YouTube videos that contain profanity in the first seven seconds (words like “fuck”) are now eligible for full monetization, according to a video by Conor Kavanagh, YouTube’s head of monetization. Previously, such videos could only receive “limited ad revenue.”
Changes in YouTube’s policy on profanity have long been a sensitive issue for creators. In November 2022, the company began potentially limiting ad revenue if profanity is used in the first 8-15 seconds of a video. ProZD, whose real name is SongWon Cho, posted a video in which, after waiting 15 seconds, he called the policy change “the dumbest shit I’ve ever heard.” (He later reported that the video had been demonetized.) YouTube adjusted its policy in March 2023, including allowing videos with profanity in the first 8-15 seconds to receive ad revenue.
I asked ProZD what he thought about the changes that took place on Tuesday. “It’s about fucking time.”
The company initially limited the monetization of videos with profanity at the beginning of the videos to “comply with broadcasting standards,” Kavanagh says. “Advertisers expected that there would be a distance between profanity and the ad that was just shown in YouTube ads.” However, “those expectations have changed,” he says, “and advertisers now have the ability to target content according to their desired level of profanity.
While Kavanagh cites the word “fuck” as the only specific example of “strong” profanity, he says YouTube defines “moderate profanity” as words like “asshole” or “bitch” – “you get the idea,” he says.
YouTube will continue to limit monetization if you use moderate or strong profanity in your titles or thumbnails. Kavanagh says that videos with a “high frequency” of profanity are also a “violation” of YouTube’s advertiser-friendly content guidelines. “You have to pick and choose your swearing carefully.”
