Anyone else impacted by YouTube's Demonetization?

[NighthawkGliders]

Well, folks,

I'm sure most of you have already heard about the changes applied to the YouTube Partner Program (YPP) requirements...
(aka. the requirements needed to monetize videos on your YouTube Channel.)

Yes, our Nighthawk Gliders - YouTube Channel is being affected by this.



We got an email a couple days ago stating that there are 2 new requirements...
1) A channel must have 4000 hrs of watch time within last 12 months -- we've got around 4800, so, we just made that.
2) A channel must have 1000 subscribers-- Ouch... yeah, we are quite a bit short on this since we only have 581 and need 1000 by February 20th!.

YouTube has stated...

Though these changes will affect a significant number of channels, 99 percent of those affected were making less than $100 per year in the last year, with 90 percent earning less than $2.50 in the last month. Any of the channels who no longer meet this threshold will be paid what they’ve already earned based on our AdSense policies.

As discouraging as this may seem, I have to find the silver lining in this...
Of those small channels being targeted for this demonetization-- Our channel is in the top 1 percentile and makes more than $100 per year (thanks to those who are subscribed and are watching our channel!)

So, I guess the point I'm making here is that we are making great progress and are on the cusp of passing the new established threshold set by the YPP.

Yeah, I know, the revenue from this is quite small...
But perhaps you'll agree, a few bucks here and there can help buy building materials-- or even help support the cost of hosting a website, etc... (This hobby can be a bit costly, right?) With channel growth this will surly increase in time.

Anyway, my brother Bruce and I absolutely enjoy creating fun, educational, family-friendly content on our channel. Regardless of any ad revenue, we'll be certain to continue doing what we love doing so long as we get positive feedback from our subscribers. Thus far, our feedback has been EXTREMELY positive! For that I am super-happy!

Thanks, guys, if any of you out there happen to be subscribed to us!

And for those who are also impacted by this-- we wish you the best of luck!

 

[rfd]

it's youtube's sandbox, they do as they please with regards to their non-paying guests. it is what it is.

fwiw, i love what ya do with yer nifty slingshot gliders, bravo! :applause:

 

[foamtest]

I hate that this is happening, even though I have not been to active on youtube lately but I plan on being more active. I really wanted to grow my channel this year but now its more of a need. Also I think it should be more of 4000 hours or 1000 not both.

 

[NighthawkGliders]

Thanks, rfd, I'm pleased you like our gliders!

Yup, YouTube may do what they please... and they are free to make any decisions they choose.
I'm not of the type to complain much about anything-- and this is certainly not a "complaint."

I'm accepting this as a new incentive-- a "challenge" perhaps, or some "encouragement" for me to work harder on the channel. Yeah, this will be a fun year for us!

 

[nhk750]

I like sharing my videos for free, you'll never see an add on my vids, I hate the add crap.

 

[NighthawkGliders]

Ryan,

Yeah, I see what you are saying... it would be nice to be grandfathered in...

I'm sure YouTube has precisely done their math and have calculated those channels not meeting 4000 hrs and 1000 subs are, perhaps, not getting the proper attention to bring in any ROI for the storage space they must put up to host all these small channels.

Nonetheless, it is what it is, right? And we can only keep a positive attitude, accept the new challenges, and focus on our future!

Keep up the good work on your channel, BTW... and we wish you good luck and prosperity!

 

[NighthawkGliders]

nhk750,

I like sharing my videos for free, you'll never see an add on my vids, I hate the add crap.

Yup, I don't think anyone would say they really like the "add crap" that keeps popping up on the videos they watch.
If your channel is add free, then that is awesome! I'm sure your subscribers appreciate that very much!

 

[nhk750]

nhk750,



Yup, I don't think anyone would say they really like the "add crap" that keeps popping up on the videos they watch.
If your channel is add free, then that is awesome! I'm sure your subscribers appreciate that very much!

Ya, I am one of the people that have to make money the old fashioned way....by working a regular job...

 

[thenated0g]

Me too. I dont make a ton of money or anything, but over the years i have got like $500 or so? its a nice check every once in a while. Stupid.

 

[thenated0g]

Dumb i have 85,000 hrs watched in last 365 days, same boat as you. Need more subscribers. My problem is i just dont try to get subs on youtube. Instagram is so much more convenient. I have over 1,400 subs on IG, but its a lot less effort to make videos for IG. But no ad revenue on IG either.

 

[thenated0g]

crap thats 85,000 minutes. my bad

 

[rfd]

TWIMC - seriously, ask yerself, is a large part of my life involved in a youtube revenue stream? if so, yer video products/services aren't doing it for ya, time to find a really good gimmick that'll insure a gazillion hits and fans galore ... like maybe feature a flying dog, or better yet a singing fish dressed up as princess leia.

if youtube revenue isn't the goal, or maybe at most it's the gee-these-few-bucks-every-month-are-great-for-my-bar-tab kinda thing, why the heck bother? life's far too short to dwell on distractions that aren't that pleasing for the efforts involved. do something else, like build an aricraft or go fly a kite. or just maybe, do the youtube thing just for the fun of sharing ideas and fun stuff with other folks.

 

[Grifflyer]

I only have 13 subscribers so I won't be affected by youtubes changes for a long time. Anyway I agree with rfd I'd rather just have fun and fly.

 

[PsyBorg]

I did not bother thinking about monetization as I see Google changing the rules of the system frequently to suit themselves. That and I HATE ads. I can not begin to think how much of my life has been wasted watching ads in 50+ years I have been watching tv and listening to radio and now the internet.

The last changes were to how videos were promoted and that screwed over a lot of people with that rule change. Since they did that my view counts are no where near accurate even on my crappy channel. I have been paying closer attention since I noticed view counts on videos have not gone up in days or even weeks on a lot of them. I started watching the two day / last 24 hour view tracker and a good amount of my videos get between 1 to 10 or more views a day. The counters hardly change and when they do finally update it only adds in basically that day or the previous days views. Its been this way now for a few months so I would not trust Google at all if you do monetize as they are scamming the system like fiends now.

 

[NighthawkGliders]

Regardless of any YouTube decision made regarding revenue rule changes, we'll still be trying our best to produce quality content-- both stuff that is evergreen (like our Sandpiper 12" Balsa Glider build videos) and stuff that is just entertaining.

As long as people enjoy our channel and get some value out of it, they'll subscribe, comment, and come back for more.
My favorite comments are when someone says how they enjoy building gliders with their grandchildren. Those comments are GOLD! That is a much bigger incentive for me than ad revenue.

All in all, we are just having fun-- because why not? If you've seen any of our videos, you'll know that we are just a couple of goofs just having a good time building, flying things, and making new YouTube channel friends. After all, our tagline is "Enjoy flight and enjoy life!"

Thanks, guys, for responding to this thread... I was curious to know if anyone was discouraged or incentivized to produce more content in light of the recent YPP changes.

If you have a YouTube channel (or not), we hope your life is filled with plenty of enjoyment and prosperity! Take care!

 

[foamtest]

Thank you for the comment nighthawk gliders! I completely agree that the comments are what really drive most youtubers to make their content. I have quite a few of them saved to my gmail and what actually inspired me to finally make my latest video was from reading over those comments after clearing my email again.

 

[basslord1124]

I had an old channel from like 10 years ago that I hardly ever touched, but I've been more regularly posting content on my Wikiperkya channel which I started about a year ago.

Wikiperkya
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCb1HUm7OVgH39xCCierFJHQ

I did it more for fun/hobby but also thinking I could make a little bit of side cash from it. I just hit the 10K channel views monetization requirement that they previously had just prior to their latest change of 1000 subs + 4000 hours of watchtime. No joke, it was like I met the 10K requirement, and then 1-2 days later they changed the requirement to the new standard. So I am a little annoyed, but I'm not gonna stop posting videos. My channel is still sort of in its early stages anyways, so there's still room for growth.

 

[Daniel Kezar]

not really on the topic of monetization but hi nighthawkgliders! i love your builds! i want to build the sandpiper. i had a bunch of your videos saved to a projects playlist i was going to work through building stuff i had saved to but then my youtube account got terminated for no apparent reason so....
i commented on your videos a few times so you may remember me.
along with what ryan(foamtest) said, when i made videos i wasn't really driven by views or likes or subscribers (although it was very encouraging when i hit 100 subs and was sooo close to 10k views) it was the comments that really made me want to keep going. it was fun, having a small community of like 3 people who commented every time. i made some new friends through my videos.
i actually turned off ads completely. hidden deep in the settings you can do that. maybe that was why youtube got rid of me.... i was taking up so much space with my 300 videos and i wasnt generating any money for them! lol.

well i think i am still going to build some of those sandpipers someday.

 

[Daniel Kezar]

Me too. I dont make a ton of money or anything, but over the years i have got like $500 or so? its a nice check every once in a while. Stupid.
View attachment 100691

so how do you become a "youtube partner?" does that just mean you are monetized and dont have a mcn?

 

[NighthawkGliders]

i love your builds! i want to build the sandpiper. i had a bunch of your videos saved to a projects playlist i was going to work through building stuff i had saved to but then my youtube account got terminated for no apparent reason so....
i commented on your videos a few times so you may remember me.

Sure, I remember you, Daniel...

I'm pleased you're interested in building the Sandpiper-- bummer that your YouTube account was removed-- strange.
Anyway, if you get back up and running, here is a link to the Sandpiper 12" build series. Good luck with it and happy building!

I made this tutorial with the beginner in mind-- trying to keep it simple. I wouldn't consider this a contest-grade model-- but, if crafted well enough, you can achieve 30+ second flight times no problem.

Also, if anyone else decides to build one of these, I'd be interested in knowing how the build went and how it flies.
One of our subscribers, (I think from England) built our Sandpiper and he had it flying fantastically!

His reaction to it flying so well is absolutely priceless!