To grow its advertising business, YouTube / Youtituve will start showing adverts on channels that won’t share in the profits.
The YouTube terms of service were updated on November 18 to include a new clause that states users authorize the service “the right to monetize your Content on the Service (and such monetization may include displaying ads on or within Content or charging users an access fee).” According to the most recent TOS, the agreement “does not entitle you to any payments,” nonetheless.
This new clause was added at the same time that YouTube announced that starting today, “we’ll begin slowly rolling out ads on a limited number of videos from channels not in YPP,” referring to the venerable YouTube Partner Program, which enables eligible channels to monetize their content by receiving a cut of revenue from ads placed against their videos.
“You may see ads on some of your videos,” the video platform warned producers who are not a part of the YouTube Partner Program. You will not receive a portion of the revenue from this advertising because you are not presently a member of YPP. Still, you can do so once you have satisfied the eligibility conditions.
Additionally, as of November 18, 2020, payments made by YouTube to American producers would be regarded as “royals” for tax purposes, according to the company’s amended terms of service. With that modification, some producers might be asked to provide tax information in Google’s AdSense and might be liable to U.S. withholding taxes if necessary, according to YouTube.
For the most part, YouTube claims that “U.S. creators will generally be unaffected by these withholding taxes as long as they provide valid documentation.” YouTube promised to offer further details about the transition to payouts as royalties for creators outside of the United States in 2021.
Another revision to YouTube’s terms of service clarifies that users may not “collect or harvest” any face data that could be used to identify a specific person.
According to earlier versions of its terms of service, YouTube has never permitted collecting personally identifiable information (including information that can be used for facial recognition). Still, the company wants to include language around facial data to be even more apparent. We take user privacy seriously and want you to have peace of mind knowing that your information is never misused.
On December 10, 2019, YouTube last modified its terms of service. More minor changes were made in that update, such as adding instructions on deleting your account and providing more information about terminating its user agreement with “bad actors”.
