Anyone with a device capable of recording video and an internet connection can join the YouTube Partner Program and earn money through integrated advertising. However, many people look for vulnerabilities in the system and create channels using other people's content. In an attempt to filter out these elements, YouTube decided to implement a buffer of 10,000 views before enabling monetization on a channel.
YouTube is moving a real fortune, even though several reports still indicate that the platform loses money. It's striking that many YouTubers rely on external systems like Patreon or the Amazon affiliate program. Monetization on YouTube has always been controversial, almost as much as its terms of use, and every time a high-profile change is made, it's automatically analyzed letter by letter. This time, the official YouTube blog announced a monetization restriction for channels with fewer than 10,000 views.
The 10,000-View Threshold
According to the announcement, this new threshold gives YouTube enough information to determine whether a channel is legitimate or not. Some users try to exploit the ad mechanism by creating twin channels or duplicating videos. Sooner or later those channels are discovered, but the plan here is to reduce the impact and intercept them as early as possible. At the same time, YouTube will be able to apply community guidelines and advertiser policies more precisely (which caused so much noise at the time).
On the other hand, the 10,000-view buffer shouldn't be so large as to discourage independent creators from joining the program.
What It Means for Creators
Logically, everything will depend on how well YouTube does its job. If we go by past incidents, the potential for making mistakes is quite large, even though the idea of combating channels that steal content is reasonable. Regarding money, this 'pass' of 10,000 views doesn't seem so critical, but I'd still like to hear YouTubers' opinions on the matter.
