That’s what’s going on in the YouTube universe!

There are two major innovations on Google’s video platform YouTube. There are not only changes to YouTube’s terms of use and advertising settings, but also a brand new advertising format!

Change in the terms of use: EVERY YouTube video may be monetised

In a change to the terms of use, Google stipulates that any video on the YouTube platform can now be monetised.

Previously, there was the following regulation: YouTube content creators can decide whether they want to release their videos for the placement of advertising once their channel has a certain reach. But this is now changing: Even uploaders who have clearly positioned themselves against advertising before or during their videos and are thus not part of the YouTube Partner Program now no longer have a real say. Another low blow for corresponding creators: uploaders who speak out against the monetisation of videos will not receive a cent. All advertising revenue from YouTubers who are not part of the partner program will flow directly into Google’s pocket.

The new terms of use will apply from 01 June in Germany and other European countries.

New advertising format on YouTube

YouTube Ads have been very popular with advertisers for a long time. All the better for marketers that the portfolio is being expanded by another type of ad: An interactive ad format for smart TVs. This is to be rolled out globally in the course of the year.

Background: The YouTube app is now installed as standard on all Smart TVs. For a while now, there has also been a targeted advertising offer for this (the masthead ads). However, these ads are very passive and far from truly targeted advertising. Therefore, an interactive advertising function will be introduced in the future under the name “Brand Extensions“.

How does Brand Extension work?

For ads that are played out as “Brand Extension”, a button with the inscription “Send to phone” is displayed at the bottom of the YouTube advertisement. If the user now clicks on this call-to-action with the remote control, a link defined by the advertiser is sent to the user’s smartphone. In order to ideally evaluate the effect of the advertisement, the conversion rate can then be viewed via Google Ads.