YouTube Introduces New Grey ‘Clock’ Monetization Icon So Creators See Less Flip-Flopping

YouTube is introducing a new monetization icon for creators in order to prevent the flip-flopping notifications that they receive, indicating that their videos were eligible — and then ineligible — to make money.

Within YouTube Studio, a green dollar sign icon has long signified that a video is monetized, while the dreaded yellow dollar sign means that a video is serving limited or no ads. Given the frustrations that many creators experienced as the icons were seen to flip back and forth, notes YouTube creator liaison Matt Koval in a video update, the company has made some adjustments.

A new icon, a grey clock symbol, will now appear on the Videos page within YouTube Studio, indicating to creators that a video is being checked for its ad suitability. “So now, when that clock icon turns to the green icon or the yellow or the red, you can be much more confident that that’s going to be the final decision,” Koval says. While most users won’t ever see the ‘checking’ icon, because YouTube’s systems are so quick, if they do it should typically be there for around 20 minutes or less, and never longer than an hour. No ads will run on videos while they are being checked.

Other possible monetization icons within YouTube Studio are as follows: green (monetized), yellow (limited or no ads), red (demonetized due to a copyright claim), and gray (a user has opted not to turn on monetization).

Koval suggests that in order to maximize revenues, creators upload videos as private or unlisted first, and then wait for the system to make a decision about monetization before publishing. The new clock icon also won’t have any bearing on the review process, which enables creators to appeal decisions when their videos have been demonetized.

You can check out more info about how the new icon functions right here: