YouTube, in its latest update to the site’s Terms of Service, has stated that it would start running advertisements on videos that are not actually a part of the YouTube Partner Program (YPP), meaning that it’s going to make money off of users’ content without sharing any of the revenue with them.
The new section pertaining to the update says that the “right to monetize your Content on the Service (and such monetization may include displaying ads on or within Content or charging users a fee for access)” would be provided to the users. That being said, the platform also stated that doing so would not “entitle” creators to any payments.
YouTube said that it would “begin slowly rolling out ads on a limited number of videos from channels not in YPP.”
While the channels in the YPP generally get advertisements displayed alongside their content and get a share from the ad revenue, this new update makes channels that aren’t a part of the program eligible for advertisements. But as mentioned, the caveat is that these channels won’t get paid even though YouTube would profit off of them.
“Since you’re not currently in YPP, you won’t receive a share of the revenue from these ads, though you’ll still have the opportunity to apply for YPP as you normally would once you meet the eligibility requirements,” stated YouTube.
One more update among the latest to the Terms of Service now makes all the payments made by YouTube to the US creators on its platform “royalties.” This would mean that a certain number of creators may be mandated to submit their tax information to AdSense and may potentially be subject to US withholding taxes. All these changes would be made effective November 18, 2020.
It is worth noting that US creators may not always be subjected to withholding taxes if they provide their documentation, according to YouTube. Regarding creators from other countries apart from the US, the change with regards to making AdSense payments “royalties” will be made in 2021.
