If you've chosen to turn off monetization on your YouTube channel or specific videos, you might expect that no ads will run. But the reality is more complicated. In fact, YouTube can still show ads on your regular videos, even if you’ve disabled monetization. Here's what you need to know.
YouTube's Right to Monetize Your Content
According to YouTube’s current Terms of Service (effective December 2023), simply uploading a video gives YouTube the right to monetize it — even if you’re not part of the YouTube Partner Program (YPP) and even if you’ve disabled ads in your video settings.
“You grant to YouTube the right to monetize your content… including displaying ads on or within content.”
— YouTube Terms of Service
This means that YouTube can run ads on your content even when you’ve chosen not to monetize it yourself, and you won’t receive a share of the ad revenue unless you’re in the YPP.
What Happens When You Turn Off Monetization?
You can manually disable monetization in YouTube Studio for individual videos or your entire channel. Here’s what each option means in practice:
🔹 Turning off monetization on a video
- YouTube stops placing ads on your behalf.
- However, YouTube may still show ads on that video, especially if the content is advertiser-friendly.
- You don’t receive any revenue from those ads.
🔹 Turning off monetization on your entire channel
- YouTube treats your channel as a non-partner.
- Ads may still appear on your videos if they’re deemed suitable for advertisers.
- Again, you don’t earn from these ads.
Ads on Non-Monetized Channels
In 2020, YouTube updated its policies to allow ads on videos from channels not in the YPP. This means:
- YouTube can run ads on content it considers "brand-safe."
- These ads generate revenue for YouTube, not you.
- There’s no way to stop this unless you remove your content from the platform entirely.
Summary
Even after you turn off monetization on your YouTube videos, YouTube can still place ads on them — and you won’t receive a share of the revenue unless you’re part of the YouTube Partner Program. Turning off monetization only stops you from earning from ads; it doesn’t stop YouTube from monetizing your content for its own benefit.
TL;DR: If you turn off monetization, YouTube can still show ads on your regular videos — you just don’t get paid for them.
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