(piano music) 2 2
-: Before we start, let me explain what the Adpocalypse was. 3 3
The Adpocalypse happened in 2017. 4 4
Now before that, YouTubers were pretty free to say 5 5
whatever they liked and everyone was relatively happy, 6 6
viewers and advertisers included, all happy. 7 7
Until one day, it was brought to light 8 8
that ads were appearing next to videos promoting terrorism. 9 9
Then the issue got even bigger and a large number 10 10
of advertisers pulled their ads from the platform. 11 11
In an attempt to bring the advertisers back, 12 12
YouTube revised their policies and put more restrictions 13 13
in place for monetized videos. 14 14
A monetized video is what we call a video that is 15 15
earning money and a green money icon (laughing) 16 16
or a dollar sign will appear next to it, 17 17
when you view your video in YouTube Studio. 18 18
Many YouTubers were getting a yellow icon 19 19
next to their videos and this means there will be 20 20
limited ads placed on those videos. 21 21
Sometimes we call it getting unmonetized (laughing), 22 22
but the yellow symbol does give you 23 23
a little bit of revenue, but like very little. 24 24
Videos that YouTubers thought were going to continue 25 25
to earn revenue for a long time, all of a sudden 26 26
aren't going to be earning much at all anymore. 27 27
My friend had a viral video that was earning him 28 28
$200 a month at the time, and it went to basically 29 29
earning nothing and the views just crashed. 30 30
Some channels died, some people had to get real jobs, 31 31
(laughing) everyone was upset, but they eventually realized 32 32
that there was nothing they could do about it. 33 33
So what we're left with now is the post-adpocalyptic world. 34 34
And these are the no-nos if you wanna keep your videos 35 35
earning money post-adpocalypse. 36 36
If you want your video to be monetized, 37 37
you would have to avoid the following. 38 38
Inappropriate language, violence, 39 39
sexually suggestive content, 40 40
harmful or dangerous acts, hateful content, 41 41
incendiary and demeaning video content, 42 42
drugs and dangerous products or substances, 43 43
controversial issues and sensitive events, 44 44
inappropriate use of family entertainment characters. 45 45
So those are the restrictions we have now. 46 46
You should definitely read those in detail 47 47
to make sure that you are keeping 48 48
your videos advertiser-friendly. 49 49
And remember, something similar to the Adpocalypse 50 50
could happen again, and if we want our videos 51 51
to survive the test of time, we need to anticipate 52 52
what new regulations may pop up in the future. 53 53
One of the famous YouTubers I watch 54 54
blurs the faces of people passing by in the background 55 55
of her videos, and it may just be out of respect, 56 56
which is cool, but it's also smart 57 57
'cause perhaps, talent release forms 58 58
will by necessary in the future. 59 59
They're a good idea now, but maybe later, 60 60
they'll be absolutely necessary or else the face 61 61
will need to be blurred or something like that. 62 62
Swearing, YouTube does allow a few swear words 63 63
on monetized videos, as long as they're not 64 64
at the beginning of the video or in the thumbnail 65 65
or the title and they're in a friendly context, okay? 66 66
And not like, er, like, it depends 67 67
on the context, basically. 68 68
But that could change to zero tolerance for swearing, 69 69
very easily, so do your best to stay as clean as possible 70 70
if you wanna maximize your earnings. 71 71
Now, some YouTubers continue to make the content 72 72
that they did pre-adpocalypse. 73 73
They just changed their business model 74 74
from Google AdSense to something else. 75 75
So Adpocalypse really hurt Philip DeFranco 76 76
who does the news and often speaks 77 77
about controversial and sensitive topics, 78 78
because that's what the news is about usually. 79 79
Yeah, so all news people really got hurt 80 80
with the new regulations, but Philip DeFranco 81 81
still does his show. 82 82
He just has to rely on other income sources. 83 83
So he has DeFranco Elite which is basically fan funding. 84 84
H3H3 was another YouTube channel that got hit hard 85 85
and they decided to start a podcast, 86 86
which is paid for by sponsors and therefore, 87 87
not reliant on Google AdSense. 88 88
So you decide what you wanna do. 89 89
There are still ways to survive on YouTube 90 90
without being advertiser-friendly. 91 91
It'll just take a little more work and creativity. 92 92
YouTube does not seem to put these YouTubers 93 93
front and center because they don't want 94 94
another Adpocalypse happening either. 95 95
YouTube Rewind 2018 was a testament to that. 96 96
So even though it was meant to be a recap 97 97
of all the popular creators and moments that occurred 98 98
in 2018 on YouTube, 99 99
it didn't feature any of the creators 100 100
that had controversies and it just put forwards 101 101
the ones that were advertiser-friendly. 102 102
Also, it's possible that getting unmonetized 103 103
or having limited ads on your videos 104 104
can negatively impact your views. 105 105
And if you do it too much, 106 106
it seems to impact the entire channel. 107 107
This theory was suggested in Nerd City's video 108 108
on YouTube's Secret Codes. 109 109
I watched it, it was fabulous. 110 110
And a few days later, after the video was released, 111 111
the codes became hidden and nobody knows for sure 112 112
if this theory is correct, but I definitely recommend 113 113
you watch that video, it's very well-made 114 114
and entertaining and 115 115
if you're into conspiracies, it's a good one. 116 116
Since then, the yellow icon representing limited ads 117 117
doesn't appear as often beside videos. 118 118
I've noticed that personally, anyway. 119 119
How this affects views, at the moment, 120 120
we can only assume that, you know, 121 121
it makes it a little harder if you have, I don't know, 122 122
some, not violations, but like if you're not 123 123
100% advertiser-friendly, it might be harder for you. 124 124
So, that's pretty much the history lesson 125 125
on the Adpocalypse. 126 126
YouTube seems to be getting better 127 127
at handling these types of things though. 128 128
In 2019, there seemed to be another one about to happen 129 129
because someone complained that there were ads 130 130
on a video featuring children, and the comment section 131 131
had nonadvertiser-friendly comments in it, mm hmm. 132 132
So YouTube, instead of disabling monetization 133 133
on these channels featuring children, 134 134
they disabled the comment section. 135 135
And yes, my vlog channel where my daughter does her thing, 136 136
um yeah, okay, I can't have comments on there anymore. 137 137
But yeah, it's still monetized. 138 138
(sighing) 139 139
And that prevented the problem from escalating, 140 140
so yeah, I guess it was a good job on YouTube's part. 141 141
Even though I miss my comments. 142 142
Anyway guys, as always, be resilient and good luck!