New YouTube guidelines will bar inauthentic videos from earning ad revenue

Starting July 15, YouTube will begin enforcing updated Partner Program (YPP) monetization policies that remove “inauthentic” content. Such content will no longer earn revenue.

In the latest YouTube update, published on YouTube’s Help Center, inauthentic content is described in the update as “mass-produced and repetitious.”

YouTube is currently preparing the text for the new updates to its guidelines. The detailed guidelines will provide more context and clarify which videos are eligible for monetization and which are not.

YouTubers feared the update would demonetize videos that reuse clips, such as reaction videos. However, Rene Ritchie, YouTube’s Head of Editorial and Creator Liaison, clarified that reaction videos and similar content will remain monetized.

Ritchie published a 32-second video on YouTube and said that “This is a minor update to YouTube’s long-standing YPP policies to help better identify when content is mass-produced or repetitive.” He stated that this type of content has been ineligible for monetization for years and that users consider it spam.

AI generated videos flood YouTube

The terms “inauthentic” and “mass-produced” could refer to AI generated videos. According to data from Zebracat, a staggering 42 percent of YouTube Shorts are now created with at least some AI assistance. 

Recent data showed that YouTube sees about 360 hours of new content uploaded every minute. This is equivalent to roughly 2.6 million videos per day, or 946 million videos per year. That suggests around 400 million AI-aided videos rolled out over the past year alone, even though Shorts represent only part of the platform.

Thanks to text-to-video AI tools, users often hear AI-generated voice-overs layered over photos, video clips, and other repurposed content. Some channels showcasing AI-generated music have millions of subscribers, while others posting fabricated AI-generated videos on news events have racked up millions of views.

YouTube’s advertising revenue totaled $31.7 billion in 2023. According to YPP, creators receive 55 percent of ad revenue. This means around $17.4 billion went straight to creators. YouTube ad revenues continued to grow in 2024. The grew by 13.8 percent, translating to $36.15 billion. Creators received around $19.9 billion.

YouTube is committing hundreds of millions of dollars in creator earnings to truly original content. By removing AI-slop and repetitive content from the YPP, the platform maintains advertiser trust. At the same time, this move protects the livelihoods of genuine creators.

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