YouTube Monetization for Minors (Under 18)

This is fast becoming one of the most prevalent questions we're seeing in the AdSense Help Forum, and most likely in the YouTube Help Forum as well.

Minors under the age of 18 can't sign up for their own Adsense account, even if you can have your own YouTube Channel (YouTube's age requirement is 13 I believe). This becomes a problem when the minor tries to sign up themselves and AdSense rejects their application. Instructions given in some areas simply tell the minor to have a parent sign up for them. But don't explain exactly how to do that.

What you can't do is resubmit your application through your YouTube Channel by changing the email address from your own, to one of your parent's email addresses. That will get you rejected again. You also can't directly submit an application for AdSense with one of your own email accounts and put your parent's name on the application form.

The steps to sign up for an AdSense account need to be taken separately by the parent.  The parent needs their own Google Account/Email address in their name. And the parent will also need to have a website, or blog (Blogger.com), or YouTube Channel (in their name, not in your name) to apply with.  Once the parent has an approved AdSense account, it can be linked to your YouTube Channel.

However, in some cases, the parent doesn't have a website or blog, or even a monetizable YouTube Channel, so in effect, there isn't any way for the parent to apply for Adsense for the minor.

The simplest thing for a parent to do is to create a YouTube Channel under their own name. Their YouTube Channel doesn't need a lot of videos to qualify for monetization.  Once they create a YouTube Channel, the parent can upload one video (or have their child upload the video for them) and wait for YouTube to enable the Channel for monetization. Once it's enabled, the parent can apply for Adsense through the Channel's monetize tab (on the monetize page, the parent will need to look for and click the link that says "how do I get paid" to get the Adsense application).  Once the parent's account is approved, the minor can link it to their own channel, following instructions to do so on YouTube.

If you are a minor who is hoping or planning to get a full Partnership someday on YouTube and are working towards monetizing your videos, you need to plan ahead a little, in order to make this process simpler, and trouble-free.

Make sure you are aware of the content requirements for monetized videos, particularly if you use visuals from gameplay in your videos.




HOW TO PREPARE FOR MONETIZING

1. Sit down with your parent(s) or legal guardian at the computer and explain the monetizing process to them - especially if they aren't very familiar with the web.
2. Explain why you can't sign up yourself for AdSense, and why you'd like your parent to sign up for you.
3. Go to the AdSense Help Center and read through the AdSense Program Policies and Terms and Conditions with your parent.  This part is important, because it will be your parent who is the party owning the AdSense account, and they should be aware of the requirements. The parent's name will be the "payee name" in the AdSense account, and the parent will be responsible for collecting the earnings, and for paying any taxes due on the earnings (no, I'm sorry I can't help you with tax requirements for whatever country you live in). And because they will be responsible for that, they should understand the requirements. YOU should understand the requirements in the Terms and Conditions as well,  because you will still be responsible for following them since the account will be monetizing your channel.
4. Next, if your parent doesn't have a Google Account, help them sign up for one. If they don't have an email address, have them sign up for a gmail account. 
5. Then take your parent to YouTube and have them set up a YouTube Channel under their own name. Even if they don't plan to use it. This YouTube Channel will be the way you submit an application for AdSense. If your parent has no interest in making their own videos, create one or two videos yourself - make sure their contents are suitable for monetizing. Upload those videos to your parent's YouTube channel.

This YouTube account owned by your parent(s), will be the way you apply for Adsense directly from a YouTube channel.  Now you have the requirements in place, and your parents are aware of what's happening. 

Once the parent's channel is enabled for monetizing by YouTube, the application for Adsense is made directly through the parent's channel with the parent's email address.  That means either you, or your parent will need to login to their Google Account, and their YouTube Channel and submit the AdSense application directly through their channel.

Preparing this in advance (before trying to monetize your own videos) will mean a lot less hassle and aggravation, and less problems in trying to get your own channel monetized.

With a parent's channel already monetized and approved by AdSense, you can now simply link your own YouTube Channel to your parent's AdSense account.

This solution seems to me a lot simpler than trying to make a suitable website or blog for your parent, particularly since the requirements for using Adsense on a blog or website require a lot of written articles (original articles, not copied from somewhere else), and in some cases, a wait of six months before it would be approved.

A FINAL WORD

Keep in mind that when a parent monetizes your channel, you should also take the time to find out the best options for safe-guarding both your Channel, and the AdSense account against invalid activity. It can happen to anyone - even on a YouTube Channel, so be sure you use the tracking options available to you.

If Your Adsense Account is Disabled ... You Need Your Publisher ID

This is a very simple, but very important tip for all publishers - in particular, it will be important for those monetizing their YouTube channels with Adsense, but every publisher who still has an active Adsense account should pay attention to this one fact.

When your Adsense account is disabled, you NEED your publisher ID to file your appeal. If you've removed your ad codes from your website, or if you have a YouTube channel, you'll have problems finding that Publisher ID if you haven't kept track of it.

The time to store that information in a safe place is BEFORE you find yourself with a disabled account. In truth, no publisher wants to have their account disabled, and most publisher's going into Adsense don't give much thought to the chance that their account may be disabled, so most don't think much about safe-guarding their adsense information.

FIRST STEPS

The first steps are to create a new folder in the "My Documents" section of your computer. Title it simply "Google Stuff".

Inside that new folder, create a folder for Adsense, and one for Blogger (if you use Blogger), and one for "Google Account".

Go to your email account and download emails you still have from Adsense - if you still have your approval email, you should save that.

To save mail from your gmail account, open the email, click the "printer" icon in the upper right of the mail. That will open your email on a printable page. Select the small arrow from the printer on the left hand menu to get the drop down menu - you don't actually want to print the page, you want to save it. Choose the option to save as a .pdf and save the email to your Adsense folder.

Any other important emails you've received from Adsense should also be saved - policy violation notices, etc. can be saved for future.

Next, you'll want to login to your Adsense account (www.google.com/adsense) and go to your Account Settings page. Take a screenshot of that page. The account settings page in your adsense account provides all the personal information associated with your Adsense account - your login, your Publisher-ID, your Customer ID (which is different from your Publisher ID), your payment details, etc. It will even provide a list of sites you've authorized to display your ads if you use the allowed sites list.

A larger version of the above page can be downloaded here.

Save the screenshot in your Adsense folder.

Finally, go to your Payments Page.  If you aren't a US publisher, you don't receive tax forms like the 1099, but you can access a printable "earnings statement" for each payment you've received. On your payments page, click the "details" link next to the payment issued, and click the "Statement of Earnings" at the bottom of the blue box. That will load a printable earnings statement. You probably don't really want to print them, so take a screenshot for the Statement of Earnings and save it in your Adsense folder. Save as many as you think you'll need.

You should save a copy of your earnings statement each time you get paid. If you should be unlucky enough to have your Adsense account disabled, you will not be able to get back into your account to get this information, so it only makes good sense to get it at payment time, each month.

Now you not only have the information you'd need to file an appeal for a disabled account, but you have records of previous payments and all the data associated with your Adsense account. This takes very little time to set up, but can save you a world of grief in the future.

NEXT STEPS

Because your Adsense account is also linked to your Google Account, you'll want make sure you go to your Google account page and set up the security information if you haven't already done so. As well, click the link on the left of the page for "Data Liberation".  The Data Liberation page will allow you to download information stored for a number of Google products, like all the images in your Picasa albums, or the information in your Google Profile, and your circles. Simply download the information package to your Google folder on your computer.

Along with that, you may also want to take a screenshot of your Google account page, since it also provides the login information for your Google account, and the alternate email address you've provided (if any).

Lastly, if you use Blogger for any of your sites that use Adsense, download your blog to back it up (do so regularly), along with your template. You can save the template by going to the "Template" page in your Blog and saving the xml file.

To export and backup your blog's data (posts, etc.) click the settings link, then choose "Other" and from that page, select "export blog". This will export your posts in the proper file format and you can save these in your Blogger folder on your computer. Should something happen to your blog, you can restore it using the "import" button on the same page.

by J. Gracey Stinson

Security Scams by Phone?

What next.

Just had a super dumb call from some computer place trying to convince me my computer was connected to their server and I was downloading viruses and they were getting error messages. The guy can barely speak english, and he tries very hard to convince me they can tell it's my computer because of my computer license. Yeah well, nice try dude.

Not possible since my security systems won't download viruses; besides, I scan every day with Spybot Search & Destroy, a trusted antivirus, and hijack this, and I have a firewall. You don't spend 2 years on a security forum and not learn a thing or two about avoiding virus crap.

Dope. Don't fall for this people...just don't. And tell your friends not to fall for it either.

First, get the company name they work for. If you've never heard of them - don't trust them. No way they're connected to your computer if you don't let them. If they say they're from Microsoft security, trust them EVEN LESS.

IF you're concerned about virus, then run your scans using your own software - if you don't use spybot search & destroy, get it ... and use (it's free). Make sure your antivirus is up to date, use a firewall. Learn how to protect your computer - don't trust some guy calling from god-knows-where and DON'T, DON'T, DON'T them into your computer, and that goes double for giving them any information at all. Just hang up.

...But Everyone Else is Doing It!

Really? Everyone else is doing it, so it must be okay, right?

We see so many new publishers (and even some "older" publishers) giving this as an excuse for not following the Adsense Program Policies and Webmaster Guidelines.

Let me ask you something. When you tell your child to do something, you expect them to do it. You set up rules in your household that you expect the kids to follow. So when one of your kid's doesn't follow the rules, what do you think?  When your child says to you "everyone else is doing it, so why can't I?" what do you say?

If you are like most parents, you'll tell them that as parents it's your job to set the rules for your household, and your job to make sure they are followed. You probably don't care much what the rules are in other households, and you'll tell your kid's that you expect them to follow your rules, not someone else's.

Well then, what makes you publishers think that it's okay to follow what another website does, instead of following what Adsense tells you to do?

One of the recent posts in the Adsense forum is from an ex-publisher, who thinks that all ex-Adsense publishers should "band together and force Adsense to reform".  This isn't really anything new in the forum, we see similar posts regularly, but it is probably time to address this publicly.

Adsense has a contract with publishers - it's called the Terms of Service (which have previously been addressed here).  Publishers must agree to this contract before they can actually use Adsense. It's your responsibility as a publisher to understand that contract BEFORE you agree to it, and once you agree to it, it's your responsibility to uphold that contract, even if you don't like all the parts of it.

The person posting in the forum, replied with this statement:

If the contract was so one-sided and was designed to make the employee fail in their duties at some early stage, then of course. (of course the business should reform is what they mean).

In reply to that, I'd have to disagree. Based on principle. In fact, since the "employee" would have had to agree to that contract in order to be hired, the onus is on the employee. They can make their own decisions about whether they'll accept the contract or not, BEFORE getting into the "hired" stage.  Adsense is the same. You have the option when you get approved to agree to the contract, or not. That's your choice. If you choose to go forward, then you must choose to agree to abide by the contract, whether you like it or not.

People who don't read the contract and just agree to it, will find themselves having problems. It is our responsibility as publishers to make our own choices and decisions. I personally read all Terms of any site I sign up at, and there have been a few sites whose terms dissuaded me from going forward, because I couldn't live with the terms of their contract. That's my choice, the same as it's any publisher's choice. The options exist - you choose to abide by the contract, or you choose to not use the service.


People need to learn to become responsible for their own decisions at the time they make them, instead of complaining about what they signed "after-the-fact".

Not all of us actually like the Adsense terms, but many of us are only too aware of what they say, and what can happen based on those terms. Unlike a lot of others, I agreed to the terms knowing full well what they meant.

Businesses of all sorts work in a similar way. The business has the right to decide how they will run their business. I wouldn't much appreciate someone else telling me how to run my business, or what my contract should say. Neither, I'm sure, would many other businesses allow such a thing.

Another statement of note from the ex-publisher (and we also see this from many publishers who have been disabled) is that AdSense operates as a scam hiding behind a legit organisation for cover.

I don't think so.  I've had my Adsense account since late 2006, and haven't had any problems ever collecting my earnings - I am not a large publisher and don't earn mega amounts, but I get my check every time it's issued, without any problems. And I'm not a US citizen, nor do I live in the US. Many of our forum regulars live all over the world, and collect their earnings regularly too.

The difference between those who are able to keep their accounts long term and those who run afoul of the policies in their early stages is probably a lot simpler than some might think, and most of it is unrelated to being "click-bombed". The percentage of people who are innocent and actually do get click-bombed is extremely small (maybe as low as 3 or 4%, if that) compared to those who have solicited the click-bombing by joining click-rings.

- new publishers don't take time to understand the rules, not to the letter of the policies, nor to the "spirit" of the policies.  They are more interested in covering their sites with ads to "make money" than to "waste time" learning the ropes first. Nobody should ever rush headlong into something they don't understand. Far too many new publishers don't have any idea how to even edit a website, or place their code, let alone understand how Adsense works.

- new publishers want money, more than anything else and tend to run off slapping their sites on link exchanges, and traffic sites to get a boost in their traffic. Most of which are traffic sources that fall outside of the "okay" limit for Adsense. The traffic quality section has lots of information about how to increase your traffic levels appropriately, but I would guess that 90% of the new publishers have no clue it even exists, because of course they don't take time to read the information available. It's too much work to read all that stuff, so ... just put the ads on and hope to get rich.

- new publishers tend to follow what they see on other websites, and not what they do read (if they read it) in the policies. This is one of the biggest issues I've seen. "That site does it and gets a way with it (for a while), so I'll do the same. It must be okay."   Even if the policies say it isn't.  This is another area people must learn to take responsibility for their own choices. Adsense policies are written for a purpose; that purpose is so publishers know what you can and can't do. If you want to blindly follow another site without even knowing if they are doing the right thing, that's your problem.  

Personally, I believe I could make more money by doing things other than I am, however, from my standpoint if Adsense hasn't specifically said something is "okay and allowed" I'm not going to take any chances by doing it. If it specifically says it isn't okay, you can bet I won't do it, regardless of what any other website does.

And like many publishers (both active and disabled), they also think that there should be warnings rather than account dismissal for early "violations".

That would be nice.  BUT, Really. How many "warnings" does the law give before issuing a ticket for a traffic violation? Not too damn many, and they don't care if you are a new driver or not. They expect you to know the rules of the road. Ignorance is not a defense.

There are multiple warnings scattered throughout the Adsense Program Policies, and also in the Webmaster Guidelines. If people aren't going to take heed of THOSE warnings, then you begin to wonder if there is any point at all to issuing a warning. How many warnings to do people need?

The way I see it, if you're told not to touch the hot stove, you've been warned. If you touch it and get burned, then it's your own fault. You shouldn't need yet another warning. Pay attention to the warnings that exist throughout the Adsense Help Center files, and you shouldn't need a warning. For anything you don't really understand or aren't sure is okay, you can ask before you do it. That's called being "proactive" about your choices.

So are there problems for new publishers who sign up for Adsense? Yes, of course there are. Most of these problems could be resolved in the beginning if publishers took the time to understand how everything works before actually using the services.

What I see as inherently wrong with the Adsense recruitment methods is the lack of education BEFORE allowing a new publisher access to any Adsense ad codes.  New publishers should be required to attend an online webinar that explains all the policies in-depth, and then should have to complete a questionnaire without having any access to the answers from the help center. At that point, if they pass the "test" stage, they get access to their entire account and the codes. That way, people are educated before they jump in with both feet.  The publisher then becomes responsible for everything they do, and if they still fail, then nobody would be pointing any fingers at Adsense. Right?  Wrong. There are some people who will always try to avoid their own responsibility for failure. 

Like many of us who continue to use Adsense, I see things that should be changed. Things I'd like to see changed. But I don't run Adsense, and I don't get to make those decisions. My options are to continue to use it and suggest changes when we get a chance, and to stick to the rules as they stand now. 

I don't support all their decisions, but I support their right as a business to make the choices they make for their own business...whether I might like it or not is of little consequence. If I dislike it enough, I'll stop using it. For now, I've learned to live within their rules. I hope you'll take the time to learn how to do that too, before you need any "warning".

Adsense, Blogger and the DMCA Notice

With the recent push by Adsense to ensure the quality of publisher websites, it has become even more important that Adsense publishers are vigilant about protecting their copyrights.

I've already written about some of the ways you can protect your contents on this post back in 2009 about duplicate contents.

There is a new one also out there called "EmbedAnything". Personally, I would not use this, and not having used it, I don't really have any recommendations for it.

My personal opinion is that Embed Anything might be fine for those who wish to share their contents, but it not an option for those who do not. I also don't believe it would provide much in the way of actual protection.

Anyone can copy from your website, even if you disabled the right click function (which is totally annoying to most visitors as the right click context menu contains many functions that people use while viewing a website, not just the copy function) people can still copy your content. A couple of ways. Firstly, Firefox will show a notice that the right-click function has been disabled on that website, however, Firefox will still let you highlight and copy the text, rendering the "no right click" codes entirely useless.

And if someone really wants to copy your text, they can simply view the source code for your page, and highlight the text block they want, then copy it. Disabling the right-click functionality doesn't work in source code view, so pretty much any browser can still allow people to copy your work.

What's left then?

Besides the free registry places I listed in my old article (which still apply), you need to file DMCA notices to get your copied works removed from the sites that copied them. Keep in mind though - if you had previously given someone approval to re-post your content, you should not file a DMCA notice. You've given them permission and that means it is not a DMCA issue - they posted with your authorization.

The other thing you need to be clear about when filing a DMCA claim is that you actually own the content. If you've copied a bunch of images off someone else's website...you don't own those, and you may not file a DMCA claim for things you don't own.

Lastly, in filing a DMCA claim, you need to file it with the correct agency. If the person who copied your content has a website and paid webhosting, you will want to find out who their webhost is (do a "whois" search for that) because that's who you want to file the claim with. If they are also using Adsense, you can file a DMCA claim with Adsense. If they are using Blogger, you'll need to file a DMCA claim with Blogger.

You need to complete the forms fully and correctly, and from some of the DMCA notices I've seen on Chilling Effects...some people don't understand how to fill out the forms. Below are copies of the DMCA notices for Adsense and Blogger, with instructions on how to complete them correctly (click the image to get a larger view).

Adsense DMCA Notice - Online Form

Sample

Blogger DMCA Notice - Online Form

Sample

Please remember - do not complete a form unless you are the original owner of the contents.