YouTube Ads have been removed from so many videos.

zeke morgan

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Dec 8, 2015
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If you videos are showing a yellow outlined symbol than it would mean that - "videos are still eligible to earn money in YouTube Red, but will have limited or no ads because the video has been classified as either not suitable for all advertisers, or has been fully demonetized because we believe it doesn’t meet our advertising guidelines."
 
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Marsh2907

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Dec 3, 2015
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In my video manager, I just noticed that there are 15 pages worth of videos with "limited or no ads". Most of them are horror games. So that's stupid. This may have been the reason why I've been receiving only around $1 lately.

Sorry to hear about that. Unfortunately as Zeke mentioned in the above post. Due to the changes with advertising guidelines some YouTube channel have been hit very hard. I'm not sure what you could do apart from reading the new guidelines and changing the way you present your content. :/
 

Viorel

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Aug 5, 2017
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In my video manager, I just noticed that there are 15 pages worth of videos with "limited or no ads". Most of them are horror games. So that's stupid. This may have been the reason why I've been receiving only around $1 lately.
That sucks...I don't get it...it's just a horror game...wtf!?
 

Fluffy

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Jan 25, 2014
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FluffysGames
some YouTube channel have been hit very hard.

Yep, same here. Just noticed last night that YouTube (finally) got around to hitting my channel. Over 300 videos flagged as such.

I'm not sure what you could do apart from reading the new guidelines and changing the way you present your content. :/

I don't think there's much I can do, seeing as YouTube's guidelines are vague, unhelpful, and don't provide a specific reason as for why a particular video was flagged. Reasons include:
  • "sexually suggestive" - doesn't pertain to any of my videos, really (video game/gameplay).
  • "bad language" - I don't do commentary, so it can't be me. Also, very few of the games I've done playthroughs for contain any profanity at all - only one that comes to mind is Unreal Tournament III. Problem is, I've had numerous videos from various games flagged, so this isn't realistic.
  • "controversial" - well I guess the abhorrence for video games with any degree of violence has escalated significantly over the last few years.
That aside, I'm not really in any position (or mood) to replay, re-record, re-process, re-upload hundreds of videos - thousands of hours of work - especially on the off-chance they'd just get flagged again anyway.

Looks like gameplay is simply no longer ad-friendly on YouTube.
 

Indurok

Dragon
Freedom! Member
That sucks...I don't get it...it's just a horror game...wtf!?
Actually, I looked at how many pages of horror games I had uploaded, and it turns out that there are a lot of horror games that are monetized. I mean, I may have actually been wrong about
Yep, same here. Just noticed last night that YouTube (finally) got around to hitting my channel. Over 300 videos flagged as such.



I don't think there's much I can do, seeing as YouTube's guidelines are vague, unhelpful, and don't provide a specific reason as for why a particular video was flagged. Reasons include:
  • "sexually suggestive" - doesn't pertain to any of my videos, really (video game/gameplay).
  • "bad language" - I don't do commentary, so it can't be me. Also, very few of the games I've done playthroughs for contain any profanity at all - only one that comes to mind is Unreal Tournament III. Problem is, I've had numerous videos from various games flagged, so this isn't realistic.
  • "controversial" - well I guess the abhorrence for video games with any degree of violence has escalated significantly over the last few years.
That aside, I'm not really in any position (or mood) to replay, re-record, re-process, re-upload hundreds of videos - thousands of hours of work - especially on the off-chance they'd just get flagged again anyway.

Looks like gameplay is simply no longer ad-friendly on YouTube.
Have you tried requesting a manual review on the monetization section of the editing page? I've been doing that with a bunch of videos, and recently had one of them made suitable for advertisers. A game with shooting in it called "Shoot Your Nightmare: Chapter 1". Didn't actually expect a game like that to get approved.
 

Fluffy

Respected User
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Jan 25, 2014
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FluffysGames
Have you tried requesting a manual review on the monetization section of the editing page? I've been doing that with a bunch of videos, and recently had one of them made suitable for advertisers. A game with shooting in it called "Shoot Your Nightmare: Chapter 1". Didn't actually expect a game like that to get approved.

I haven't bothered, nor do I really have any interest in doing so.

First - I clicked the button out of curiosity, and was given a message they wouldn't consider any video with <1k views*. Given this, I am just going to completely ignore trying to request manual reviews. 1k+ views? I don't get that on any one of my videos in any given month. There's no way they'll waste their time with a brand-new video with <10 views.

*EDIT/CORRECTION: It's 1k views in the last 7 days.

Second - I cannot reasonably do this for over 300 videos - keeping track of which ones I have/have not requested review for would be an astronomical chore. And I doubt I've seen the end of it - for all I know, they only flagged the first few hundred. Many more may very well be flagged in the future.

Managing projects - planning, recording, processing, compressing, uploading, updating titles/descriptions/tags, managing playlists, scheduled publishing - this is all a full-time job as it is. I cannot take on another aspect of maintaining my videos. I simply do not have the time or the resources. Especially not one with no guarantee of positive results.

What little I was making before this occurrence was barely enough to justify continuing to do this. Even after YouTube and Freedom took their cut, what I made afterwards wasn't enough to offset the cost of producing the content. Not even by half. But I was happy to fund this as a hobby, to bring some small bit of entertainment to others. With this occurrence, however, I cannot find much justification to continue content production, nor combat YouTube's decision. Why put up a struggle? I was already incurring a loss. It's not worth the considerable amount of time and effort I'd have to put into combating this decision, just for the small amount I would make back (again, already a loss). I could just as easily call it quits and save my money in the first place.

And, unfortunately, that is looking like the decision that is to be made.
 
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TwilightPrinze

The Flying Dutchman
Community Team!
Freedom! Member
In my video manager, I just noticed that there are 15 pages worth of videos with "limited or no ads". Most of them are horror games. So that's stupid. This may have been the reason why I've been receiving only around $1 lately.
Youtube changed their monetize option indeed. Read a blog about it awhile ago
 

AFKPlays

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Sep 19, 2016
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AFK_YT
In my video manager, I just noticed that there are 15 pages worth of videos with "limited or no ads". Most of them are horror games. So that's stupid. This may have been the reason why I've been receiving only around $1 lately.
Looks like I wasn't the only one....My horror and violent games have been hit too....this is getting crazy! :D And they're not ready to take reviews on videos less than 1k views a week! :)/ GG YT!
 

Taher Mahmood

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Aug 3, 2017
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WoW 15 Pages that's a lot of vids. I feel you pain.
I was pulling my hair on 11 videos, as a small channel getting 1000 views in 7 days on each video to have them reviewed is impossible.
I hope it was some sort of bug and they fix it. As i see a lot of people saying they have been effected with this.
 

SonicR360

New User
Jun 3, 2015
9
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Hampshire, UK
YouTube
Seems I have been caught out too! And like most people, my views are under (well and truly under) 1k views in a week.
Off of my videos are COD Zombies - But they even flagged my Drone video as well (Unboxing and testing).

So not really sure what is going to happen now. I only became aware tonight, due to having other issues it clearly was overlooked!

Over 500 videos so far - Even including my "Lego Christmas Calendar videos"!! Strange!
 

SonicR360

New User
Jun 3, 2015
9
1
Hampshire, UK
YouTube
This is crazy, how do the expect people to grow and help them with there revenue!
That is just one of many questions I put to Freedom, but it seems at the time, it is simply a "YouTube" thing. I would say that unless content is changed, it could spell the end for some smaller channels wanting to get big. But it is funny, how many large YT people (who use bad language alot), seem to not look like they are affected.

I guess time will tell. Right now, not sure what the answer is..... apart from no longer do Zombie gameplay videos.
 

MrSpecies7

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Jan 29, 2015
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Horror games are one thing , I am cool with them but they could strike a cord with a sensitive AI....but I have Farming Simulator games being demonetized due to the title being "Map Review of Russian Strip map for Farming Simulator 17". Pretty risque stuff there. Or Minecraft with a title of "Ghast fights and short flights".
Someone needs to give YouTube a reality check and debuff that AI
Some of the videos being hit are just as you folks say ,just not going to get 1000 views anymore. That is perhaps the more questionable part of the practice. I can believe that this out of control adpocalypse is causing lots of feedback to YouTube and overtaxing the system. So they suggest what amounts to the ones with the big money get a chance and screw the rest of you.
And no , Freedom is not going to help us here.They may have George brag about the millions of views across the Freedom network but as always the reality is we stand alone.
 

SonicR360

New User
Jun 3, 2015
9
1
Hampshire, UK
YouTube
Horror games are one thing , I am cool with them but they could strike a cord with a sensitive AI....but I have Farming Simulator games being demonetized due to the title being "Map Review of Russian Strip map for Farming Simulator 17". Pretty risque stuff there. Or Minecraft with a title of "Ghast fights and short flights".
Someone needs to give YouTube a reality check and debuff that AI
Some of the videos being hit are just as you folks say ,just not going to get 1000 views anymore. That is perhaps the more questionable part of the practice. I can believe that this out of control adpocalypse is causing lots of feedback to YouTube and overtaxing the system. So they suggest what amounts to the ones with the big money get a chance and screw the rest of you.
And no , Freedom is not going to help us here.They may have George brag about the millions of views across the Freedom network but as always the reality is we stand alone.

Well I did get a reply...... which really was not worth bothering to mention! And if this 1000 views a week is a limit imposed by YouTube, then its the smaller guys that suffer.

I am sure in time, people will start posting videos about this.