What To Say On Your First Youtube Video

Monetization icon guide for YouTube Studio

We've updated this page with info on the new checks feature to identify copyright or ad suitability issues before your video upload is finalized.

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If you're in the YouTube Partner Program, you can turn on ads for videos -- if your video meets our advertiser-friendly content guidelines.

When you turn on ads, you'll see a monetization icon next to each video. The icons let you know if the video is monetizing. Whether you'll get revenue depends on several factors, including copyright claims, revenue sharing, and advertiser-friendliness. Use this guide to help you understand what each icon means.

For more info about uploading a video for monetization and best practices, check out this article.

Generally speaking, if an icon is green, you can set live. If you see the checking icon, wait. If an icon is yellow, you can set live, make adjustments, or make an appeal.

Checking

You'll see this icon in your video list when our systems are checking a video for ad suitability. No ads are shown while the check is running.

Our systems check for ad suitability during the upload process. This usually take less than 20 minutes and at most 1 hour. You'll see the monetization status shown when the check is complete. To make sure that you maximize revenue potential, we recommend you wait for checks to be complete before making your video public.

On

You turned on monetization, and because the video meets our advertiser-friendly content guidelines, it's eligible for most ads. Keep in mind that you may not get all the ad revenue for this video. Sometimes, your revenue may be temporarily held because of a copyright dispute or invalid traffic.

What the green icon means for you:

If the status description says "on": You're earning full revenue on this video.
If the status description says "Exceptions": This video is only eligible for non-personalized ads because its audience is set as made for kids.

Sharing

You turned on monetization for a cover video of a song, but a music publisher claimed it. This music publisher has previously agreed to share revenue with creators in YPP who make music covers.

What the green icon means for you:

If the status description says "Copyright claim. Revenue sharing": That means you'll get some, but not all revenue for this video. Learn more about revenue sharing and monetizing eligible cover videos.

Escrow

You turned on monetization, and revenue is being held separately during the Content ID dispute process, and once the dispute is resolved, we'll pay it out to the appropriate party.

What the green icon means for you:

If the status description says "Copyright claim": That means the video was found to contain copyrighted material and the copyright owner is reviewing your dispute or appeal. Learn more about monetization during Content ID disputes.

Limited

You turned on monetization for this video, but because it doesn't meet all our advertiser-friendly content guidelines, brands may choose to opt out on content. This generally means you may earn less revenue on this content (because fewer ads are likely to appear) compared to content that's suitable for advertisers.

What the yellow icon means for you:

If the status description says "causing limited or no ads. You can request a review": That means our automated systems assessed this video. You can request a review, which means a policy specialist will look at the video again, and if appropriate, can change the video's monetization status.
If the status description says "currently causing limited or no ads, but video is under review": That means a policy specialist (a real person, not a machine) is reviewing this video. Our specialists can keep or change the monetization status, and their decision is final.
If the status description says "currently causing limited or no ads. Confirmed by manual review": That means our policy specialists have looked at the video, and believe that it doesn't meet all of our advertiser-friendly content guidelines. The yellow icon status is locked and cannot be changed.

Ineligible

You turned on monetization, but there's a copyright claim on the video. It cannot be monetized.

What the red icon means for you:

If the status description says "copyright claim": That means a rightsholder has either claimed your video using our Content ID system or issued a complete and valid copyright takedown request for your video because it uses their copyright-protected work without authorization. As a result, you are no longer monetizing the video.

Off

You chose not to turn on monetization for this video.

What the gray icon means for you:

If the status description says "copyright claim. Eligible for revenue sharing": That means someone else owns the copyright on content within your video. Ads are running and revenue is going to the copyright owner. The good news for you is that the copyright owner is open to sharing revenue with you. If you change the monetization status to "on," you'll get partial revenue for this video.

Why the icon changes from green to yellow

Sometimes, a video's monetization icon in Video Manager changes between green (monetizing) or and yellow (limited or no ads) or . This is because our automated ads systems run multiple scans to figure out whether a video meets our advertiser-friendly content guidelines.

A video's classification may change after it's published as our systems continue to analyze more info from your video. We're continuously working to make this process faster and more stable.

What you can do about icon changes

Before you push your video live

We recommend waiting for checks to complete during upload before pushing your video live. Learn more about self-certification.

After your video has gone live

A video's classification may change in the first 24-48 hours of upload. It generally stabilizes after 48 hours. Bear in mind that it can change again based on how viewers engage with your video. If you think that a yellow icon is a mistake, you can request human review. Videos that were previously reviewed and have gotten a final appeal decision should not change. Learn more about how monetization reviews work, and when you should request one.

See a list of your yellow icon videos

To see a list of your videos that have yellow icons, you can filter the Monetization status in your Content section of YouTube Studio. To request a copy of your video list, contact Creator Support.

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