YouTube’s Partner Program has, as a general rule, allowed in only content creators who produce original and heavily viewed clips on a consistent basis. This was a smart and safe approach. But it’s an approach that also excluded a lot of very popular one-off videos, and YouTube’s now seeking to correct the problem.
A post on the YouTube Biz Blog announced this afternoon, “[W]e’re extending the YouTube Partnership Program to include individual popular videos on our site. Now, when you upload a video to YouTube that accumulates lots of views, we may invite you to monetize that video and start earning revenue from it.”
This move makes sense for several reasons. First, you have to consider how content creators will react. The ones who are contacted by YouTube will no doubt be thrilled to receive money. The ones who aren’t will at least know that the possibility exists, and may make more and better videos as a result. That, in turn, should benefit the average YouTube user.
Then there’s the corporate perspective. Google has been trying to monetize YouTube for years, and by extending the Partner Program, should be able to sell more ads and bring the site closer to profitability.
Anyway, here’s one last detail that’s both a drawback and a hint at the next step: the YouTube Biz Blog post stated, “For now individual video partnerships are available only in the United States, but we hope to roll these out internationally soon.”
