FocusPositives

I received my first YouTube demonetized video notification. It seems YouTube has an automated system that goes through new videos to check for content that is not suitable for most advertisers. I am 100% sure I didn’t have any inappropriate content. So I clicked the “Review Request” button next to my video. Shortly after the message show up in the “Monetization” tab within my video.

YouTube Video Demonetized to Monetized Experiment Results

I didn’t think my video view would reach 1,000 in the near future so I decided to do an experiment. I wanted to see if I can correct the cause of demonetization on this YouTube video.

You can see what I did in the following video to try to correct the problem. I uploaded this YouTube video on February 1, 2018 at 4:25 PM.

The next day I took the screen shot of my video manager below on 2018-02-02 at 12.42.12 PM. Unlike the Original Demonetized Video the Edited Video stayed monetized, which means the experiment was successful! Blurring a suspected culprit and re-uploading the video did the trick.

Conclusion: YouTube’s Automated Video Screening System is Super Sensitive

I didn’t expect YouTube to actually review my video because of the 1,000 views threshold. However, YouTube did review the Original Demonetized Video and re-monetized my Original Demonetized Video after finding no fault of mine.

Everything was too smooth to be true. My Experimental Video, “Youtube Video Demonetized to Monetized Experiment (2018)”, was demonetized the next day after upload. The reason I made this Experimental Video was because I thought I wouldn’t get any help from YouTube any time soon, so I took matters in my own hands. My Experimental Video content was simple. It was my honest attempt to find and fix the cause of demonetization on my YouTube video and record the process. Unless YouTube doesn’t like any topics related to Monetization and Demonetization, I don’t see what is wrong with the content of the Experimental Video.

So my conclusion is YouTube’s automated video screening system is super nit picky about subject matters and images in your videos. Response time from YouTube Support is varied. You could get a fast response after you ask for a “Review Request” or you will have to wait a while until you reach the 1,000 video view threshold. It’s uncertain for me since my first video was corrected very quickly in less then a day but for the second demonetized video I have not received a response or seen any correction in more then a days wait. I will post an update when I do (or don’t) get a response.

Update February 4, 2018 at 4:30 PM:

On Friday, February 2, 2018 my Experimental Video was demonetized. Two days later it is back to monetized. Once again this experiment confirms, if you didn’t violate any terms or policies, YouTube Support will check your video manually by a live person. It can range from a few hours to a few days before the matter can be resolve. Fortunately you do not have to reach the 1,000 view threshold for YouTube Support to kick in. This 1,000 view threshold was another kick in the face when I read it. I am happy to know YouTube is helping small creators even though their threshold message can drive small creators nuts. Hang in there, just hit the “Review Request” button and wait it out.

Hi friends, welcome! The sole purpose of my blog and channel is to keep things fun and positive. My topics are diverse and come from my daily life. At the core all topics have one common goal, “obstacles are opportunities.”

First Time Contacting YouTube Creator Support is Confusing!

Today my mini obstacle is to “Send an Email to YouTube Creator Support”.

I received the YouTube notice about loosing my YouTube Partner Program Status. Immediately I wrote a two page complaint email to YouTube expressing my dissatisfaction with the new YouTube Partner Program Threshold. I hit the “reply” button. My email bounced right back with delivery failed status! I couldn’t believe I can’t even vent. My feelings were frustration and confusion. It took a few days but my steam eventually cooled off.

With big changes in the YouTube Partner Program Threshold small creators deserve and need answers to our questions! I tried harder to find an email contact for the YouTube Creator Support. I followed YouTube Help’s directions to get connect to a YouTube Creator Support representative. But the directions given were not accurate and did not lead me to a contact email. The inaccuracies led to more research and confusion. I am guessing they don’t want to make it easy for us to reach them.

Where’s the YouTube Creator Support “Email” option?

It took me a while to finally stumble upon the email contact form. I am sure other small creators will have a mutual need to ask questions. So I thought I’d share my findings with fellow small creators. With an YouTube Creator Support email form at your disposal, you can vent or scream at them all you want. Maybe even try to squeeze the last bit of information from them so you can reach the new 2018 threshold. Whichever you prefer. It took way more effort then necessary to find their “Email” option. I hope this video can spare you the headaches, time and hoops I had to jump through to find their email form.

Keep creating and fighting for your dreams!  Hit that subscribe button to super charge my motivation. Your support is what keeps me going. Thanks and see you around.

I have been playing with videos and wanted to explore the Monetization feature in Youtube. I am in the United States but Youtube gave me this message when I tried to activate the Monetization feature, “This feature is currently not available in your country”. The most common mistake is setting the country to the default, “Afghanistan”, which was my mistake. If you are in the same situation, you can resolve this in 3 simple steps.

Side note for those not in the US:
If you are in another country and want to apply for partnership, you’ll have a hard time finding the application form. It took me a good hour to find and it turns out that was not my issue. At least I hope this information will help someone. Here’s the link to the form, Youtube partnership application form. Good thing I had it in my records because I couldn’t find it again.

Error message from Youtube when trying to activate Monetization @USA

Step 1:

To change your country, click “Video Manager” in Youtube account. Click “Advanced” and select “United States” from the drop down menu and hit “Save”.

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Step 2:

To enable monetization, click on “Channel Settings”. Select “Features” and you should see the “Enable” button available, while before it was not.

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Step 3:

Confirm by clicking the “Enable My Account” button.

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I did a quick search and decided to use the Image Watermark plugin. For those who are new to watermarking images like me, I’ll give some quick tip to avoid the mistakes I made. You can use other plugins if you’d like. Image Watermark is just what I used. In general the tips should still apply.

TIPS:

• Go directly into your WordPress Dashboard.
  • Click on ‘Plugins’ > Add New > enter ‘Image Watermark’ in the search field > click search button > click ‘Install’ button next to the Image Watermark Plugin
• Create your watermark:
  • In an image editor, create different versions of your watermark with a transparent background.
  • Versions in white for black photos, black for white photos or color for dull photos.
  • Bulkier text with letter spacing for better readability.
  • Time saver, add enough padding around your watermark image to give preset padding so you will not have to fiddle with the ‘Watermark offset’ setting each time you watermark a photo.
  • Time saver, set opacity to a lesser % and reapply for darker contrast. For example, set watermark at 30% opacity > apply, if too light > reapply, the watermark would be darker at 60% opacity.

• Upload watermarks to your Media Library and TEST before applying to ALL your photos at once!!!

Play with the size, color, opacity and position until you like it.

MY BOO BOO YOUR WARNING:

Of course I could have add the watermark to each image one by one, but who could wait, first thing after I uploaded my watermark I applied it to all my photos. I am hitting myself right now…snif… I have to go back and redo all my photos again 🙁

Although it’s very tempting and logical to apply your watermark to all your photo at once. It would be wise to test the size, color, opacity and position on a few throwaway images first to find the right setting before applying it to every photo. There’s no preview before you apply your watermark. Once you’ve applied it you can not remove it! You’ll have start the process of uploading ALL the photo on your blog (assuming you still have them) and watermark each photo again.