YouTube’s new profanity policy lets you swear a little more

Good news for all the potty YouTubers out there. A new update introduced by the monetization policy team makes some important changes so you can swear more often in your uploads and still collect ad revenue.

Back in November, YouTube updated its Profanity Use and Violent Content Provisions. The change treated all swear words the same, from “ass” to “fuck” to “shit.” If any of these words appear in a thumbnail, title, or the first seven seconds, or are uttered “simultaneously,” the monetization of the video may be invalidated. However, things are a bit different now. YouTube’s head of monetization policy, Conor Kavanagh, broke down the latest changes in a recent video.

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Kavanagh detailed what YouTube is doing to address the feedback it has received regarding its “tougher approach” to profanity. He said the criticism was heard loud and clear, particularly regarding actions taken retrospectively against older uploads and how the content-creating community was not properly informed of the impact of the changes.

“In reviewing our own enforcement data, we found that the obscenity policy resulted in a stricter approach than we intended,” Kavanagh said. “As a result, we’re making the following changes to better reflect the goals of our first update in November.”

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YouTube will no longer treat all swear words equally

Profanity is no longer treated equally. “Moderate” swear words, as Kavanagh put it, like “asshole” and “douchebag” won’t affect monetization of your upload, regardless of where in the video they’re used. More difficult phrases like “fuck” used in the first seven seconds or repeated throughout the video may serve limited ads. Both instances would not have received any advertising revenue under the November update rules. Any YouTuber who swears after the first seven seconds, whether it’s moderate or harsher profanity, can still get ad revenue – unless the language (especially if it’s more difficult) appears “repeatedly throughout the video”. Uploads with sailor tongues in the thumbnail or title can also generate limited ad revenue, but the stricter the word, the less likely it is that you’ll be able to serve ads in your content. There are a few other tweaks that Kavanagh touched on that relate to how profanity is handled in the music, which essentially means that any songs you use with naughty words in the lyrics can still earn ad revenue, especially when used in the backing track.

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When a YouTube spokesperson asked for comment, he pointed it out kotaku To a blog post And help page further explanations of the changes. However, much of what was found there was discussed by Kavanagh.

These are worthwhile changes for a platform riddled with folks who love cursing a storm. Gaming developers are particularly at fault for their potty training for a variety of reasons, most notably the unpredictability of the language that comes with let’s plays and unscripted content. At least now there will be less severe penalties.