YouTube will start advertising on videos without monetization, but their owners won’t get anything

The update to YouTube‘s US terms of service has changed the way ads appear on the platform. It will now also be displayed on channels that do not have monetization or “affiliate status” enabled in the YouTube affiliate program. Video hosting will now be able to place ads before, during, or after any non-monetized content, while not giving the channel owner a share of the revenue for its display.

YouTube’s new service policy states:

The right to monetize

You grant YouTube the right to monetize your Content on the Service (and such monetization may include displaying ads in the Content or charging users access fees). This Agreement does not entitle you to any payments. Effective November 18, 2020, any payments you may receive from YouTube pursuant to any other agreement between you and YouTube (including, for example, payments through the YouTube Affiliate Program, Channel membership, or Super Chat) will be treated as royalties. If required by law, Google will withhold taxes from such payments.

For many users of the platform, this can be very unpleasant news, especially when you consider that Alphabet, the company that owns YouTube, recorded ad revenue of 370.81 billion in the third quarter of this year. According to research, nearly 90 percent of content uploaded to YouTube never gets thousands of views. Obviously, YouTube is looking for a way to profit from all these videos. Ads will not be displayed only on channels that have been deprived of the right to participate in the affiliate program for violating the content requirements.

Currently, only the United States is affected. In the rest of the world, they will enter into force in mid-2021.