Thanks to the built-in discoverability tools and ease of use, YouTube is a great way to build an audience for your brand. Unfortunately, it is not the best option for monetization due to a variety of restrictions.

YouTube reserves the right to demonetize channels if they’ve broken the community guidelines. This can pose some grave issues for businesses that rely on YouTube’s monetization as a source of income.

In this article, we’ll discuss how to navigate YouTube demonetization as a creator. We will discuss what YouTube demonetization is and why YouTube demonetizes some channels. From there, we will discuss what to do if your channel is demonetized.

Table of Contents

• What is YouTube Demonetization?
• Why Does YouTube Demonetize Videos?
• How to Navigate YouTube Demonetization
• Alternate Monetization Options
• Monetize with Maestro

What is YouTube Demonetization?

YouTube demonetization is what happens when YouTube takes monetization capabilities away from a creator. YouTube can demonetize specific videos or completely deactivate a channel. This happens when a creator breaks YouTube’s community guidelines.

Demonetization can be extremely frustrating for creators who have worked hard to get to the 1000 subscribers and 4000 watch hours they need to be monetized in the first place. It is even more frustrating for those who rely on YouTube as their primary source of income. 

Unfortunately, restrictions like demonetization are par for the course when it comes to free video sites like YouTube. These limitations make it difficult to effectively grow or scale a video business since everything you’ve worked for can be taken away in a snap.

Why Does YouTube Demonetize Videos?

As we mentioned, YouTube demonetizes videos that break community guidelines. Some common offenses that lead to demonetization on YouTube include:

• Offensive, hurtful, and discriminatory content  
• Content that promotes violence
• Displays of firearms
• Content that violates the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA)
• Use of excessive profanity (especially slurs)
• Adult content (nudity, sexually explicit content, gambling, etc.)
• Drug-related content (including illegal substances, controlled substances, and tobacco)

It’s also worth noting that YouTube can be a stickler for the rules, sometimes misinterpreting the rules to consider something an offense even if you don’t agree.

How to Navigate YouTube Demonetization

If your videos have been demonetized on YouTube, the best thing to do is to take a step back to look at the bigger picture so you can make an informed decision. 

Launching a streaming service on your own domain is one of the most practical ways to deal with YouTube demonetization. You can create your own YouTube-like experience on your own domain that is decked out with your own branding and any customizations you need to better serve your audience.

In order to do so, you’ll need to choose an online video platform (OVP). If you’re not familiar, an OVP is a technology that hosts and manages video experiences and allows you to create a streaming service. These are typically paid tools that offer a much more professional streaming experience than YouTube. 

Once you have chosen an online video platform, you’ll need to upload your videos and embed the experience in your website. This process looks a little different from platform to platform.

If you’re not ready to create a streaming platform of your own, you can switch over to Dailymotion, Twitch, or another free platform like YouTube. However, you’re likely to run into some of the same issues you’re experiencing with YouTube demonetization

Alternate Monetization Options

You can use several monetization options to make money with your streaming platform. Some of these monetization techniques include:

• Subscriptions: Charge viewers a subscription fee for unlimited access to your library of content; fees are often charged monthly or yearly
• Ticketing: Also knowns as pay-per-view (PPV) or transactional video on demand; allows viewers to pay for access to specific titles
• Live Selling: Also known as live commerce; involves selling items in live streams 
• Advertisements: Use an ad server to monetize your videos; secure brand partners for various sponsorship activations (such as product placements) 
• Tipping: Enable viewers to give tips of any amount to show appreciation for your work

We recommend using a mix of these techniques to create a strategy that makes sense for your audience and your unique goals.

Monetize with Maestro

Maestro offers a variety of monetization tools, including ticketing, subscriptions, live selling, tipping, and more. Access to all of these tools makes it easy to create and activate a monetization strategy that meets your needs.

In addition to flexible monetization, Maestro offers a totally white-label solution. That means that you can completely customize your branding to give your viewers an experience that looks and feels like you.

Sign up for Maestro to build your own streaming solution and take charge of your video monetization.

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