YouTube says channels of all sizes may now see ads on them, though only creators big enough to qualify for its Partner Program will be paid any ad revenue
The VergeJulia Alexander
Context & Ripple Effects
This move completes a decade-long tightening of how YouTube controls monetization. In 2017 it forced accounts linking out to Patreon or merchandise sites into the Partner Program, and by 2018 even non-skippable ads were being extended across the program — each step widening what YouTube can sell against while keeping payout eligibility narrow.
What changes now is the direction of that lever: instead of pulling more creators into the program, YouTube is putting ads on everyone's videos and paying only those who qualify. The program has been growing fast anyway — 2M creators as of 2021, on the way to 3M+ channels by early 2024 — so the unpaid remainder is still enormous.
First-order effects
Small and mid-size channels outside the Partner Program now host ads with zero revenue share — their content becomes free inventory for YouTube's ad sales.
Viewers encounter ads on channels they may have assumed were ad-free, with no way for the creator to opt out or be compensated.
Second-order effects
The gap between 'has ads' and 'gets paid' becomes a recruiting funnel: creators near the eligibility threshold have a new incentive to push for Partner Program status, feeding the program's growth from 2M toward 3M+ channels.
Advertisers get a much larger addressable catalog including long-tail channels, which pressures inventory pricing at the margins and makes YouTube's ad product harder for rivals to match on reach alone.
Third-order effects
If the pattern holds, ad delivery and creator payment become fully decoupled structures: YouTube monetizes the entire catalog while the Partner Program functions as a selective benefits club — later moves like the 45% Shorts revenue split show the same gatekeeping logic extending to new formats.
The arrangement hands YouTube unilateral pricing power over unpaid creators' work, a structural grievance likely to keep pushing small creators toward direct-support platforms like Patreon rather than ad dependence.
The trend: YouTube is converting its full creator catalog into ad inventory while concentrating actual payouts inside an ever-growing but still exclusive Partner Program.
We can make money off your video even if you don't want ads — and if that's the case, we'll just keep 100% of the money. Seems like a good deal! (for YouTube) https://twitter.com/...
It's unacknowledged progress that we've gone from people needing to pay to host their own videos in the early 2000s to being mad that the company hosting your videos for free isn't paying you for the privilege. https://www.engadget.com/...
People are now PISSED about YouTube forcing ads. But how is this different than what all the other social networks have been doing all along? https://www.forbes.com/...
Filed under incredibly unsurprising and still disappointing: — YouTube Will Now Show Ads On All Videos Even If Creators Don't Want Them 🙄🙄🙄 https://www.forbes.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Wow... and as you can guess, it's not going over well -> YouTube will now run ads on some creator videos, but it won't give them any of the revenue because they're not big enough to be enrolled in its Partner Program https://www.theverge.com/... https://twitter.com/...
This is good news all around. The main takeaway here is YouTube's ad business is doing so well that they are able to run ads on videos for channels that aren't part of the YouTube Partner Program. 2020 has been a solid year for YouTube in general. Ad sales have been great. https:…
Oh hey @Youtube, this is a terrible idea. If we're not getting a cut of the ad rev, then don't put your advertising on the video. Simple. https://twitter.com/...
@Techmeme @loudmouthjulia Let's be clear... this is greedy. YouTube pulled the reports and saw the millions of creators not part of their program and said we need that money.
YouTube just announced that it will run ads even on non-Partner videos, and will not give creators a cut of the revenue. YouTube is a profoundly exploitative operation that needs to be broken up or unionized. https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
YouTube now quietly running ads on smaller channels and giving them nothing for it. For some reason I'm reminded of Google's old motto, “Don't be evil.” Disgusting, embarrassing stuff. https://twitter.com/...