- It is, without doubt, one of the most popular questions
we get asked here at vidIQ.
When it comes to monetization,
what does 4,000 hours of watchtime actually mean?
Once more from the top.
- [Man] vidIQ. - [Woman] vidIQ.
- [Man] vidIQ.com.
- If you don't believe me,
this is how often we get asked that question.
Hello, everybody, welcome to vidIQ.
My name is Rob.
It is so good to see you here.
If it is your first time
in these glorious YouTube surroundings,
we are the YouTube tool and channel
that aims to help you get more views in less time
by educating you on (bell chimes)
your YouTube journey.
And we know a lot of you in the vidIQ community are aiming
for that that 1,000 subscribers
and 4,000 hours of watchtime
to monetize your content in the YouTube Partner Program.
But some of you are still a little unclear
about what 4,000 hours of watchtime means,
so let's go through the frequently asked questions.
Let's start with the most basic question of them all.
What are the requirements
for the YouTube Partner Program,
or essentially how to monetize my content on YouTube?
There are two basic requirements,
and we'll start with the easiest one first,
subscribers.
You need 1,000 subscribers. (bell chimes)
And that's a flat 1,000 subscribers,
not 1,000 subscribers in the last 12 months,
just 1,000 subscribers.
Now, if you need help getting to 1,000 subscribers,
we've put together a lovely video that's on the screen now
and an interactive card in the top right hand corner.
Click there if you want to watch it.
Next up is watch time, and this is the one
that most people get confused about,
so pay close attention.
You need 4,000 hours (bell chimes)
of watch time in the last 12 months.
What does the last 12 months mean?
Well, let's say it's January 1st.
YouTube will count all of the watchtime on your channel
dating back to January 2nd of the previous year.
Then when the date moves forward to January 2nd,
it counts the dates all the way back to January 3rd.
So it effectively counts the last 365 days worth
of watchtime on your channel.
This is why your watchtime may actually go down
as you're trying to achieve 4,000 hours of watchtime.
As an example, this channel had a big spike in watchtime
almost 12 months ago.
And then as time moves forward,
they lose that spike in watchtime.
The channel hasn't performed as well,
so they have less watchtime over the last 12 months.
So remember that folks.
It's not the total watchtime on your channel,
it's the watchtime over the last 12 months.
Which leads us on to the next question.
What actually counts as watchtime?
The answer to this one is a little complicated.
(bell rings)
Almost everything counts.
Livestream videos do count towards watchtime,
as do unlisted videos.
However, videos watched when they are private
do not count to watchtime.
Also note that if you delete any videos,
whether or not they were public,
unlisted, livestreams,
or private none of that watchtime
will count towards your goals,
so don't delete videos unless you really have to.
Oh, and one more thing.
It doesn't matter when the video was published.
It can be more than 12 months old,
but the watchtime gained in the last 12 months
counts toward your target.
So now you know how much watchtime you need,
and what counts.
The next question is how can you track it.
And there is one very simple way to do this,
and that is through vidIQ.
If you have a vidIQ Chrome extension installed,
you will find this realtime stats bar
at the top of every single YouTube page
on your desktop layout.
This shows you your channel analytics in real time,
but here's where the magic happens.
If your channel has less than 4,000 hours of watchtime
in the last 12 months,
it automatically adds a new analytic to the left,
which is your monetization analytics target.
In this example,
the channel has 3,100 hours of watchtime
in the last 12 months.
You can also quickly see the number of subscribers
you have on your channel as well
on the right-hand side of the realtime stats bar.
But we're not finished there
because if you mouse over the graph button to the right,
this will show you a full breakdown
of your channel including the watchtime
over the last 12 months at the very top of these charts.
You'll also see percentage progress bar
on the right-hand side telling you exactly how close
you are to hitting 4,000 hours of watchtime.
Oh, and one more thing.
When you're under 4,000 hours of watchtime,
this analytic will remain amber.
Once you surpass 4,000 hours of watchtime,
congratulations.
You hit the target.
When you surpass 5,000 hours of watchtime,
this analytic removes itself from the realtime stats bar
as you no longer need it.
And since we understand that this a goal
to monetize your content,
this realtime stats bar is completely free
as part of the vidIQ Chrome extension.
It is a no-brainer.
Download it right now.
However, if you want to do it
via long, boring YouTube way,
this is how.
In the classic YouTube creator studio analytics,
go to watchtime and then click on the settings cog
in the top right-hand corner
and change the unit for measurement watchtime
from minutes to hours.
Next, go the top right-hand corner again
and change the timeframe from last 28 days
to last 365 days.
And that is your watchtime on YouTube
over the last 12 months.
And of course, if you are working towards
4,000 hours of watchtime,
we put together a lovely little video
with lots of fantastic tips.
Link onscreen right now.
Check it out.
Alright, let's now say you have 1,000 subscribers
and 4,000 hours of watchtime in the last 12 months.
Congratulations.
How do you actually apply for monetization?
Your destination for this starts
on the channel section of the youtube Creator Studio
under the heading status and features.
Now this screen tells you lots of wonderful things
about what tools you get with YouTube
including livestreaming and making longer videos,
but what you're interested in today is the monetization box.
It will likely look a little different to you
maybe with a red strip along the bottom
and the words disabled or needs to be enabled.
Whatever status it is,
click on it and it should take you
to this monetization review screen.
You'll want to look at step four
because this shows you your progress
to 4,000 hours and 1,000 subscribers
officially from YouTube.
Once you've done that,
you'll notice that there are other steps you need
to go through before applying
for the YouTube Partner Program or monetization.
These include reading and agreeing
to the terms of the YouTube Partner Program.
Signing up to AdSense.
This is how YouTube will pay you for your adverts
on your video content.
And setting of your monetization preferences.
So even if you don't meet the monetization requirements,
now is a perfect time to get your channel
set up and ready for when you are monetized.
Another key thing to remember is that
when you reach 4,000 hours of watchtime
and 1,000 subscribers,
you're not automatically enrolled into the Partner Program.
The content you create must follow community guidelines,
Partner Program policies,
YouTube terms of service,
and Google AdSense program policies.
There is loads of information about this
on the YouTube support pages.
Links in the video description.
And this raises another question
that a lot of you have been asking.
Does having a community strike or copyright strike
on my channel impact my chances of being accepted
into the YouTube Partner Program?
I'm afraid there is no black and white answer to this.
Whenever I research this topic,
the answer from YouTube always seems to be,
"It may effect monetization."
Remember, the premise of the YouTube Partner Program
is to put adverts on your video content.
If the advertisers aren't comfortable with the content
you are showing on your channel,
that's going to make YouTube think twice
about accepting you into the program.
Use your common sense.
Now if your channel is clean as a whistle,
and you meet the requirements,
how long does it take to be accepted
into the Partner Program once you apply?
When YouTube first moved
to the new Partner Program requirements,
they rather ambitiously stated that you
would usually get an answer within a week.
However by the middle of Summer,
the backlog was so huge it was taking
at least a month for most channels.
But they have caught up somewhat from that huge backlog.
I would say a conservative estimate is
to expect an answer within two weeks
if your channel is fine.
If you still haven't heard anything
from YouTube within a month,
then you're likely to get a further message saying
that your channel needs further investigation
and is under review.
We'll talk more about that a little later.
Because before that, I want to address this question.
If you are in the Partner Program,
and your content is monetized,
but then you fall below the 4,000 hours threshold,
does that mean your channel is removed
from the Partner Program?
YouTube have a very specific answer on this.
Channels that previously reached
the new eligibility thresholds
for the YouTube Partner Program
and were reviewed and approved to monetize
will not lose monetization just because
they drop below 4,000 watchtime hours
in the previous 12 months or 1,000 subscribers.
YouTube does however reserve the right,
as its discretion,
to remove monetization from channels
who drop below the new eligibility thresholds
if their channel is inactive and not uploading
or posting community posts for six months or more.
Channels will lose monetization if they violate any
of the YouTube Partner Program policies
regardless of their watchtime hours and subscriber counts.
In a word,
boom.
Alright, let's say you apply for the Partner Program.
You got an email back from YouTube saying
that your channel is under review,
and you've not heard anything back for months.
- [Video] We still see in the comments here people saying,
"Hey, I still haven't heard yet.
"I've been waiting for many months."
You know, just be aware that if you're
not staying within community guidelines
or not brand appropriate,
even if we haven't gotten back to you,
it should be pretty clear that kind of stuff
is not gonna get approved.
- That information comes directly from
the creator insider YouTube team.
They promise to have an update on this very soon.
In the meantime, we did a video all about this topic.
There's a link on screen right now.
Now I know firsthand from reading all
of the comments from you here at the vidIQ community
every single day that we have hundreds of channels
in that under review situation.
And they can't understand why.
Unfortunately we can't review individual channels
here at vidIQ.
We are not the kingmakers,
but hopefully you should have an answer from YouTube soon.
They are due to do an update as I say.
And as soon as we have more information,
we'll be publishing a video on that topic.
Join us here for that one.
As for the topic of 4,000 hours of watchtime,
I do hope I've been able to answer
every single question in this video.
If I haven't let us know in the comments below.
And let us know where you are
on the 4K journey to monetization.
We've got a voting poll up here.
If you want more fantastic YouTube tips and tricks
from vidIQ, we've got a big playlist here.
And if you want to know more about
all of the tools we have here at vidIQ,
there's another playlist down there.
Thank you very much for watching.
Enjoy the rest of your video-making day.
And we'll see you on those videos right now.