Youtube daily Sep 24 2018

- It is, without doubt, one of the most popular questions

we get asked here at vidIQ.

When it comes to monetization,

what does 4,000 hours of watchtime actually mean?

Once more from the top.

- [Man] vidIQ. - [Woman] vidIQ.

- [Man] vidIQ.com.

- If you don't believe me,

this is how often we get asked that question.

Hello, everybody, welcome to vidIQ.

My name is Rob.

It is so good to see you here.

If it is your first time

in these glorious YouTube surroundings,

we are the YouTube tool and channel

that aims to help you get more views in less time

by educating you on (bell chimes)

your YouTube journey.

And we know a lot of you in the vidIQ community are aiming

for that that 1,000 subscribers

and 4,000 hours of watchtime

to monetize your content in the YouTube Partner Program.

But some of you are still a little unclear

about what 4,000 hours of watchtime means,

so let's go through the frequently asked questions.

Let's start with the most basic question of them all.

What are the requirements

for the YouTube Partner Program,

or essentially how to monetize my content on YouTube?

There are two basic requirements,

and we'll start with the easiest one first,

subscribers.

You need 1,000 subscribers. (bell chimes)

And that's a flat 1,000 subscribers,

not 1,000 subscribers in the last 12 months,

just 1,000 subscribers.

Now, if you need help getting to 1,000 subscribers,

we've put together a lovely video that's on the screen now

and an interactive card in the top right hand corner.

Click there if you want to watch it.

Next up is watch time, and this is the one

that most people get confused about,

so pay close attention.

You need 4,000 hours (bell chimes)

of watch time in the last 12 months.

What does the last 12 months mean?

Well, let's say it's January 1st.

YouTube will count all of the watchtime on your channel

dating back to January 2nd of the previous year.

Then when the date moves forward to January 2nd,

it counts the dates all the way back to January 3rd.

So it effectively counts the last 365 days worth

of watchtime on your channel.

This is why your watchtime may actually go down

as you're trying to achieve 4,000 hours of watchtime.

As an example, this channel had a big spike in watchtime

almost 12 months ago.

And then as time moves forward,

they lose that spike in watchtime.

The channel hasn't performed as well,

so they have less watchtime over the last 12 months.

So remember that folks.

It's not the total watchtime on your channel,

it's the watchtime over the last 12 months.

Which leads us on to the next question.

What actually counts as watchtime?

The answer to this one is a little complicated.

(bell rings)

Almost everything counts.

Livestream videos do count towards watchtime,

as do unlisted videos.

However, videos watched when they are private

do not count to watchtime.

Also note that if you delete any videos,

whether or not they were public,

unlisted, livestreams,

or private none of that watchtime

will count towards your goals,

so don't delete videos unless you really have to.

Oh, and one more thing.

It doesn't matter when the video was published.

It can be more than 12 months old,

but the watchtime gained in the last 12 months

counts toward your target.

So now you know how much watchtime you need,

and what counts.

The next question is how can you track it.

And there is one very simple way to do this,

and that is through vidIQ.

If you have a vidIQ Chrome extension installed,

you will find this realtime stats bar

at the top of every single YouTube page

on your desktop layout.

This shows you your channel analytics in real time,

but here's where the magic happens.

If your channel has less than 4,000 hours of watchtime

in the last 12 months,

it automatically adds a new analytic to the left,

which is your monetization analytics target.

In this example,

the channel has 3,100 hours of watchtime

in the last 12 months.

You can also quickly see the number of subscribers

you have on your channel as well

on the right-hand side of the realtime stats bar.

But we're not finished there

because if you mouse over the graph button to the right,

this will show you a full breakdown

of your channel including the watchtime

over the last 12 months at the very top of these charts.

You'll also see percentage progress bar

on the right-hand side telling you exactly how close

you are to hitting 4,000 hours of watchtime.

Oh, and one more thing.

When you're under 4,000 hours of watchtime,

this analytic will remain amber.

Once you surpass 4,000 hours of watchtime,

congratulations.

You hit the target.

When you surpass 5,000 hours of watchtime,

this analytic removes itself from the realtime stats bar

as you no longer need it.

And since we understand that this a goal

to monetize your content,

this realtime stats bar is completely free

as part of the vidIQ Chrome extension.

It is a no-brainer.

Download it right now.

However, if you want to do it

via long, boring YouTube way,

this is how.

In the classic YouTube creator studio analytics,

go to watchtime and then click on the settings cog

in the top right-hand corner

and change the unit for measurement watchtime

from minutes to hours.

Next, go the top right-hand corner again

and change the timeframe from last 28 days

to last 365 days.

And that is your watchtime on YouTube

over the last 12 months.

And of course, if you are working towards

4,000 hours of watchtime,

we put together a lovely little video

with lots of fantastic tips.

Link onscreen right now.

Check it out.

Alright, let's now say you have 1,000 subscribers

and 4,000 hours of watchtime in the last 12 months.

Congratulations.

How do you actually apply for monetization?

Your destination for this starts

on the channel section of the youtube Creator Studio

under the heading status and features.

Now this screen tells you lots of wonderful things

about what tools you get with YouTube

including livestreaming and making longer videos,

but what you're interested in today is the monetization box.

It will likely look a little different to you

maybe with a red strip along the bottom

and the words disabled or needs to be enabled.

Whatever status it is,

click on it and it should take you

to this monetization review screen.

You'll want to look at step four

because this shows you your progress

to 4,000 hours and 1,000 subscribers

officially from YouTube.

Once you've done that,

you'll notice that there are other steps you need

to go through before applying

for the YouTube Partner Program or monetization.

These include reading and agreeing

to the terms of the YouTube Partner Program.

Signing up to AdSense.

This is how YouTube will pay you for your adverts

on your video content.

And setting of your monetization preferences.

So even if you don't meet the monetization requirements,

now is a perfect time to get your channel

set up and ready for when you are monetized.

Another key thing to remember is that

when you reach 4,000 hours of watchtime

and 1,000 subscribers,

you're not automatically enrolled into the Partner Program.

The content you create must follow community guidelines,

Partner Program policies,

YouTube terms of service,

and Google AdSense program policies.

There is loads of information about this

on the YouTube support pages.

Links in the video description.

And this raises another question

that a lot of you have been asking.

Does having a community strike or copyright strike

on my channel impact my chances of being accepted

into the YouTube Partner Program?

I'm afraid there is no black and white answer to this.

Whenever I research this topic,

the answer from YouTube always seems to be,

"It may effect monetization."

Remember, the premise of the YouTube Partner Program

is to put adverts on your video content.

If the advertisers aren't comfortable with the content

you are showing on your channel,

that's going to make YouTube think twice

about accepting you into the program.

Use your common sense.

Now if your channel is clean as a whistle,

and you meet the requirements,

how long does it take to be accepted

into the Partner Program once you apply?

When YouTube first moved

to the new Partner Program requirements,

they rather ambitiously stated that you

would usually get an answer within a week.

However by the middle of Summer,

the backlog was so huge it was taking

at least a month for most channels.

But they have caught up somewhat from that huge backlog.

I would say a conservative estimate is

to expect an answer within two weeks

if your channel is fine.

If you still haven't heard anything

from YouTube within a month,

then you're likely to get a further message saying

that your channel needs further investigation

and is under review.

We'll talk more about that a little later.

Because before that, I want to address this question.

If you are in the Partner Program,

and your content is monetized,

but then you fall below the 4,000 hours threshold,

does that mean your channel is removed

from the Partner Program?

YouTube have a very specific answer on this.

Channels that previously reached

the new eligibility thresholds

for the YouTube Partner Program

and were reviewed and approved to monetize

will not lose monetization just because

they drop below 4,000 watchtime hours

in the previous 12 months or 1,000 subscribers.

YouTube does however reserve the right,

as its discretion,

to remove monetization from channels

who drop below the new eligibility thresholds

if their channel is inactive and not uploading

or posting community posts for six months or more.

Channels will lose monetization if they violate any

of the YouTube Partner Program policies

regardless of their watchtime hours and subscriber counts.

In a word,

boom.

Alright, let's say you apply for the Partner Program.

You got an email back from YouTube saying

that your channel is under review,

and you've not heard anything back for months.

- [Video] We still see in the comments here people saying,

"Hey, I still haven't heard yet.

"I've been waiting for many months."

You know, just be aware that if you're

not staying within community guidelines

or not brand appropriate,

even if we haven't gotten back to you,

it should be pretty clear that kind of stuff

is not gonna get approved.

- That information comes directly from

the creator insider YouTube team.

They promise to have an update on this very soon.

In the meantime, we did a video all about this topic.

There's a link on screen right now.

Now I know firsthand from reading all

of the comments from you here at the vidIQ community

every single day that we have hundreds of channels

in that under review situation.

And they can't understand why.

Unfortunately we can't review individual channels

here at vidIQ.

We are not the kingmakers,

but hopefully you should have an answer from YouTube soon.

They are due to do an update as I say.

And as soon as we have more information,

we'll be publishing a video on that topic.

Join us here for that one.

As for the topic of 4,000 hours of watchtime,

I do hope I've been able to answer

every single question in this video.

If I haven't let us know in the comments below.

And let us know where you are

on the 4K journey to monetization.

We've got a voting poll up here.

If you want more fantastic YouTube tips and tricks

from vidIQ, we've got a big playlist here.

And if you want to know more about

all of the tools we have here at vidIQ,

there's another playlist down there.

Thank you very much for watching.

Enjoy the rest of your video-making day.

And we'll see you on those videos right now.