Will YouTube lowering monetisation eligibility for creators pose a threat to brand safety?

Video sharing platform YouTube recently lowered eligibility requirements for content creators to get access to monetisation features with YouTube Partner Program (YPP). YouTube generally places ads on content under YPP. 

Creators with 500 subscribers, three uploads in the three months or 3,000 watch hours in the past year or 3 million Shorts views in three months, will now be eligible for YPP. Previously, a creator needed at least 1,000 subscribers and either 4,000 watch hours in the past year or 10 million Shorts views in the last 90 days to qualify for YPP.

YouTube is applying this new eligibility criteria in the U.S., the U.K., Canada, Taiwan, and South Korea. It plans to implement this criteria in other countries soon.

Although, the news of lowering monetisation eligibility is well received by the creator community, it may lead to some concerns about brand safety.

Mayur Milan, director- brand communications, Ideosphere, believes, “The new YPP policy change will likely have a mixed impact on brands worried about their ads being placed on irrelevant or dangerous content. The impact on brands will depend on several factors, including the quality of the content that is being created on YouTube and the effectiveness of YouTube's tools for targeting ads.”

Agreeing with the potential threat to brand safety, Ramya Ramachandran, founder and CEO, whoppl, says “The expansion could potentially pose challenges in terms of ensuring brand safety and relevance for advertisers. However, YouTube has robust policies and tools in place to address these concerns, such as content guidelines, ad placement controls etc which advertisers can utilise to safeguard their brand image and ensure their ads are displayed in appropriate contexts only.”

Ramachandran further says that if this change rolls out in India, it could open up several avenues for the already thriving creator ecosystem in India. She believes YouTube's move will foster a more diverse creator community. 

“This move shows a growing increase of impact of micro influencers, nano influencers, who have now become central to audience engagement for any platform. This will increase the number of content creators that take content creation on YouTube as a serious career prospect,” Kunal Kishore Sinha, Co-founder & COO, ClanConnect, adds.

Sandeep Singh Saini, AVP- operations, Team Pumpkin, opines that YouTube’s strategy to monetise content of creators with smaller audiences will maximise advertising revenue.

“Brands are directly collaborating with smaller creators to produce content, providing YouTube with an opportunity for precise targeting in terms of target audience and specific products. Brands can benefit from increased reach and targeted audience. However, there is a potential drawback in terms of content quality, as these creators may lack experience and expertise in producing high-quality content.”

Vivek Yadav, CEO and co-founder, Cosmofeed, agrees that this decision will help level the playing field for small creators, but it can have a negative impact on brand advertisers.

“It is important to monitor the situation closely to ensure that brand safety is not compromised. If brands start to see their ads appearing alongside inappropriate or controversial content, they may be less likely to advertise on YouTube in the future. This could have a negative impact on the platform and its creators.”