In March we provided an update to changes we’re making to address advertiser concerns around where their advertisements are placed. Since then, we’ve held thousands of productive conversations with advertisers, and implemented additional controls to restore advertiser confidence. As a result, many advertisers have resumed their media campaigns on YouTube, leading creator revenue to return to a better and more stable state. We know that revenue fluctuations have been unsettling and want to reassure you that we’re working closely with our advertising partners to make sure that YouTube continues to be a great place for creators to earn money.
We recognize there is still more work to do. We know we have to improve our communications to you, our creators. We also need to meet our commitment to our advertisers by ensuring their ads only appear against the content they think is suitable for their brands. Here’s an update on some of the things we’re doing to provide greater transparency:
More detail around advertiser-friendly guidelines
One thing you’ve been clear about is your desire for more detail and clarity around our advertiser-friendly guidelines. In response to this feedback, we’ve updated our overall guidelines to provide more detail than before. While it’s not possible for us to cover every video scenario, we hope this additional information will provide you with more insight into the types of content that brands have told us they don’t want to advertise against and help you to make more informed content decisions. We know our systems aren’t perfect and we’re also working to further improve your ability to appeal impacted videos.
New guidelines around content that’s eligible for ads
We’ve heard loud and clear from the creator community and from advertisers that YouTube needs to broaden our advertiser-friendly guidelines around a few additional types of content. We’ve responded by adding new guidelines to take a tougher stance on:
New Creator Academy course
Keep in mind that even if your video is approved for ads, what’s right for one brand may not be right for another. A home cleaning brand and a beer brand will likely choose to target very different audiences. Today, we’re launching a new course in our Creator Academy to provide additional detail around making your content appealing for a broad range of advertisers, if that is your goal.
We hope these new policies and guidelines provide additional information you can use to make the right decisions for your content. Every day we’re inspired by the stories you tell to audiences around the world. Thank you for being patient with us as we work to improve the ecosystem for creators, advertisers and users.
Ariel Bardin, VP, Product Management, recently watched “Tom’s Take: Ads Update” from Creator Insider
We recognize there is still more work to do. We know we have to improve our communications to you, our creators. We also need to meet our commitment to our advertisers by ensuring their ads only appear against the content they think is suitable for their brands. Here’s an update on some of the things we’re doing to provide greater transparency:
More detail around advertiser-friendly guidelines
One thing you’ve been clear about is your desire for more detail and clarity around our advertiser-friendly guidelines. In response to this feedback, we’ve updated our overall guidelines to provide more detail than before. While it’s not possible for us to cover every video scenario, we hope this additional information will provide you with more insight into the types of content that brands have told us they don’t want to advertise against and help you to make more informed content decisions. We know our systems aren’t perfect and we’re also working to further improve your ability to appeal impacted videos.
New guidelines around content that’s eligible for ads
We’ve heard loud and clear from the creator community and from advertisers that YouTube needs to broaden our advertiser-friendly guidelines around a few additional types of content. We’ve responded by adding new guidelines to take a tougher stance on:
- Hateful content: Content that promotes discrimination or disparages or humiliates an individual or group of people on the basis of the individual’s or group’s race, ethnicity, or ethnic origin, nationality, religion, disability, age, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or other characteristic associated with systematic discrimination or marginalization.
- Inappropriate use of family entertainment characters: Content that depicts family entertainment characters engaged in violent, sexual, vile, or otherwise inappropriate behavior, even if done for comedic or satirical purposes.
- Incendiary and demeaning content: Content that is gratuitously incendiary, inflammatory, or demeaning. For example, video content that uses gratuitously disrespectful language that shames or insults an individual or group.
New Creator Academy course
Keep in mind that even if your video is approved for ads, what’s right for one brand may not be right for another. A home cleaning brand and a beer brand will likely choose to target very different audiences. Today, we’re launching a new course in our Creator Academy to provide additional detail around making your content appealing for a broad range of advertisers, if that is your goal.
We hope these new policies and guidelines provide additional information you can use to make the right decisions for your content. Every day we’re inspired by the stories you tell to audiences around the world. Thank you for being patient with us as we work to improve the ecosystem for creators, advertisers and users.
Ariel Bardin, VP, Product Management, recently watched “Tom’s Take: Ads Update” from Creator Insider
