How To Tell If a YouTube Video Is Monetized?

Do you ever wonder if your favorite YouTubers are making money from their videos?

And if they are, how are they doing it?

If you’ve had these thoughts, you’re in the right place.

You’re about to discover how to tell if a YouTube video is monetized. There are several ways to know, but it’s not always clear.

You’ll also learn more about monetizing channels, the different ways you can get money for your content, and the monetization status of your own videos.

Reasons To Care If a YouTuber’s Videos Are Monetized

You might be reading this guide to figure out how to monetize your own videos. Who cares if another creator is getting paid or not?!

But you can always benefit from others’ experiences. You can figure out how to make your own money by knowing how your favorite YouTubers or creators who post similar content to you get paid.

Here’s a suggestion for you.

Find creators with content that is like yours and check out their channels and videos.

Use these simple tricks to see if they are monetized and then figure out how you can make money from YouTube too.

Knowing if a video is monetized can also help you as a consumer.

If the creator is reviewing a product because they’ve been paid to, you can take their suggestions with a pinch of salt.

However, many reviewers feature products for free or are only promoted by brands they love and trust.

Either way, knowing if they have been paid can influence your decision to buy the product.

Ways To Monetize a Channel On YouTube

There isn’t just one simple way to monetize your channel.

There are many that can work well separately, but using different methods can maximize your earnings.

You’ll see different examples of each when you discover more about how to tell if a video is monetized.

YouTube Partner Program

Getting onto YouTube’s Partner Program is one of the best ways to make money. You become eligible for ads and the Super Thanks button.

One tip to know if a creator is on the Partner Program is if they have more than 1000 subs.

If they don’t, then they’re not eligible for the program. There are other rules to become eligible which you can read about here.

Ads can be featured before, after, or during your videos. The more you have, the more money you can make. However, you need to find the most efficient amount so that viewers don’t drop off whenever another ad comes on.

The Super Thanks button is a feature that you can include on your video’s page. It appears alongside the Like, Dislike, Share, Save, and other buttons.

When a viewer clicks on it, they can select an amount to pay you to show their appreciation for your great content.

Donations range from $2 to $500.

Paid Promotion

Getting sponsored by a brand to do a paid promotion is another great way to make serious money from your content.

The promotion can be a review or even just to make your own announcement for the service within your video.

The creator will tell you if a video has been sponsored, you’ll see a disclaimer in the description, and a banner can appear that says Paid promotion as you begin watching.

Affiliate Links

By talking about certain products in your video, you can set up affiliate links to boost your income.

Let’s say you are reviewing gaming laptops. For each one you review, you can leave an affiliate link from Amazon or another seller in the description of your video.

Each time a viewer buys the product using your link, you get a commission.

Tipping and Subscription Services

You can build a stronger community and get paid using tipping and subscription services like Patreon, Buy Me a Coffee, OnlyFans, and more.

Leave the link to your profile in the description and mention it somewhere throughout your videos.

Die-hard fans will be more than happy to support you in making more fantastic content.

Merch and Courses

You can create your own merch and sell it directly from your YouTube channel using a platform like Spreadshirt.

You can connect it to your channel and your merchandise will appear under your video for viewers to see.

You can also create courses where you’ll teach your skills to viewers.

You can also use video cards and links in the description to guide your audience towards your merch page or website.

How To Tell If a YouTube Creator’s Videos Are Monetized

Now that you know which ways you and other creators can monetize a channel, you can look out for each method as you watch other creators’ videos.

• Ads before, after, or during a video
• Super Thanks button
• Paid promotion disclaimer (spoken on camera, written in the description, or banner)
• Affiliate links in the description
• Tipping and Subscription links in the description
• Merch below the video and store and course links in the description

There are still two more ways to see if a creator is making money on their channel from YouTube’s Partner Program. One is on their channel page and another is on a video’s page.

You’ll be looking at the source code for each. This may sound tricky, but it’s really easy with these steps.

Channel Source Code

Open a creator’s channel and follow these instructions:

• Right click and press View page source (Ctrl+U on Windows, Opt+Cmd+U on Mac).
• Press Ctrl+F (Windows) or Cmd+F (Mac) to search for text on the page.
• Search for “is_monetization_enabled” or even just “monetization”. The full line you’re looking for is {"key":"is_monetization_enabled","value":"true"}.
• If the value is true {"key":"is_monetization_enabled","value":"true"}, then the channel is monetized.
• If the value is false {"key":"is_monetization_enabled","value":"false"}, then the channel is not monetized.

Video Page Source Code

Open any video you want to know about and follow these steps:

• Right click and press View page source (Ctrl+U on Windows, Opt+Cmd+U on Mac).
• Press Ctrl+F (Windows) or Cmd+F (Mac) to search for text on the page.
• Search for yt_ad. Keep an eye out for {"key":"yt_ad","value":"1"}.
• If {"key":"yt_ad","value":"1"} appears, then the video is monetized.
• If yt_ad shows no results, then the video isn’t monetized.

How To Tell If Your Own YouTube Videos Are Monetized

Have you already entered the YouTube Partner Program and monetized your videos?

Great job! If you’re having trouble understanding how to see if your videos are already making you money, read on to learn more.

Monetization Icons

Every video on a YouTube-monetized channel will have an icon and a message next to it in the Content tab of your Studio profile. These icons and messages can be: [from link]

• [Clock icon] - Checking: YouTube is making sure your video is suitable for ads.
• [Green $] - On: you can earn full revenue from the ads on your video.
• [Green $] - Exceptions: non-personalized ads are allowed. The video’s audience is set to Made for kids.
• [Green $] - Sharing: a copyright claim means that you can earn some money from this video, but not all. This commonly happens with musicians posting cover songs that the publisher has agreed to share the revenue on.
• [Green $] - Escrow: there is a dispute on the revenue, usually from a copyright claim. If you win the dispute, you’ll receive the money.
• [Yellow $] - Limited: not all advertisers find your content friendly to their guidelines. You can make money through ads, but not as much compared to when you have the [Green $].
• [Red $ crossed through] - Ineligible: your video cannot be monetized with ads.
• [Gray $ crossed through] - Off: you chose not to turn on monetization for this video.

Bottom Line

Knowing when a YouTube video is monetized is a great way to learn how you can earn money on your own videos.

You can see what kind of methods the creator has used and integrate them into your channel.

You can check for ads, the Super Thanks button, paid promotion disclaimers, affiliate links, tipping and subscription links, merch stores, and course info on other YouTubers’ videos to know what kind of revenue streams they earn from.

You can also search the pages’ source codes for is_monetization_enabled (channel) and yt_ad (video).

You can also check the status of your own YouTube Partner Program ads in the Content tab by studying the Monetization icons.

All of this information can help you hone your skills of creating content to maximize your earnings and turn a hobby into a job, no matter what your grandmother says.

Do you monetize your videos? Let other readers know how you got started in the comments below.