Jake Sandt is one of the creators who upload videos to YouTube video sharing and make a living from the ads that run under them. However, the platform has banned many of its creative channels from monetization without prior warning, Business Insider concludes.
Ohio’s Jake Sandt channel has been viewed 19 million times so far and has 63,000 followers. Sandt, currently 18, will cover his university expenses from the proceeds from the videos. But the proceeds from the ads disappeared, for which the creator received no warning, and he was not the only one to have lost revenue due to a bad setup.
The video-sharing platform owned by Alphabet does not send any notifications if a creator’s activity and earning potential are suspended for 30 days.
Sandt later learned that YouTube said he had committed a policy violation, but the YouTuber made his videos in compliance with current U.S. usage laws. According to the channel owner’s calculations, he lost at least a thousand dollars due to the shutdown.
Sandt was followed by Alex Beckham, who, however, had already been notified that he had been blocked from live broadcasts by the platform, followed by another letter stating that he would lose the money he received from the ads due to reused content. What’s more, Beckham didn’t make his videos but worked with a team, all of whom benefited from the proceeds from the videos.
Although Beckham’s canal lost revenue only for a short time, it still calculated that it had lost at least $ 150.
David Hoffman, 78, also excluded his channel from revenue opportunities for the same reason. Hoffman called several times, sending an email as well as a letter to the YouTube support team. “We understand you’d like to know more about banning monetization opportunities on your own channel, but we can’t provide specific details about what policies the videos violated and why the channel does not comply with YouTube’s affiliate program,” the email said. Hoffman received a response.
And two months later, the channel’s revenue potential was restored without any explanation. “It was all like they were fired,” Hoffman said.
However, many YouTubers did not receive any response from the video sharer and only achieved success when the matter was brought to the attention of the general public, such as posted on Twitter. In addition, YouTube does not compensate channel owners for lost revenue. A representative of the company said at the request of Business Insider that the revenue lost due to the incorrect setup cannot be calculated and will therefore not be refunded.
To eliminate the mistakes, the company has launched a new program in which creators have the opportunity to appeal decisions against the video.