Last November, YouTube implemented a new content policy that changed the strategy for many creators, since they’d have to censor out any types of profanity, whether its from footage or from background music. In a surprising update, however, the company is rolling back some of those changes, making things a little easier to navigate moving forward.
“Our update last November aimed to improve the clarity and enforcement of our Advertiser-friendly content guidelines, and make it easier for Creators to monetize brand safe content,” the announcement said. “However, we heard concerns from Creators that the new profanity policy actually resulted in a stricter approach than we intended.”
As a result, YouTube is making some changes so that some profanity will be allowed in monetized videos. For example, videos that feature moderate profanity are now eligible for green icons, while videos that have stronger profanity in the first seven seconds or throughout the video can still receive limited advertisements.
Any videos that use profane language, moderate or strong, are still eligible for a green icon, unless these words are used multiple times throughout the video. Music rules have also been adjusted so that any videos with background music, backing tracks, or intro songs with profanity will still receive full ad revenue.
The only major change that will remain is the rule against profanity in titles and thumbnails, which if broken, will result in a demonetization of the video with no ad revenue. If any creators are confused as to which words fall under the moderate and strong profanity categories, YouTube has defined specific examples to help guide those looking to appeal their videos.
Lastly, videos that have received a yellow icon due to the November changes will be reviewed by the company by Friday, March 10. If that video changes to a green icon, its new monetization status will be reflected in YouTube Studio.
