In November of 2022, YouTube made an important update to their advertiser-friendly guidelines, specifically around their profanity policy. This update triggered a lot of backlash from the community and caused many videos on YouTube to be flagged for limited to no ad revenue. YouTube has now introduced new updates to their profanity policy that addresses some of this feedback from the community. Continue reading to find out how these updates may impact your YouTube channel.

The biggest news from this update is that usage of moderate profanity, which includes words like bitch, douchebag, asshole, and shit, will no longer flag your video for limited monetization. These instances of moderate profanity can be used at any time in a YouTube video and will be eligible for full monetization.

Another part of this update includes usage of stronger profanity (like the f word) in the first 7 seconds, or repeated throughout the majority of the video, will now be eligible to receive limited ads, instead of no ads at all. Videos that contain moderate profanity, or stronger profanity after the first 7 seconds, will now be eligible for full monetization, unless used repetitively throughout the majority of the video.

It’s important to note that usage of any profanity at all in the video title or thumbnail will still receive limited to no ads.

If you had videos that were flagged for limited or no ads after the November 2022 update, YouTube will be re-reviewing all of those videos by March 10th and updating the status to fully monetized if the video adheres to the guidelines listed above.

As always, Quarterlab will provide guidance and support in these matters. Please reach out if you have any concerns or questions