As you probably heard, we recently announced updates to the YouTube Partner Program (YPP). We made these changes to address a spike in abuse on YouTube by bad actors like spammers, impersonators, and re-uploaders. Our goal is to ensure a healthy ecosystem where original creators can grow and thrive.
As of today, your channel, Mark Grabe will no longer have access to monetization tools associated with YPP because it doesn’t meet the new threshold of 4,000 hours of watch time within the past 12 months and 1,000 subscribers.
I just received this notification from Google. While my videos are still available, I can no longer count on the $2 of income per month I was raking in. Google began increasing the requirements to be received some months ago. I did make the first cut, but I have no hope of meeting these new expectations. The most challenging requirements is the number of subscribers. I create tutorials from time to time on ed tech topics and tools. I do not generate a constant flow of programming that would likely attract subscribers. My hits come from YouTube recommendations and the embeds I add to my permanent online tutorials. If you are unfamiliar with how youtube works, embeds do not generate income.
I suppose I should be satisfied hosts my content. I am not. I could add the same videos to the server I rent without an increased charge. This approach would probably reduce access to the users of my tutorials, but I would not be paying anymore to make the video available. Google now benefits from my content, but the few cents I would be compensated are no longer shared. So much for the power of the long tail.
BTW – I am not a spammer, impersonator, or reuploader. I would think Google could tell the difference. I think this is more an indication google doesn’t want to bother with small producers.