Morning folks! It seemed very opportune that in the week I was supposed to tackle the most controversial topic about YouTube (YT), the country too is going through its own bout of controversy. For the same reason a Member of Parliament can’t afford the latest fleet of vehicles with his officially recognised basic salary (Rs. 54, 285), a content creator can’t continue making good content without an income. (sense the sarcasm in the former).
Since I got that out, let’s get to the nitty-gritty. To earn money from YouTube, a creator must join the YouTube Partner Programme (YPP). When one joins YPP, he/she is eligible for monetising their own content that is posted on one’s channel.
So what are the criteria for joining YPP?
1. Reside in a country that YPP is enabled
2. Reach 4,000 watch hours in the previous 12 months and 1,000 subscribers
Unfortunately, YPP has not been rolled-out to Sri Lanka as of writing this piece. However, I have good news – I received word from YT themselves, who hinted at the possibility of YPP being rolled-out to Sri Lanka soon. My ballpark guess is that it will be somewhere around early next year. In this context, the only legal way a Sri Lankan could monetise on YT is to join a YouTube approved Multi-Channel Network (MCN). There are a few Indian and Bangladeshi MCNs currently operating in Sri Lanka, but as most of you must be knowing by now, we received our own 100% Sri Lankan MCN in the form of IdeaHell recently. I will not go into the details of joining an MCN like IdeaHell in this column. Whatever you decide, please ensure to read the terms and conditions very carefully because many creators have fallen into the MCN trap, and are not even creating anymore.
How is my revenue calculated?
YT will show three types of ads against every video that is enabled for monetisation. These are:
[gallery link="file" columns="1" size="full" ids="11321"]
So, YT charges a company to show these ads against your video, and it keeps 45% of that revenue and you get the remaining 55 %. These ads work on a bidding system; where there is more competition to get the eyes of the viewer, the higher you get paid. For example, a viewer watching your video from Australia or the US is not the same as a Sri Lankan viewer. The competitions in the former markets are high for YT advertising, hence per impression, you get paid more.
I realised that this is a lot to grasp, and if my word-count increases anymore, I’m sure the Editor will drop my byline just in spite. So, I will go into more detail in next week’s column on how you can optimise your videos to maximise revenue and which of those ad types earn you the most revenue. Also, stay tuned because I will be answering the age-old question: “How many rupees will I get for 1,000 views?”
By Janeeth Rodrigo
Janeeth Rodrigo is the General Manager, Digital, of the Derana Media network. He is also the General Manager of IdeaHell, the first and only YouTube MCN and Creator Space in Sri Lanka.
Facebook: facebook.com/janeethrodrigo
Instagram: instagram.com/janeethr
So what are the criteria for joining YPP?
1. Reside in a country that YPP is enabled
2. Reach 4,000 watch hours in the previous 12 months and 1,000 subscribers
Unfortunately, YPP has not been rolled-out to Sri Lanka as of writing this piece. However, I have good news – I received word from YT themselves, who hinted at the possibility of YPP being rolled-out to Sri Lanka soon. My ballpark guess is that it will be somewhere around early next year. In this context, the only legal way a Sri Lankan could monetise on YT is to join a YouTube approved Multi-Channel Network (MCN). There are a few Indian and Bangladeshi MCNs currently operating in Sri Lanka, but as most of you must be knowing by now, we received our own 100% Sri Lankan MCN in the form of IdeaHell recently. I will not go into the details of joining an MCN like IdeaHell in this column. Whatever you decide, please ensure to read the terms and conditions very carefully because many creators have fallen into the MCN trap, and are not even creating anymore.
How is my revenue calculated?
YT will show three types of ads against every video that is enabled for monetisation. These are:
[gallery link="file" columns="1" size="full" ids="11321"]
So, YT charges a company to show these ads against your video, and it keeps 45% of that revenue and you get the remaining 55 %. These ads work on a bidding system; where there is more competition to get the eyes of the viewer, the higher you get paid. For example, a viewer watching your video from Australia or the US is not the same as a Sri Lankan viewer. The competitions in the former markets are high for YT advertising, hence per impression, you get paid more.
I realised that this is a lot to grasp, and if my word-count increases anymore, I’m sure the Editor will drop my byline just in spite. So, I will go into more detail in next week’s column on how you can optimise your videos to maximise revenue and which of those ad types earn you the most revenue. Also, stay tuned because I will be answering the age-old question: “How many rupees will I get for 1,000 views?”
By Janeeth Rodrigo
Janeeth Rodrigo is the General Manager, Digital, of the Derana Media network. He is also the General Manager of IdeaHell, the first and only YouTube MCN and Creator Space in Sri Lanka.
Facebook: facebook.com/janeethrodrigo
Instagram: instagram.com/janeethr