YouTube updates monetization eligibility criteria

YouTube has updated its eligibility requirement for monetization.

Following a string of controversies around brand safety on the world's largest video-based search engine, particularly the Logan Paul fiasco in Japan, Google has taken measured steps to earn back trust from advertisers and agencies.

Without naming names, the latest announcement pledges to implement stricter rules for video creators who intend to seek compensation via the YouTube Partner Program, including achieving at least 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 hours of videos watched over the course of a year.

It is unclear whether the previous requirement, that a channel must attain 10,000 views in order to be considered, remains in place.

"These higher standards will also help us prevent potentially inappropriate videos from monetizing which can hurt revenue for everyone," said Neal Mohan, chief product officer of YouTube and Robert Kyncl, the chief business officer of YouTube.

Paul, a prominent YouTube star, recently issued an apology following a massive outcry over a video wherein he documented a trip to a forest in Japan known for suicides and showed an actual dead body on camera and in the video's thumbnail image.

Paul was booted from the Google Preferred program, a marketplace that connects the largest advertisers with the top 5% of YouTube creators, effectively removing him from the premium income derived from the program. His channel, which has 15 million subscribers, continues to generate revenue via the YouTube Partner Program.

While the responses were appreciated by industry sources, most pointed out that the new rules announced would play no part in preventing future instances of similar non-advertiser friendly content profiting from the YouTube Partner Program.

Manual oversight will be a feature reserved exclusively for the advertisers funneling their planning through the Preferred program, to ensure ads do not appear next to videos that are not advertiser-friendly.

In a separate post, Paul Muret, the VP of display, video and analytics on YouTube, said that the channels included in Google Preferred will be manually curated and ads will only run on videos that have been verified to meet ad-friendly guidelines.