Small YouTubers have been dealt a death blow by the January 16, 2018, announcement that they will need at least 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 hours of watch time before they will ever see a dime in AdSense revenue. This is a HUGE change to the YouTube Partner Program (YPP). Most creators never reach 1,000 subscribers. Thus, most will never see ad checks from YouTube again after the new policy comes into effect on February 20, 2018. My study of over 400 sailing vloggers found most of these active video creators never broke 1,000 subscribers.
Check out my video on the Linus Wilson YouTube channel “DEMONitization of SMALL YouTubers | 1000 subs $ 4000 hours | YPP AdSense Lost to Most Channels” at
See my video about my study entitled:
“How to Make $ on Patreon Like Sailing LaVagabonde & SV Delos: Tips, Tricks, Facts, and Advice”
My academic study with all the facts is at
https://ssrn.com/abstract=2919840
It is called:
“A Little Bit of Money Goes a Long Way: Crowdfunding on Patreon by YouTube Sailing Channels”
21 Feb 2017
Linus Wilson
University of Louisiana at Lafayette – College of Business Administration
Date Written: February 17, 2017
Abstract
This study finds that YouTube channels crowdfunding on Patreon have more frequent video creation. The median YouTube channel that crowdfunded on Patreon produced a video every 7.5 days compared to 105 days for the median comparable channel that did not link to Patreon. Crowdfunders have more views per video, are more likely to link to their Facebook pages, and uploaded videos more frequently. While two channels in the sample, each earned over $150,000 in 2016 from Patreon, the typical crowdfunding sailing channel earned $73 per video, per month, or creation. It appears that a little bit of money was associated with a big increase in new video production.
While most folks don’t make more than $100 getting to their first 1,000 subscribers 240,000 minutes of watch time is only achievable for low 1,000 subscriber channels that are active. Less active small channels will be kicked out of the program. Linus Wilson not only discusses the big change to YouTube monetization, but also he reads the two blogs at the end of the video.
The YouTube blogs are:
https://youtube-creators.googleblog.com/2018/01/additional-changes-to-youtube-partner.html
Creator Blog
“Additional Changes to the YouTube Partner Program (YPP) to Better Protect Creators”
Tuesday, January 16, 2018
by Neal Mohan, Chief Product Officer and Robert Kyncl, Chief Business Officer
and
“A New Approach to YouTube Monetization”
Tuesday, January 16, 2018
by Paul Muret, VP, Display, Video & Analytics
https://adwords.googleblog.com/2018/01/a-new-approach-to-youtube-monetization.html
These changes make the April 2017 requirement of 10,000 views to be a new AdSense partner no longer in force. That was announced in the blog below:
https://youtube-creators.googleblog.com/2017/04/introducing-expanded-youtube-partner.html
SLOW BOAT SAILING 
A very interesting piece of research. I keep hearing how attention spans are shrinking, but it’s quite evident that much online video just isn’t very good and so undeserving of our attention. A lot of publishers who pivoted to video have found it’s no trivial feat to do well and have pivoted away again. The critical element for me is storytelling. We’ll happily watch old movies like Casablanca and not worry that they are sub 1k resolution and black and white. It’s just a great story.
The reason that Delos and Vagabonde are doing so well is that they have an innate understanding of story. There are several like RAN that are also developing well because they too tell good stories. The same can be said of Millennials who are living in vans and driving around the US. The Nomadic Movement is one such YT channel that is growing a subscriber base. Largely for the reasons you describe, but also because they are good storytellers. Good looking kids in bikinis and shorts only sustain interest for so long.
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