#20) Let's Talk About YouTube Ads


Hello, and welcome back to "Always Be Better" with Mel Windham.

Today, I'm breaking away from my planned schedule to talk about an upcoming change with YouTube ads. Next week they will start showing ads on more videos, which may even include some of mine, and I will have no control over this. Check this out ...

From an email I received in November and again this past week, YouTube announces the following change:
YouTube has the right to monetize all content on the platform and ads may appear on videos from channels not in the YouTube Partner Program.
So, let's talk about this and discuss what we can do about it.

Up to now, I've had little problems with YouTube ads. It's what makes YouTube possible. Without the ads, there would be no way for me to post my videos for free. 

Through the YouTube Partner Program, the creators can also share in the ad revenue. They can choose which videos have ads, how many ads to show, what kind of ads, whether or not there are ads in the middle, and even choose when the ads appear.

The advertisers also profit as well, because people buy their products, and everyone is happy. I get to post for free. You get to watch for free. YouTube gets money. The creators get money. Advertisers get more business. And even you benefit from certain products you may buy from the ads. Every is win, win, win! 

But man -- these ads can be annoying sometimes, especially the mid-videos ads, which break the flow. And consider channels like mine -- I'm just now starting up. I don't have ads, but if I did, you might be less inclined to watch my videos, and then it would be more difficult for me to reach critical mass and build up a successful viewership.

A decade ago, I tried out the Program. At first it was kind of fun. But then YouTube decided to institute minimum requirements. If you have too few views or too few subscriptions then you don't qualify. So they kicked me out of the program and held on to the money I would have gotten.

And now to rub salt in the wound, YouTube can now show ads on my videos anyway. Legally, it's all within their rights, but doesn't it seem fundamentally wrong to give some creators the option to share in ad revenues, while denying that option from others and show ads on their videos anyway? Doesn't Google already make enough money from their millions-of-views videos? Doesn't this all sound a little ... greedy? Well, maybe a lot?

But hey, when you're practically a monopoly, you can do whatever you want!

So, what can we do about this? As soon as I get enough views and subscriptions, I can rejoin the Program and gain back control of these ads. You could tell your friends to watch my videos!

Until that happens, if you don't want see ads in my videos, you can consider two options.

#1) Did you know you can actually pay YouTube a monthly fee to stop all ads? A share of that money goes to creators (but not me yet). Something you might want to consider. Look up YouTube Premium.

Or if you don't want to spend any money, there's option #2) Ad blockers.

It turns out that this is a legal option -- case law considers ad blockers to be a type of filter, as in "I don't want to see this," as long as you don't change the original product. Though, this option may hurt creators in the long run. Now, seeing how I'm not making any money, I don't mind you using these on my videos.

So -- okay. Watch out for ads I can't control coming soon. Next week we'll get back to saving the world. We have so much ground to cover!

Thank you for watching, and I'll see you next time on "Always Be Better."

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