YouTube is the most popular video website on the Internet on record today, with over 450 million unique visitors per month according to the correspondence received from Google. With such tremendous traffic, it’s easy to see how users want to get a piece of the pie.
By Shingie Lev Muringi
Precisely, not everyone who posts a YouTube video gets paid. First, you have to become a partner, and even after that, you’re not guaranteed much money.
Becoming a Partner
Becoming a YouTube partner is easier said than done. Google (who owns YouTube) doesn’t specify exactly what criteria are to be met for partnership, other than the fact that your video must meet Google’s terms of use, and it must have at least several thousand views. You can then apply for partnership, and if accepted, may start making money with YouTube.
Compensation
After being accepted as a YouTube partner, ads will be run on your video, and your compensation will be based on one of two methods: per 1,000 impressions or per click. Per 1,000 impressions means that you’ll receive a certain amount of money per 1,000 views as long as the view has an ad on it. If, for instance, someone embeds your video onto a social networking site, and the video doesn’t have an ad on it, then you won’t receive compensation for those views.
The other method is more straightforward, and gives you money based on the amount of clicks that the advertisements on the video receive.
AdSense
Google has a program called AdSense that can be linked to users’ blogs, websites or YouTube accounts. In order to receive compensation for your YouTube video, you must have an AdSense account linked to your YouTube account.
AdSense calculates how many clicks your video’s ads receive, as well as how many impressions it has received, then tallies these totals up. Your earnings are calculated at the end of each month prior to this the numbers are only an estimate. If your earnings exceed $100, you receive a check from YouTube within a week or two.
Take Heed
YouTube does compensate its partners, but because partners aren’t allowed to say how much they make, it’s difficult to know just how much this compensation is. If you create a big following and become accepted as a YouTube partner, you can make some extra cash, but don’t be surprised if it’s less than you think. Google receives its money directly from ad agencies, and only shares a cut of that with its users. So even if your video gets over a million hits a difficult feat it’s unlikely that you’ll see more than a couple thousand dollars. A few people make a good living on YouTube, but it’s a very small percentage.
