Make Money On YouTube: How Ads Work

Make money on youtube - how ads work

Learn about YouTube’s partner program that allows creators monetize their videos.

3 key players in YouTube monetization

According to Sameera, a product specialist at YouTube, there are three key players when it comes to YouTube monetization:

1. The creators
2. The viewers
3. The advertisers

For the viewers, YouTube offers the place where they find and enjoy content.

For the creators, YouTube offers the optimum platform to produce the content and to earn money.

For the advertisers YouTube provides a safe environment to reach their audience with precision.

How creators make money with ads?

In a nutshell, YouTube’s monetization program works like this:

1. Creators make videos and build the audience.

2. The advertisers buy ads to reach that audience. The ads are placed in qualifying videos.

3. The viewers watch the videos with relevant ads and creators get paid.

How to start

You can apply any time but note that you must meet the minimum eligibility requirements:

1. Live in a country where the YouTube Partner Program is available.
2. Have more than 4,000 public watch hours in the last 12 months.
3. Have more than 1,000 subscribers.
4. Have a linked AdSense account.

Here’s the list of countries where the partner program is available (at the time of this writing):

Algeria, American Samoa, Argentina, Aruba, Azerbaijan, Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Bermuda, Belarus, Belgium, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Cayman Islands, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Estonia, Finland, France, French Guiana, French Polynesia, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Guatemala, Guadeloupe, Guam, Honduras, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kuwait, Latvia, Lebanon, Libya, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malaysia, Malta, Martinique, Mayotte, Mexico, Montenegro, Morocco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Norway, Northern Mariana, Islands, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Qatar, Republic of Ireland, Reunion, Romania, Russia, Senegal, Serbia, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, Turks and Caicos Islands, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, U.S. Virgin Islands, Uruguay, Venezuela, Vietnam, Yemen, Zimbabwe.

Check this page for the most up to date list.

Once you meet the above requirements you can apply by following this steps:

1. Sign in to YouTube.
2. In the top right, select your account icon, then click Creator Studio.
3. In the left menu, select Channel, then click on Status and features.
4. Under “Monetization” click Enable.
5. Follow the on-screen steps.

Once you submit your application, a reviewer will take a look at your channel to determine if it meets program policies. According to YouTube, it typically takes about a month to get reviewed.

Related: Don’t Make These 5 Types Of Videos If You Want To Monetize On YouTube – Do This Instead

Once you are accepted into the program, then you can turn on the ads and start earning money.

Should I enable ads for all my videos?

Make sure you only select videos that are advertiser friendly. How to tell? Advertiser friendly content is appropriate for most audiences and does not feature sensitive topics like drugs, sexually suggestive, or hateful material. For more examples of inappropriate content check out content guidelines.

Can I monetize mature content?

Content that is meant for more mature audiences can still make money on YT but you likely to see LESS revenue from ads.

Can I choose the ads?

The ads are automatically selected based on many factors, including your audience, video meta data, and whether your content is advertiser friendly.

You can, however, choose between different ad formats that include:

1. Display ads.
2. Overlay ads.
3. Bumper, non-skippable ads.
4. Skippable and non-skippable video ads.
5. Sponsored cards.
6. Midrolll ads.

Learn more about different ad types available for YouTube partners.

It’s best to select all ads formats as your upload default, in order to maximize the number of ads served.

How to maximize my ad revenue?

Make videos that resonate with your audience and are suitable for advertisers.

How YouTube ads work (video)

Questions? Comments?

Post a comment

Share This Post

Download 12,000+ Royalty Free Music Tracks And Sound FX

Unlimited download | Lifetime license | Commercial use

Start Now