Censored Curse words in Thumbnails

Chiprocks

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Really not sure where to post this, so feel free to move this where it needs to be.

Okay, with that out of the way, Onto the topic at hand. Are we allowed to have censored curse words in our YouTube Thumbnails like F*ck, Sh*t, etc.... You get the idea. Does this get flagged by YouTube at all with Strikes or Demonitization? I've seen a few other YouTuber's that have done this over the years and it seems to be okay. I've looked over at YouTube and didn't find anything directly relating to this in their policy page.
 

Shakycow

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It would likely be a quick way to be flagged as ‘not appropriate for all viewers’ and not considered advertiser friendly.
 

Dewmonic Abyss

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YouTube's publicly said censoring curse words would be appropriate for advertising. And that would explain why channels like Jake Paul get away with it. But while it should technically be okay, with how broken YouTube is, they'll probably demonetize it.
 

HiEnergy

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I have a follow-up question on that: What about deliberate mis-spellings like fvck or sh!t?
Did anyone yet try this?
 

UKHypnotist

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If anyone doesn't yet know, The official YouTube Help Forum has been closed to new posts. A new Support Community has been opened in the YouTube Help section itself.

About a week after its opening, a post was pinned, announcing among other things, that even thumbnails would now be eligible for Community Guidelines Strikes.

It sounds like the original poster is trying to use shock to draw attention to his videos. To me this seems like a desperation move, and a very dangerous one at that. A creator whose videos are truly interesting should not need desperate measures to get views.

I don't have VIP, but I can put enough of the address to the relevant post here that selecting the non-link and right-clicking on it will allow one to go to the community and read it. I suggest that all active video creators read this post.

support.google.com/youtube/thread/1063296?hl=en
 
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GameVestment

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I did that ONCE in a video and it got LIMITED or no ADS. Confirmed by HUMAN review

I don't know if it was the thumbnail, the idea of the video but somebody on YT didn't like it XDD
you can watch and judge by yourself if you wanna give your opinion or enlighten me with a good answer

youtube.com/watch?v=Y5pM1gsTspE
 

UKHypnotist

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@Chiprocks

Oh dear; you really are getting desperate, aren't you?

You already have thumbnails which may well get you a Community Guidelines strike for sexuality! Here are the titles in question:

"GTA V Campaign Walkthrough Episode 66..."

"GTA V Campaign Walkthrough Episode 60"

"GTA V Campaign Walkthrough Episode 142"

"GTA Online Versus | Cute Girl Destroys 'Roid Chick Without Throwing A Single Punch"

I need to tell you something right now. None of your current content is going to be accepted for monetization. Rather than force you to ask me why, I am simply going to point you to the relevant sections of YouTube Help and the game developers' TOS; which I will copy/paste here, rather than try to link them.

1. Gameplay without commentary or facecam. Relevant Help section pasted below.

"What can't I monetize?

Without the appropriate license from the publisher, use of video game or software user interface must be minimal. Video game content may be monetized if the associated step-by-step commentary is strictly tied to the live action being shown and provides instructional or educational value.

Videos simply showing a user playing a video game or the use of software for extended periods of time may not be accepted for monetization." (Read that as will not be accepted!)

2. Use of Rockstar/Take Two Interactive content with commercial intent against said companies' Terms of Use for same. Relevant section of user license linked below.

"The Company grants you a limited, non-sublicensable license to access and use the Online Services. Such license is subject to this Agreement and, as applicable, the software EULA located at rockstargames.com/eula, and specifically conditioned upon the following: (i) you may only view, copy and print portions of the Online Services for your own informational, personal and non-commercial use; (ii) you may not modify or otherwise make derivative uses of the Online Services, or any portion thereof; (iii) you may not remove or modify any copyright, trademark, or other proprietary notices that have been placed in the Online Services; (iv) you may not use any data mining, robots or similar data gathering or extraction methods; (v) you may not use the Online Services other than for their intended purpose; (vi) you may not reproduce, prepare derivative works from, distribute, frame, “mirror,” or display the Online Services, except as provided herein; and (vii) you must not violate the Code of Conduct set forth above."

From earlier in the same document; the Trademark And Copyright section:

"All Online Services material, including, but not limited to, text, data, graphics, logos, button icons, images, audio clips, video clips, links, digital downloads, data compilations, and software is owned, controlled by, licensed to, or used with permission by the Company and is protected by copyright, trademark, and other intellectual property rights. The Online Services material is made available solely for your personal, non-commercial use and may not be copied, reproduced, republished, modified, uploaded, posted, transmitted, or distributed in any way, including by email or other electronic means, without the express prior written consent of the Company in each instance. You may download material intentionally made available for downloading through the Online Services for your personal, non-commercial use only, provided that you keep intact any and all copyright and other proprietary notices that may appear on such materials."

What these two sections mean when put together is this:

Unless you have specifically asked for commercial use rights and the right to create derivative works after the games in the Grand Theft Auto Series, Red Dead Series, or any other Rockstar/Take Two Interactive Games series every single time you created a video, your videos as created are flagrant copyright violation.

Attempted monetization of third-party copyright media in which you hold no rights, is an Adsense Policy Violation which will result in your Adsense account being disabled.

Attempted monetization of adult content (the videos whose thumbnails I've pointed out) whose only purpose is gratuitous sexual arousal of the viewer (read this as the only reason the content is there, is to cause enough sexual titilation in the viewer to make them want to view your video), is an Adsense Content Policy Violation, and also those thumbs break the YouTube Community Guidelines for sexual content.

If you want to monetize a channel on YouTube, I'd take all of that down and start over if I were you. I'd also do it quickly, before Adsense finds your channel and permanently disables your Adsense account.

Without an active Adsense account, you cannot monetize a YouTube channel; and you are only allowed one Adsense account in your Google Lifetime.
 
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