Advertiser-friendly Content Guidelines & Yellow Monetization Icons
To improve the accuracy of our yellow icon decisions and get your videos monetising faster, we are experimenting with automatically sending videos that receive a 'Limited or no ads' rating for an additional review that may be completed by a human.
YouTube understands the importance of accurate monetisation decisions. Additional reviews aim to improve the stability and accuracy of monetisation assessments, reducing the need for appeals and providing more confidence in your video's monetisation status.
How do additional reviews work?
When you upload a video, our system checks it against our advertiser-friendly content guidelines, during which time you may see a grey 'checking' clock icon. In the majority of cases, this icon will transition to green within minutes. However, if the video is initially assigned a 'Limited or no ads' monetisation state (also known as a 'yellow icon'), it will automatically be routed for additional reviews and the grey 'checking' clock icon will remain until the review has been completed. During this time, you'll also see a message in YouTube Studio indicating 'Additional review'. Most videos will see this process completed within hours, though it may take up to 24 hours.
Even after these additional reviews, you'll retain the ability to appeal the decision if you disagree. With our additional review process, we have high confidence in the accuracy of our monetisation decisions. However, we still want to make sure that creators have the option to submit an appeal.
We encourage you to upload your content as 'unlisted' or 'private' as early as possible and to wait to make it public until the ad suitability review process has been completed.
What are the benefits of additional review?
- Higher confidence in monetisation: More accurate initial monetisation decisions leading to greater stability in video ratings.
- Reduced appeals: A decreased need to manually request additional reviews, saving time and effort.
- Increased monetisation opportunities: An improved likelihood of fully monetising your content from the start.
Private videos
YouTube is dedicated to providing the tools and support that you need to create and monetise effectively. Additional reviews represent our commitment to improving the monetisation experience for creators. If you have further questions, please contact our support team or community forums.
FAQ
Q: Why is YouTube adding additional reviews for ad suitability checks?
A: We know how important it is to be able to monetise a video directly after it has been published, when viewership initially peaks. To achieve this with greater accuracy and reduce the frustration of appeals, we're introducing additional reviews for ad suitability checks on upload. This means that you'll receive more reliable monetisation decisions, minimising the delays and effort associated with appeals so you can start earning sooner.
Q: Will I now have to wait 24 hours for a monetisation icon? That's a long time!
A: No. The majority of content that we review receives a decision within minutes and that should not change. What will change is that for a small portion of videos, we will be adding some additional reviews to ensure accuracy. This may take longer for the initial decision, but the aim is to provide a more accurate decision. This can help to avoid unnecessary appeals and allow you to monetise your content more quickly. Previously, videos that received a yellow icon would require an appeal to receive an additional review, which extended the time that a creator needed to wait before having the ability to monetise their video. This update aims to help creators get to an accurate decision on monetisation faster and limit the need for appeals.
Q: What should I do if my video is in the 'checking' stage for a long time?
A: Creators do not need to take any action if their video remains in the 'checking' stage for up to 24 hours. You will see that the status of your monetisation decision will remain as 'checking' until a final decision is available. Once the decision has been reached, we will notify you via email and the monetisation decision will appear on the Content tab in Studio.
Q: Am I going to earn less money if my video is under review for up to 24 hours?
A: The aim of this update is to support creators to monetise faster, with improved accuracy on our monetisation decisions. We know how important it is to be able to monetise a video after it has been published, when viewership initially peaks. Previously, videos that received a yellow icon would require an appeal to receive an additional review, which extended the time that a creator needed to wait before having the ability to monetise their video. This update aims to help creators get to an accurate decision on monetisation faster and limit the need for appeals. As always, we recommend that you wait for checks to be completed before making your video public, in order to maximise your video's revenue potential.
Q: Why is YouTube reviewing videos with visibility set to 'private'? What if I don't want these videos reviewed for ad suitability?
A: Private videos won't appear on the Videos tab of your channel homepage, however YouTube systems and human reviewers may review private videos for ad suitability, copyright and other abuse-prevention mechanisms.