Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) YouTube is hoping to weed out rogue channels which violate its contents policies by making it more difficult for them to earn money.
New rule regarding ad revenue
The company introduced the new rule on Thursday last week. It requires creators to maintain a minimum of 10,000 views in a lifetime before one is able to qualify for a share of ad income from the site.
YouTube said that it is looking to reduce the number of channels that steal content from other individuals or companies. This is a measure to rack up video views which they can use to earn revenue through the site’s partner program. YouTube provides developers with a 55% share of the ad income from the pre-roll ads featuring in their videos.
Responding to complaints on bad behavior online
The online video service has been seeking to curb bad behavior on its site through introduction of a tool which users can use to report channels which impersonate other accounts or people. By Thursday, April 6, 2017, hundreds of violators had already being removed from the site.
YouTube indicates that the 10,000 view benchmark enables the company to establish if a channel is going against the community guidelines as well as advertiser policies.
It had been receiving complaints from many advertisers who expressed their displeasure when their ads were being played alongside the questionable content. YouTube has also experienced significant complaints for displaying ads alongside videos containing questionable content.
Google apologized to the partners and adapted its policies. Some popular brands including The Coca-Cola Co (NYSE:KO), Wal-Mart Stores Inc (NYSE:WMT) and PepsiCo, Inc. (NYSE:PEP) went ahead and pulled their ads.
Developing the new policy
In coming up with the new policy, Google put into account the minimum page view threshold likely to discourage fakes from participating in the site. Through maintaining the threshold at 10,000 views, the company hopes to maintain minimum impact on future creators.
The company also added that channels with less than 10,000 views will be in a position to keep the income they earned before the changes took effect. The company added that it will include a new review process for its Partners Program.
Alphabet Inc closed its day at $845.09 shedding 0.45% in yesterday’s trading session.
