How Long Does It Take for YouTube to Approve Monetization?

The day has finally come. You've finally reached the threshold to be able to monetize your YouTube channel. You apply for monetization privileges and you wait, wait, and wait. Finally, you get impatient, and you ask yourself, "How long does it take for YouTube to approve monetization?" Does it take a week, a month, or longer?

It typically takes around 30 days for YouTube to approve monetization privileges for a YouTube channel. However, sometimes it does take longer if a backlog has built up over time. Keep this in mind when applying for monetization, as your channel might not be able to generate revenue as quickly as you hoped.

Having the ability to earn some money from the videos you create is a great feeling. It can be a grind to meet the requirements set by YouTube for monetization, so getting rewarded is quite motivating.

But what exactly are the requirements you need to meet, and what are some potential issues you might run into when trying to monetize your videos?

How Long Does It Take to Get Approved for Monetization on YouTube?

How long does it take to get approved for monetization on YouTube? Well, as I stated above, it typically takes around 30 days for most channels to get approved for monetization.

There are, however, some instances where the waiting period is longer than 30 days. This usually happens when a backlog of requests has been built up over time.

When YouTube first brought in the approval process, it was a bit of a mess. A lot of channels ended up having to wait months before getting approval. So, while it can be annoying to have to wait for 30 days, just be aware that the approval process did use to take longer.

There are some cases where the approval process takes over 30 days, but these cases are rare.

What Are the Requirements to Get Monetized on YouTube?

People always talk about getting monetized on YouTube, but they rarely talk about the requirements to do so. What are the requirements to get monetized on YouTube? How hard are these requirements to meet? How long does it take the average content creator to meet these requirements?

The requirements you must meet to become a member of the YouTube Partner Program so you can monetize your videos are:

• 4,000 watch hours
• 1,000 subscribers

These are some pretty steep requirements. Getting 4,000 watch hours and 1,000 subscribers isn't a walk in the park. Knowing this, if your goal is to be able to monetize your videos with Google AdSense, be prepared to put in the work to meet the requirements that have been set by YouTube.

You can speed up the process of reaching these requirements by following YouTube marketing best practices. Following best practices will position your channel to achieve more success, thus making it easier for you to meet the YouTube Partner Program requirements.

Once your channel meets the requirements, you can apply for monetization privileges.

Why Can't I Monetize My YouTube Account?

Often, I receive emails from people asking me, "Why can't I monetize my YouTube account?" You see, just because your channel reaches the 4,000 watch hour and 1,000 subscriber milestones, it doesn't mean your channel will be approved for monetization. Some other factors contribute to a channel's ability to get monetization privileges.

Factors that contribute to a channels ability to get monetized are:

• Content uploaded
• Channel location

Let's take a closer look at each of these factors.

Content Uploaded

YouTube has guidelines in place that every monetized channel must follow. If a channel breaks the set guidelines, they will be unable to monetize their videos.

The goal of these guidelines is to protect advertisers from having their ads play before videos that contain questionable content.

Even if your channel has 4,000 watch hours and 1000 subscribers, if your videos contain content that is not advertiser-friendly, you will have a difficult time getting your channel monetized.

So, if it is your goal to be able to monetize your videos with Google AdSense, keep this in mind. Ensure your content is advertiser-friendly to give your channel the best opportunity to get monetized.

Copyright

Many YouTube channels create videos by repurposing existing content. For example, sports highlights or funny moments videos. These videos tend to be difficult to monetize, as many of them contain copyright material.

Copyright is something YouTube takes very seriously, so if you uploaded these types of videos, you might be denied monetization privileges.

Another thing to be aware of when it comes to copyright is the music you use in your videos. If you use music in your videos that is not copyright-free, then this might inhibit your ability to get approved for monetization.

Typically, this issue is resolved by deleting videos with copyright music, but this also lowers watch hours, making it take longer to get monetized.

Channel Location

Channels located in certain countries can take longer to be approved for monetization. This is mostly because YouTube has certain resources available in certain countries.

In certain countries, there are fewer employees available to review channels, thus leading to a long wait to be approved for monetization.

Should You Create Videos While Waiting to be Approved for Monetization?

Have you ever wondered- should you create videos while waiting for your YouTube channel to be accepted into the YouTube Partner Program? Or, should you wait until your channel is accepted before you create any new videos? After all, there doesn't seem to be any clear guidelines from YouTube about this.

While waiting for your channel to be monetized, you should continue to publish new videos.

As I mentioned earlier, it can take a while for your channel to be accepted into the Partner Program. Since this is the case, if you stop creating videos until your channel is monetized, you might ruin the momentum you had built from the months prior.

Something to remember is that after your channel is monetized, you'll be able to monetize all of your videos- not just your new videos. So, any videos that you upload before your channel is a member of the Partner Program or while you're waiting to be accepted into the program can earn money once monetized.

Conclusion

One of the appealing things about YouTube is being able to make money from uploading videos. However, not everyone can monetize their videos.

Requirements need to be met to be granted monetization privileges, and the approval process can take 30 days or longer.

Make sure you are aware of these things when attempting to monetize your channel.