YouTube has updated its advertiser-friendly guidelines, and it now allows creators to retain full ad revenue even if their videos contain strong profanities. YouTube’s Head of Monetization Policy Experience confirmed the change in a video posted to the Creator Insider channel. Creators are now allowed to use strong profanities in the first seven seconds of their videos while still retaining full monetization.
As the video explains, the new rules “align with broadcast standards” and “advertisers expected ads on YouTube to have distance between profanity and the ad that just served”. The move is not intended to increase profanity use on YouTube content, but it is meant to “allow advertisers to better match their commercials with certain content”. Creators will not be eligible for full monetization if their video title or thumbnail contains swear words.
In related news, YouTube has rolled out a new age verification system for minors in the US. The new system uses a machine learning model to differentiate users’ age by their taste in videos, search history and account longevity. If the system confirms you are under 18 years old, it will automatically turn on YouTube’s age filters, disable personalized ads and enable digital wellbeing tools.