Request human review of videos marked "Not suitable for most advertisers"

If the content of a video you uploaded is identified as not suitable for most advertisers, you'll see a yellow dollar sign, next to the video.

A video will be marked "Not suitable for most advertisers" if:

  • Our automated systems think your content is not suitable for all brands.
    • Note: If you think our systems made a mistake, then you can request human review. Your review gets sent to an expert and their decisions help our systems get smarter over time. Deleting the video and re-uploading won't help. Videos can only be submitted for review one time and the review decision cannot be overturned. Learn more about how ad-friendly reviews work.
  • Our human experts confirmed that your video does not meet our advertiser-friendly content guidelines.

How to check monetization & review status

You can use the checks page during upload to screen your video for ad suitability and copyright claims before publishing it. If your video is marked "Not suitable for most advertisers" and you think we got it wrong, you can request a human review.

Note: Copyright and ad suitability checks results aren't final. For example, future

manual claims

,

copyright strikes

, and

edits to your video settings

may impact your video. If your video's metadata is changed after publishing and is no longer suitable for ads, new monetization restrictions might be visible in your video list.

How monetization status is applied

We use machine learning to determine if it meets our advertiser-friendly content guidelines during the upload process. This also applies to scheduled live streams, where our systems look at the title, description, thumbnail, and tags even before the stream goes live.

We know our system doesn't always get it right, so if you see a yellow icon and feel our automated systems made a mistake, you can appeal. Such reviews will help our systems get smarter over time.

If you're not sure why your video has the yellow icon, review our advertiser-friendly content guidelines, not just against the content of the video, but also the title, description, thumbnail, and tags. Additionally, blank videos or videos without a title or metadata likely don't provide enough context to help our systems understand if the content is suitable for all advertisers, so it may lead to a yellow icon status for the video.

How to appeal

If you believe that your video is suitable for all brands, you can appeal the decision by requesting a human review. We receive many requests to monetize videos every day and review these submissions as quickly as possible.

You can see your videos that aren't suitable for all advertisers by clicking the drop-down menu next to View in the top right, then choosing Limited or no ads.

Follow the steps below to submit your appeal from your computer:

  1. Sign in to YouTube Studio.
  2. From the left menu, select Content.
  3. Make sure that your content follows our advertiser-friendly content guidelines. Keep in mind that advertisers have a choice about where to show their ads.
  4. Go to the video you'd like to appeal under the Restrictions column, where Ad suitability is listed.
  5. Hover overAd suitabilitythen clickRequest review and follow the on-screen instructions. You'll only see this option if your video is eligible for appeal. Once you submit, the text next to the video will update with your appeal's status.

Note: You can also submit your appeal using the YouTube Studio app.

How does the appeals process work?

When you request a human review (e.g. appeal the current monetization status), the video gets looked at by an expert who spends time watching the video and reviewing the video's content, title, and metadata against our advertiser-friendly content guidelines.

Keep in mind that the video's icon status may change even after your video is submitted for review. Our systems continue to run their scans until the review has been completed. You'll know when a final decision has been made on your review when you get an email update.

Learn more about monetization icon changes between green and yellow.

How long does review take?

We know these reviews are important to you and your revenue. Human reviews can take up to 7 days. We strive to review as many videos as humanly possible, and as quickly and accurately as possible. Because we're a platform that has hundreds of millions of videos, we have to set guidelines around which videos get reviewed first. This is to make sure we review those videos that are getting substantial traffic.

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