YouTube tackling creator monetisation issues new pilot scheme

In a bid to claw back lost ground after an exodus of major advertisers last year, YouTube is piloting a new video upload flow to help facilitate monetisation on the platform.

Self certification will allow YouTube content creators to provide specific information about what's in their video as it relates to the advertiser-friendly guidelines.

"In an ideal world, we'll eventually get to a state where creators across the platform are able to accurately represent what's in their videos so that their insights, combined with those of our algorithmic classifiers and human reviewers, will make the monetisation process much smoother with fewer false positive demonetisations," said YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki in a blog post.

Since the PewDiePie fiasco last year, coupled with the more recent Logan Paul controversy and subsequent fallout, YouTube is attempting to protect monetisation options for smaller channels.

Considering the new monetisation criteria introduced in February this year, Wojcicki conceded it was frustrating for many smaller channels, but noted that it has "strengthened advertiser confidence".

Content creators will also soon able to sign up to the sponsorship program which began piloting in September last year, with many sponsored creators seeing "substantial increases in their overall YouTube revenue".

YouTube has also stated its intention to address abuses on the platform, particularly from comments and spam.

Since introducing new comment moderation tools, YouTube has seen a 75 per cent drop in the number of flagged comments on channels where it has been enabled.

"One of the biggest challenges we face is balancing the freedom of expression with our responsibility as a community," said Wojcicki. "We value the incredible diversity of voices on our platform and want to focus our policy changes on where we believe there can be real harm."