How to Convert YouTube Views Into Cash Through Ads

Monetize YouTube Videos | The Ultimate Guide to Ad Revenue

Richard Bennett

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

Want to make money on YouTube? There are qualifications you have to meet before you can monetize your videos with ads, but you don’t have to have a huge channel.

Here’s everything you need to know to join the YouTube Partner Program and start earning ad revenue:

Qualifying for the YouTube Partner Program
How to Apply for Monetization on YouTube
What is Ad Friendly Content?
How to Get Paid Through AdSense
Which YouTube Videos Get the Highest Paying Ads?
Useful Terminology (CPM, CPV, CPC)

What is the YouTube Partner Program

YouTube’s Partner Program, or YPP, allows creators to monetize their YouTube videos through ads. If you are a YouTube Partner, that means you are earning revenue from the ads being shown before and during your videos.

Before you dive into the below guide, you may need a video editor to start your monetizing on Youtube. Filmora video editor will be the best choice.

Becoming a skilled video editor takes years of practice, but with Wondershare Filmora video editor, you can produce YouTube videos that have a professional look and feel, even if you are new to the world of video editing. This YouTube Video Creator has big icons and an intuitive interface, so those YouTubers who edit videos for the first time can quickly make a video.

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Qualifying for the YouTube Partner Program

In order to qualify for YPP, you need to prove that you’re creating consistent, original, content and that people are watching your content. YouTube believes that has been proven when you reach these qualifications:

1000 Subscribers
4000 Hours of Watch Time (over the past 12 months)

Not quite there yet? Here’s a list of actionable tips that can help you grow your channel.

If you meet these requirements and are approved for monetization, but then drop below them, your channel will not be automatically demonetized. YouTube may review your content and demonetize you if you seem to have stopped posting videos, but this will not be automatic.

Remember: meeting these milestones does not grant you automatic monetization.

You can apply for YPP when you reach the milestones above, but your channel will still need to be reviewed by a human working for YouTube. Reviewers will be watching for:

Nudity or sexual content
Harmful, dangerous, threatening, or hateful content
Violent or graphic content
Harassment or cyberbullying
Spam, scams, and misleading metadata
Copyright infringement or impersonation
Privacy violations
Fake subscribers
Other guidelines violations

If your content violates any of YouTube’s Community Guidelines you may be denied monetization. Learn more about YouTube’s Community Guidelines here.

How to Apply for Monetization on YouTube

Once you qualify for YPP, applying for monetization is easy.

In the Creator Studio, select Channel > Status and features.
Under ‘Monetization’, click Enable and follow the steps that appear to accept YouTube’s terms.
Wait to be approved.

If you’re approved, you can start earning money as soon as your AdSense account is set up!

If you’re not approved, you can apply again in 30 days.

To make sure you’re approved the next time you apply, review all of YouTube’s related policies (Partner Program policies , Terms of Service , spam policies , and Community Guidelines ) and remove the content that might be holding you back.

In order to start monetizing, you’ll need to link your channel with an AdSense account. You must be over 18 to create an AdSense account. YouTube creators under 18 can link to the AdSense accounts of their parents or guardians.

Here’s how to sign up for AdSense through YouTube:

Under Channel > Status and features in your Creator Studio, look for Paid content. Click where it says ‘active AdSense account’.
On the following ‘Monetization’ screen, click Next to go to AdSense.
You will be asked whether you want to use the Google account you’re already signed in to for AdSense, or if you want to use a different account.
The next step is ‘Your Website’. This will automatically be filled in with your channel. Click Accept association if it’s right.

Note: you can only have one AdSense account. Do not make a second one if you already have one. Duplicate accounts may be banned, which will stop you from monetizing your videos.

What is Ad Friendly content?

Not all content that meets YouTube’s Community Guidelines will be considered ‘advertiser-friendly’. Companies don’t want to run ads alongside content that doesn’t match the values of their brands.

YouTube may disable ads on any video it doesn’t think is ad-friendly. Videos which may be flagged as inappropriate for ads include (but are not limited to):

Videos that cover controversial or sensitive subjects.
Videos depicting the use of drugs or dangerous products.
Videos may encourage harmful or dangerous behavior.
Videos with swearing (but not ALL videos with swearing – quantity and context are factors).
Videos which contain hate speech.
Videos that depict family entertainment characters (i.e. Disney princesses) engaged in inappropriate behavior (even if you’re being satirical).

If you want to make sure all of your content is advertiser-friendly, here are some best practices suggested by YouTube:

Be respectful of your viewers and any people or groups you may include or mention in your video.
Extend this respectful tone to your thumbnails and video titles, and make sure your thumbnails and metadata accurately depict your video’s content.
Don’t try to monetize videos that already contain ads (i.e. paid product placement ).

In order to receive a payment from AdSense, you need to earn at least $100.

For example, if you only earn $10 in a month, you will not receive a payment that month. You will not lose that $10 – you will receive it when your total earnings reach or exceed $100.

You will also need to provide AdSense with tax information and verify your identity and address in order to start being paid.

The most popular way to get paid through AdSense is via an EFT (Electronic Funds Transfer). To receive your payments this way, you’ll need to link your bank account to your AdSense account.

Here’s how:

Log in to AdSense.
Click Settings in the menu on the left, and then select Payments.
On the Payments page, click Manage payment options.
Click the Add payment method.
You’ll be prompted to add your bank account details.
Make sure the name on your AdSense account matches the name on your bank account (if you’re under 18 and cannot make your own AdSense account, this may mean you’re using your parent or guardian’s bank account).

Which YouTube Videos Get the Highest Paying Ads?

Not all ads pay the same, and not all videos will be able to attract the ads that pay the most.

How much money your video has the potential to earn depends on:

The size of your channel
Your niche on YouTube
The specific topic of the video

That the size of your channel matters probably isn’t a surprise. The biggest brands want to run their ads beside videos that are getting more views.

Whether or not your YouTube niche has a high potential for profit will depend on a couple things:

How many other channels are in your niche?

The more people there are making similar videos to you, the thinner the available ads are spread.

How many cheap or expensive products are being advertised in your niche?

If the products are free or inexpensive (i.e. free online games) then that limits your earning ability. In large niches like gaming, the few higher paying ads will go to the most popular channels and the low-paying ads will be spread amongst everyone else.

If you have a very specific niche, i.e. luxury cars, then you will have less competition and the ads available will likely be for more expensive products (and thus the ads themselves will be higher paying).

Even if you are in a large niche, you can still make videos on specific topics designed to attract higher-paying ads and more revenue. Pay attention to the analytics in your Creator Studio to learn which of your videos earn the most. Then, make more videos on similar topics to boost your earnings.

Another factor that can affect what ads appear alongside your videos is the viewing habits of individual viewers. People are shown ads that YouTube believes are more relevant to their interests.

Useful Terminology (CPM, CPC, CPV)

A lot of people think your ad revenue is determined by your view count. This isn’t true – it’s determined by ad impressions.

How much revenue you earn from the ads running around your videos depends on these three things:

CPC: ‘cost per click’. Most of the ads on YouTube are CPC, meaning that an ad impression is only recorded when an ad is clicked on.

CPV: ‘cost per view’. Skippable pre-roll ads are the only ads on YouTube which record ad impressions without clicks. These ads record ad impressions when viewers watch 30 seconds of the ad instead of skipping it.

CPM: ‘cost per mille’ or ‘cost per thousand’. This refers to how much money gets paid out for 1000 ad impressions.

Your CPM will be affected by a multitude of things including the ads themselves and the size of your channel. AdSense has made it a rule that you cannot disclose your CPM to anyone, which makes it difficult to determine what you should expect.

Note: never click on ads near your own videos or instruct your viewers/friends to do so. If your clicks are higher than what AdSense considers normal they may ban you.

Sites like Social Blade provide estimated earnings for any channel you want to look up. Looking up channels that are where you plan to be in the near future could help you set your own expectations.

Are you able to monetize your videos? How many more subscribers or hours of watch time do you need?

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Unveiling Excellence in Online Advertising Craftsmanship

While there are a lot of ways you could advertise your business online, YouTube video ads are quickly becoming the most popular advertising solution. This is because more and more people choose to watch videos than any other form of video.

But to make sure that you are putting your best foot forward when it comes to video ads, you need to invest in a YouTube ad creator that is easy to use and effective. Here, we will be looking at the best YouTube video creators that you can use.

Why Use YouTube Video Ads

Before we look at some of the tools you can use to create YouTube video ads, it is important to mention some of the reasons why you may want to choose YouTube ads over other solutions. YouTube ads when compared to PPC are relatively cheaper and you also choose how much you are willing to pay when a user clicks on the ads. This makes it unlikely that you could spend more than you intended to.

YouTube ads are also more targeted than any other form of advertising. You have a lot of options when choosing who you want to target including metrics such as demographics, topics, similar audiences, customer matches, life events, and more.

Since the ad is a video, it generates far more engagement than a text ad on any other platform. Even though it is an ad, the video is still a great way for your brand to connect with potential audiences.

Types of Video Ads for YouTube

The following are the different types of YouTube ads that you can create;

**Video Discovery

Video discover ads appear on the search page results and are usually composed of a thumbnail image and a few lines of text. They also have a very recognizable “Ad” in the box to let all users know that this is sponsored content.

**In-Stream Ads

In-stream video ads can be skippable or non-skippable. Skippable in-stream video ads will often play for a minimum of 5 seconds before allowing the user to skip to the video content. Non-skippable in-stream video ads do not have the “skip” button and the user has to watch the video to the end.

**Pre-roll Ads

A pre-roll ad is just an in-stream ad that is not skippable. It doesn’t give the user the option of skipping the app and they have to watch the entire ad before they can watch the video. The pre-roll video ad is usually 15 to 60 seconds long.

**Bumper Ads

Bumper ads are tiny non-skippable 6-second ads that will play right before the video content loads. They can be an ideal way to promote an event or a new brand. Since they are only 6 seconds long, they can be very easy to make.

Best YouTube Ad Creators

The following are the best YouTube ad creators that you can use to make your YouTube video ad;

Filmora

Best For: All Types of YouTube Video ads

Price: Free Trial Available with plans starting from $54.99 a year.

Rating: 4.8/5

Wondershare Filmora is one of the best video creation software in the market and therefore can be very useful when creating YouTube video ads of any kind. It has powerful features that can benefit both beginner and professional users, allowing users to create stunning videos of any length.

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It comes with a library of more than 300 templates, filters, overlays, and numerous other effects that you can use to create your video. You can even add audio and music to the video to make your ad stand out more.

Animoto

Best For: All Types of YouTube Video Ads

Price: A free plan is available with paid plans starting from $15 a month

User Rating: 4.3/5

Animoto is another great solution that you can use to create YouTube ads of all kinds and publish them directly on the video-sharing platform. It has a very simple drag-and-drop operation that can allow you to create your YouTube video ad in just a few minutes.

It offers you a lot of resources that you can use to create the video including a huge library of up to one million photos and video clips as well as licensed audio tracks that you can use freely. This is on top of the numerous effects that you can use to make your video ad stand out more.

Best For: All Types of YouTube Video Ads

Price: Free plan is available with paid plans starting at $39 a month

User Rating: 4.4/5

Promo.com is another great solution that you can use to create YouTube video ads to give your brand the upper hand. It simplifies the video creation process by providing you with pre-made templates that you can add elements to create the video. You also get a library of music, photos, and video clips that you can choose to add to the video.

It also allows you to publish the video directly on social media apps. Since it doesn’t limit the size of the video that you can create, it is also an ideal solution for creating other types of videos.

Biteable

Best For: All Types of YouTube Ads

Price: Free Plan is available with paid plans starting at $19 a month

User Rating: 4.3/5

Biteable is also a great choice when you want to create YouTube ad videos. It is a professional solution that gives you a lot of options when it comes to video creation with a rich resource of over 1.8 million photos, clips, and pre-made animations to choose from.

The videos that you create with Biteable are of very high resolution and you have unlimited exports so you can use the same video over and over again. It also doesn’t limit the size or length of the video that you can create making it an ideal solution to create all types of videos.

InVideo

Best For: All Types of YouTube Ads

Price: Free plan is available with paid plans from $10 a month

User Rating: 4.7/5

This is an online solution that is very easy to use and that creates stunning videos. The interface allows you to upload your images, video clips, and audio and then use one of the many templates to create the video. The templates are also customizable, giving you additional options to customize your video in many ways.

InVideo allows you to upload the video that you create directly to social media platforms. It also has a very large library of resources that you can use to create the video including more than 3000 professionally made templates and more than a million premium photos and videos to choose from.

Adobe Spark

Best For: All Types of YouTube Ad Videos

Price: Free Plan available with paid plans starting at $9.99 a month

User Rating: 4.5/5

If you are looking for a solution that will allow you to make unique and very high-quality video ads, then Adobe Spark is a great choice. It has a ton of resources that you can use to make your video ad stand out including multiple themes, layouts, storyboards, and unique fonts.

You also have access to thousands of free images to spice up your creation and exclusive templates that you will not find anywhere else. But like most Adobe software, it can be hard to get started with Adobe Spark, especially for beginner users.

Animaker

Best For: All Types of YouTube Ad videos

Price: It doesn’t offer a free plan. Paid plans start at $10 per month.

User Rating: 4.6/5

Animaker is a professional video editing tool that can create very high-quality and unique videos. It is also one of the only tools that you can use to add subtitles to a video. You get to choose from a lot of professionally made templates and choose from a large library of images and videos to add to your project.

It also allows you to add audio to the video in the form of voiceover or music. You can also use the live editing feature to make changes to a video that is already uploaded to YouTube.

Powtoon

Best For: Animated YouTube Ads

Price: It doesn’t offer a free plan. Paid plans start at $20 a month

User Rating: 4/5

Powtoon is a great solution when the YouTube ad video that you want to create is an animated video. It has numerous features designed to help you create the most interactive animated videos. You have a lot of resources to choose from including various animation styles, whiteboards, and infographics.

It also has a very large library of templates, videos, images, and audio to choose from. But Powtoon doesn’t offer a free plan and hence there is no way for you to test its function before purchasing it.

Magisto

Best For: All Types of YouTube Ads

Price: It doesn’t offer a free plan. Paid plans start at $34.99 a month

User Rating: 4.4/5

Magisto is an online video editing tool that you can use to create video ads very quickly. It is completely deployed on the cloud which means that you don’t have to download any software on your computer. The user interface is very easy to use, allowing users to create professional-quality videos in a matter of minutes.

If you are using it to create longer videos, you can edit the scenes of the video individually and add as many effects as are relevant to your project. It can also be used to create and edit videos on Android and iOS devices.

Creatopy

Best For: All Types of YouTube Ads

Price: A free plan is available. Paid plans start at $17 a month

User Rating: 4.3/5

Creatopy is a simple to use and highly effective video editor that can come in handy when creating YouTube video ads. It offers you the chance to create videos of any size, making it an ideal choice not just for video ads but all types of video ads.

You can upload your images and audio files to add to the video project, or you can choose from the built-in library. Then you can use one or more of the many effects to add the finishing touch.

Tips for Creating YouTube Ads

The following are just some tips to help you create effective and profitable YouTube Video ads;

Choose the type of ad you would like to create wisely. Learn the different types of YouTube ads and select one based on your brand, advertising budget, and projected reach.
Use the YouTube targeting options to give your ads the best chance at success. Ensure that you are choosing the right targets to avoid spending money on targets that will not engage with your ad.
You may also want to use your videos in a remarketing campaign. Remarketing targets the same audience that you targeted before, increasing your chances of getting more engagement.
When creating the ad, ensure that the content in the ad is compelling and feels natural. Even though the audience will be watching sponsored content it should feel just like any other video.
You can also drive more engagement by adding interactive elements to the video. These can be calls-to-action, auto-end screens, and cards to showcase your products.

**How do you create a YouTube Ad?

You can easily create a YouTube ad using one of the video editing tools that we have outlined above. Choose the type of YouTube video ad you want to create as it will inform the length of the video you will create.

**Is it Free to Make YouTube Ads?

It can be free. If you choose to use a free video editor, you can create a YouTube ad for free. But you should know that you will still have to pay for YouTube to serve the ad.

**What is a YouTube Ad Specialist?

A YouTube Ads Specialist is a professional who is responsible for creating a YouTube ads strategy and implementing the strategy by creating the YouTube video ads.

**Can I Put My Ads on YouTube?

Yes. YouTube allows you to run your ads and even choose the placement of the ads and target the audiences you want YouTube to serve the ads to.

YouTube video ads can be a great way to reach as many people as you can with your products and services. Now you have several options that you can use to create the ads.

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