Youtube Monetization Horror Story

[PeterG]

I have a number of youtube accounts, and I have signed up for the monetization thing where you can earn money when your videos are watched. All accounts are attached to the same account, which had some crappy videos. I forgot that this crappy video account was the one all the other accounts were attached to. Because I didn't like these videos, I deleted that crappy video account.

Today I was curious about how much money I had made, so I tried to find that info. But I think because I deleted that account, I can't access this info now. Before, you just had to click on the "Google Adsense" link and it was pretty easy. I have spent HOURS (and hours) today trying to use the help features, but I swear youtube just throws you into the most complicated maze in the world and then laughs at you as you chase your tail.

So I thought, I will attach the other accounts to one of the active accounts. Can't seem to re-activate one account as the main account and now I'm just totally confused. I'll go to bed and see if a good night's sleep helps (which I'm doubting).

Maybe someone here understands this? If anyone can help, I would greatly appreciate it!!

[Buzz]

(((((PeterG))))) I hope your problem gets fixed soon.

[milanessa]

Have you tried to call them? Don't know if it sends you into automated hell but this page shows a contact number. Scroll down. Good luck.

http://www.youtube.com/t/contact_us

[Erica Lee]

Hi PeterG - I also monetize my YouTube videos, but also my blog, and a few other websites. All of the money I get from advertising from the various channels is flowed into the same adsense account.

If I'm understanding you right, even though you deleted that one channel - your earnings should be safe and you should be able to access the data.

Have you tried going to http://adsense.google.com and logging into your account there? That's the direct link right to adsense.

[manleywoman]

I monetize videos and ads on my manleywoman.com site, but I have yet to actually make any money from them. Do they send you a check automatically, or do I actually have to go in and see how much I've raised? Can you tell I'm new at this?

[PeterG]

Have you tried going to http://adsense.google.com and logging into your account there? That's the direct link right to adsense.

I was thinking after I went to bed that I should google "Google adsense" and see if there's an easier way to check out my account. It's great to come online and see a direct link. Hope that works!

If I'm understanding you right, even though you deleted that one channel - your earnings should be safe and you should be able to access the data.

Sure hope so. I think I joined up between one and two years ago and my earnings haven't hit the $50.00 mark yet. I'm not going to get rich on this, but I want to hit that $100 mark at some point!

Have you tried to call them? Don't know if it sends you into automated hell but this page shows a contact number. Scroll down. Good luck.

http://www.youtube.com/t/contact_us

This will be very handy if Erica Lee's link doesn't work out for some reason. I've never seen a site with a harder to find "Contact Us" area than youtube. I did find one yesterday and I got a form letter of generic links that looked like the stuff I had been going over and over and over throughout the day. Most unhelpful, but I hadn't been specific enough about my problem, so I'll take a teensy tiny bit of responsibility for that.

Do they send you a check automatically, or do I actually have to go in and see how much I've raised? Can you tell I'm new at this?

They send you a cheque when your earnings have reached the $100 mark. If your videos go viral with numbers in the six figures, I think you might get a cheque within the year. For the rest of us, it might be half a decade before we see a cheque. So if this is part of your retirement plan, you may want to add to that!

As for logging in, there used to be a link in the middle of your account page that said "Google AdSense". You just clicked on that and you could get all the info that you needed, including what your earnings were at that point. Now, for the life of me, I can't find anywhere to log in and find this info. But maybe with the above link I will have some luck.

[Erica Lee]

I would login and check your stats every now and again - it's kinda fascinating (to me, anyhow).

I also have mine set up to direct deposit into my bank account.

I do have a video that has gone (somewhat) viral and so I do hit that minimum about every other month. Before that, it would often take me a whole year to hit the minimum.

[PeterG]

Have you tried going to http://adsense.google.com and logging into your account there? That's the direct link right to adsense.

This link got me where I wanted to go in 60 seconds. After spending HOURS the other day at youtube. I have no idea why youtube makes everything so difficult! (A big thanks, by the way!)

I would login and check your stats every now and again - it's kinda fascinating (to me, anyhow).

I also have mine set up to direct deposit into my bank account.

I do have a video that has gone (somewhat) viral and so I do hit that minimum about every other month. Before that, it would often take me a whole year to hit the minimum.

You hit the $100 mark every other mark? Wow! I think I started the monetization thing in 2010 and I'm now at 59 dollars and something cents.

[Erica Lee]

I've been using adsense since 2005, and trust me - most of the time was just a trickle of pennies! Most things I monetize (e.g. my blog) are lucky to bring in a dollar or two a month.

But, you never know what will become popular - I have a video I never thought anyone would watch that now has 3 million views and it alone pulls in over 90% of my adsense income.

Some people make a living off of it. Once they hit on a popular concept (e.g. the mean kitty guy, annoying orange, etc.), they can keep replicating the success and are soon making a great income. Or, if something goes incredibly viral (e.g. facebook advice shoot the laptop dad), they can have an incredible windfall. Problem with all cases is that it is all incredibly unpredictable - the cash flow can stop as quickly as it began.

Even my little video has swung widely in popularity - usually based on whether or not YouTube chooses to promote it as a "featured video" or it lands at the top of search results, etc... most of which is completely out of one's control. And on top of that, income swings based on what advertisers are currently paying for the ad space. I've had advertisers pay pennies per click, while other times they're paying over a dollar per click - makes a big difference in my bottom line.

An average estimation can be achieved by saying that $1 will be earned for every 1000 views a video receives. This is a very rough estimation but on the whole, over a longer period of time, should not be too far off. (Though as more and more people watch on their mobile devices it may become less true - views on mobile devices are not "monetizable" currently.)

[vesperholly]

I have a video on my channel that has over 200,000 views. Unfortunately, I definitely don't own the rights and can't monetize it

I also have a few skating videos that have over 10,000 views (mostly because they've been up for years). One in particular is really pissing me off, because I skated to Claire de Lune, and Warner Bros. had it blocked in the US on copyright grounds. I really think it's fair use, but I'm no lawyer and I need to write up an explanation explaining why I think it's fair use.

It was at a USFS-sanctioned competition. Anyone know how music rights work as it relates to skating? Obviously USFS and various TV networks are able to broadcast competitions with dozens of copyrighted songs. Surely licensing isn't acquired for every single song used ... or is it? I think news reporting is one of the tenants of the fair use exception, but would a video of myself skating in a competition be reporting?

[aliceanne]

How did Warner Bros. Get the copyright to Clair de Lune? That's over 100 years old. I thought that music went into the public domain at some point.

[Erica Lee]

I've often had videos/music blocked by the automatic algorithm, but once I write the explanation about why I think I have the right to use things - I usually do not have an issue.

As to that particular piece of music, it depends on what version you used. If it was an arrangement/orchestration of it that has recently been recorded - it may not yet be public domain. I'm guessing the version you use has recently been in a movie soundtrack (Twilight?).

You definitely have the right to perform to whatever you like at events. I'm not sure how exactly it works in the US, but in Canada the organizers of those events must pay a rights fee to SOCAN which covers all music used. However when you then take that performance, record it, and rebroadcast it over a different medium - those rights fees paid would not transfer to that situation (IMHO).

I would argue fair use, as your performance is "transformational".. but I'm no expert.

Even with fair use, you may not be able to monetize - but should at least be able to show it with the audio intact.

[vesperholly]

How did Warner Bros. Get the copyright to Clair de Lune? That's over 100 years old. I thought that music went into the public domain at some point.

The composition itself did, but performances can be copyrighted by the artists.

As to that particular piece of music, it depends on what version you used. If it was an arrangement/orchestration of it that has recently been recorded - it may not yet be public domain. I'm guessing the version you use has recently been in a movie soundtrack (Twilight?).

Ocean's Eleven

I just found this video, with the whole song (and 96,000 views!) and it's not blocked - it even has a link to buy the song on Amazon! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2Uo5kcDpyg

[Erica Lee]

^In that case, the money earned by the monetization is not going to the video owner, but instead to the copyright owner of that song. Some rights holders have agreements with YouTube that allow this to happen as a compromise - the videos can stay online, rights holders make money which keeps them happy. It's weird that yours was completely blocked, though - as you'd think the same would happen in both cases. The systems are automated though, so I have seen it be quirky. You'd have a case to contact YouTube and gave a "real person" check it out.

[xxxtiffxxx]

Even my little video has swung widely in popularity - usually based on whether or not YouTube chooses to promote it as a "featured video" or it lands at the top of search results, etc... most of which is completely out of one's control. And on top of that, income swings based on what advertisers are currently paying for the ad space. I've had advertisers pay pennies per click, while other times they're paying over a dollar per click - makes a big difference in my bottom line.

An average estimation can be achieved by saying that $1 will be earned for every 1000 views a video receives. This is a very rough estimation but on the whole, over a longer period of time, should not be too far off. (Though as more and more people watch on their mobile devices it may become less true - views on mobile devices are not "monetizable" currently.)

I've been on youtube for quite some time, but I was still confused about why I went from consistently making nearly 4 figures a month, to less than half of that now. I might just have a video that's no longer being promoted. I have over a hundred videos so I never really keep track of their individual view counts. I also had no idea that views on mobile devices aren't monetizable. I hope that eventually changes.

[vesperholly]

I also had no idea that views on mobile devices aren't monetizable. I hope that eventually changes.

That's nuts, considering half the videos I watch on my phone have ads.

xxxtiffxxx, what kind of videos do you have on YT?

[PeterG]

xxxtiffxxx, what kind of videos do you have on YT?

xxx (hope it's okay to call you that for short), I was wondering the same thing.

[Erica Lee]

I've been on youtube for quite some time, but I was still confused about why I went from consistently making nearly 4 figures a month, to less than half of that now. I might just have a video that's no longer being promoted. I have over a hundred videos so I never really keep track of their individual view counts. I also had no idea that views on mobile devices aren't monetizable. I hope that eventually changes.

Do you never analyze your analytics? You don't have to keep track of this stuff yourself, just login to your account and hit the analytics button. All kinds of graphs come up that chart the popularity of your videos over time. The "traffic referrers" section can let you know exactly what is happening as far as where your views are coming from (links from websites, embeds on sites like facebook, youtube featured video views, etc.). That's a huge loss of revenue you've had - if I were you, I'd be figuring out why. Some of it is definitely out of your control, but not all of it is.

A four figure a month income in YouTube is incredibly impressive... even half of that as you say you have now... still wonderful. So, congrats.

[xxxtiffxxx]

That's nuts, considering half the videos I watch on my phone have ads.

xxxtiffxxx, what kind of videos do you have on YT?

xxx (hope it's okay to call you that for short), I was wondering the same thing.

I just do hair and makeup tutorials, and clothing/fashion stuff too, my youtube name is Bighairbiggerlashes . PeterG, that's fine. I registered during the middle of my teen angst days which explains the multiple x's .

Do you never analyze your analytics? You don't have to keep track of this stuff yourself, just login to your account and hit the analytics button. All kinds of graphs come up that chart the popularity of your videos over time. The "traffic referrers" section can let you know exactly what is happening as far as where your views are coming from (links from websites, embeds on sites like facebook, youtube featured video views, etc.). That's a huge loss of revenue you've had - if I were you, I'd be figuring out why. Some of it is definitely out of your control, but not all of it is.

A four figure a month income in YouTube is incredibly impressive... even half of that as you say you have now... still wonderful. So, congrats.

I only check every once in a while since I'm glad to be making any money from quick videos that I do at home, even if it's a smaller amount. I just looked after reading your post and think I have it figured out. I have two videos that have significantly more views than my other ones. I remember one of them getting 20k views one month, but for April it only had 8k. The other one is about the same, so I suppose that's where my loss is coming from. Your post was very helpful; I'll have to start keeping a closer eye on my analytics .

[PeterG]

PeterG, that's fine. I registered during the middle of my teen angst days which explains the multiple x's .

xxxooo

I have two videos that have significantly more views than my other ones. I remember one of them getting 20k views one month, but for April it only had 8k.

So am I right in assuming that videos that gets lots of views are the "Youtube Recommendations" videos? Is that random...or does youtube recommend new videos that are getting a lot of hits? (Have no idea how recommendations come about...)