 through the ads placed on my videos. When, I'm not creating videos I work as a social media manager for a small luxury vacation rental company. Through that job, I've had to work with a budget for advertising. I used that budget to pay for trueview ads on youtube to advertise our company.
Because of that, I have 2 perspectives on this matter. I have the perspective of the creator and I also have the perspective of the advertiser. Not counting sponsorships or affiliate links, a main source of income for a creator is money from the advertiser. The advertiser pays youtube, who then pays the creator a percentage of the advertiser's money. As a result the advertiser's ad is shown on a creator's video.
To keep this whole ecosystem going, advertisers HAVE to get sales from these ads they pay for. If not, they will place their ads some place else (blogs, TV, etc.). I think this whole censorship ordeal is YouTube's way of keeping advertisers on the site. "Controversial' videos unfortunately are not generating any sales because advertisers don't want to place ads on there. To be honest with you, I think a lot of youtubers are bias on this matter because this is how they make money.
I of course, understand it from their point of view. In order to create good content you need to make a living, but the fact of the matter is the people who pay for your content aren't making sales off of it. Because of that, you aren't entitled to demand revenue from youtube just because you get a number of viewers. Do you think your viewers would pay for your content through Patreon or buying your merch? If companies really wanted to place ads on their videos, they'd come to you personally rather than through youtube (sponsorships).
This in my opinion is actually a good thing. This isn't censorship, it's a notification process. If your video has tags that "aren't advertiser friendly" you can appeal it (if it is actually advertiser friendly) or create content that is advertiser friendly (if you're doing youtube for the money). This is ultimately how "free" content works. Nothing is actually free.
Last Video: youtube.com/watch?v=CbfmN_yweco
Subscribe: youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=designingdonna
Twitter: twitter.com/designingdonna
Instagram: instagram.com/psychirl
Sources:
Me at the Zoo: youtube.com/watch?v=jNQXAC9IVRw
Flambe Disaster: youtube.com/watch?v=DdxtXO34T5k
Cybergoon Squad: youtube.com/watch?v=YZ8rk5oqCHg
My Snowboarding Skillz: youtube.com/watch?v=LeAltgu_pbM
Premature Baldness: youtube.com/watch?v=Tbk7A5iPhFA
Articles:
thinkwithgoogle.com/products/youtube-trueview.html
gigaom.com/2007/05/03/youtube-starts-paying-star-users
unreel.me/2016/09/01/cant-monetize-on-youtube
YouTubers Talk about new policies:
youtube.com/watch?v=Gbph5or0NuM
