YouTube to Run Ads on More Videos Without Sharing Revenues

YouTube recently updated its terms of service on Wednesday with which they have added a new section called Right to Monetize.

With this change, YouTube announced that the creators grant YouTube the right to monetize their Content on the Service and such monetization may include displaying ads on or within Content or charging users a fee for access.

Furthermore, YouTube adds “This Agreement does not entitle you to any payments. Starting November 18, 2020, any payments you may be entitled to receive from YouTube under any other agreement between you and YouTube (including for example payments ​under the YouTube Partner Program, Channel memberships, or Super Chat) will be treated as royalties. If required by law, Google will withhold taxes from such payments.”

These changes will roll out in the US immediately whereas they will slowly roll-out this change in other countries next year.

According to the company, it will now treat all payments to US-based creators as royalties, but for creators from overseas, the company says it will provide more information next year.

What Does This Change Means for Creators?

Generally, YPP (YouTube’s Partner Program) allows users with larger followings (usually more than 1,000 subscribers) to receive a portion of the revenue generated from the ads that are played on their content.

But with the new change, YouTube can now show ads even on the contents of creators who are not part of the YPP. Furthermore, the creators will also not be eligible for any kinds of revenue generated by such ads.

As we can expect, this decision has not been received well by the YouTube community and global tech media as Gizmodo describes it as “a naked cash grab”. On social media, many are calling YouTube to withdraw the changes.