Should one drop MCN in favour of Adsense?

[Dfactor]

I've been in an MCN for over 5 years, creating gaming content for even a longer period.

Question is, should I fix something that isn't broken? While the MCN does take a 20% cut and they don't really do anything for me aside from taking the cut, I'm wondering if it's worth risking everything I've built for almost a decade, jumping ship and trying out Adsense which has a lot of horror stories around itself such as suspensions caused by "duplicates" and "bad ad clicks", not to mention that you'd need to deal with content ID system yourself (like possibly releasing false positive claims).

I still see a lot of mixed debates talking about if it's safe to use Adsense for gaming content. Some say it's completely safe nowadays, some say you'd be in trouble eventually with publishers because of licenses, etc.

 

[Syiloman]

I'm stuck with a MCN. I lost my adsense years ago due to invalid clicking. If I were you I would drop MCN and join Adsense. MCN don't do anything.

 

[Yachts For Sale]

My understanding is that a MCN in any case relies upon adsense for you to be paid.

I dropped my MCN earlier this year and haven't regretted it. The MCN was convenient, but for the ten minutes it took me to figure out how to use adsense it was well worth the move.

If you have issues with duplication etc then YouTube will demonetise you irrespective of whether you use adsense or a MCN.

 

[Dfactor]

I see. I have more than half a year to decide if I want to drop them or not. A lot of people seem to be pro-Adsense as MCNs gradually lost their purpose.

 

[markkaz]

If your channel runs afoul of YouTubes guidlines, the MCN can't help you. If you are making content that may get in trouble for 'duplication' or other such issues, the MCN will detach you from the network. They aren't going to save your channel and risk their entire network.

 

[SpiroDiscoBall]

I think what hes asking about is the copyright for playing specific titles. I'm not so sure about now but in the past you would have to get permission or have a "License" to monetize videos showing specific games. Back when COD was the biggest game, creators were join machinima and what not because they had the license. This would allow them to make money off their game play which would otherwise infringe on copyright. Now a days many game creators allow you to make content off their game with no restrictions such as MineCraft, League of Legends, or Fortnite. My suggestion would be to see the guidelines pertaining to the main game your channel is based on and go from there.

 

[Dfactor]

I think what hes asking about is the copyright for playing specific titles. I'm not so sure about now but in the past you would have to get permission or have a "License" to monetize videos showing specific games. Back when COD was the biggest game, creators were join machinima and what not because they had the license. This would allow them to make money off their game play which would otherwise infringe on copyright. Now a days many game creators allow you to make content off their game with no restrictions such as MineCraft, League of Legends, or Fortnite. My suggestion would be to see the guidelines pertaining to the main game your channel is based on and go from there.

I think most gaming MCNs don't even have any particular licenses anymore and you entirely depend on the goodwill of the publisher. One can check "wholetsplay" website too, but it's not always black and white in terms of what is allowed or not.