Some Ads On Drug-Related Videos Is Being Relaxed By YouTube

From this month, Google is updating a number of its YouTube ad guidelines about drug-related videos. during a support document spotted by Gizmodo, Google says it’s “expanding monetization on educational, documentary or news content which will include violent interactions with enforcement , recreational drugs and drug-related content, or sensitive events.” The update means more drug-related videos should be eligible to possess ads placed next to them.

You can see the precise changes by comparing a backup of YouTube’s old content guidelines from last month with the rules that are live now. the rules break down drug-related content into three categories: videos where uploaders can turn ads on, videos where ads should be turned off, and videos where they will be turned on “but only brands who opt in will run ads.”

The biggest change may be a new bullet point that’s appeared within the first section, covering videos where ads are often turned on. This now covers videos focusing “on the acquisition , fabrication, or distribution of medicine , like the fabrication of home-made opioids” and “news reports about cannabis farms” that don’t glorify drug use. Previously, advertisers had to opt-in to run ads against this type of content, restricting the quantity of ad revenue they might make.

There also are a few of bullet points that have disappeared entirely from YouTube’s list of videos where ads need to be turned off altogether. These are videos “focusing on drug consumption (including its effects) without educational or documentary context,” or which contain “promotion of regulated legal drugs or substances which will induce a high (e.g. cannabis and derivatives THC and CBD).”

Although these exact descriptions haven’t been added to any of the opposite sections, YouTube has slightly amended the wording in its section describing opt-in advertiser content, which now covers “content that specialize in the display or effects of drug consumption; or the creation or distribution of medicine or drug paraphernalia during a comedic, non-educational, or non-documentary context.” the precise status of content around legal highs is a smaller amount clear, however.

The individual changes are minor, but they ought to make it easier for YouTube creators to approach the subject of medicine in their videos without fear about ad revenue. They reflect a broader acceptance of medicine within the us that include ny recently becoming the sixteenth state to legalize the recreational use of marijuana.