How to choose a video for promotion
Google, the owner of YouTube, is quite picky about advertising. Moderators are constantly trying to improve the process: exclude propaganda, intolerance, dangerous goods or services, and much more.
The most important thing for us is to figure out how we can avoid any traps. There is a well-known statement that says: "Ignorance of the law is no excuse."
First of all, to reach the most effective promotion on your channel you should have at least 3 videos. Why? Because you get a chance to earn extra views. While the service advertises one video, users go to your channel and watch other videos.
How to pick a promotional video?
There are a few important rules about Google Ads. Let's say you can blog about sports betting, or actively discuss the hype topic of body positivity, expressing your "negative attitude". You do this on your channel, but YouTube's mechanisms and Google Ads will not allow such topics to go to the masses. On one hand, we have the freedom to speak out, but on the other hand, the requirements for advertising are much more demanding.
What is strictly forbidden to advertise?
- Fake products
It's simple: if you launched an illegal production of Dior handbags, which cost $10, and now you want to attract customers via YouTube, you won’t make it. Moderators instantly block content with brand copying.
- Intolerable content
This point includes everything that is unacceptable in today's society: threats, insults, discrimination, accidents, and everything that comes to your mind when you hear the words "unacceptable" and "shocking".
- Dangerous goods and services
That’s everything related to drugs, weapons, alcoholic beverages, explosives. Even if you decide to just play around with firecrackers in the courtyard of your house and shoot it for YouTube in order to collect likes later, it won’t work like that.
- Supporting bad activities
Please be extremely attentive to those who run channels related to the IT and computer industry. Hacking instructions, increasing traffic, educational scams, which may seem harmless to you, are absolutely unacceptable for advertising.
Mind that we are talking about advertising such videos!
And with regard to these four points, advertising is strictly forbidden.
There is another point called "restricted content". Theoretically, videos from this category can be admitted to advertising, but what is important to remember here is that you should consider the legal or cultural characteristics of the region. Advertising reaches a huge audience, so it is important that your video meets all the requirements.
- Gambling
We have sorted out one of such examples. According to the rules, it clearly states that advertising gambling may be allowed as long as it complies with local laws. But let's be honest, have you seen advertisements for casinos, bets, or card games on similar websites?
- Copyright
YouTube is actively fighting piracy. Thus, moderators constantly monitor content that could harm the original source by either depriving them of income or damaging their reputation.
- Adult content
An important note here: not all 18+ content is censored. You can advertise, for example, a video with abusive language, but it is worth pointing out that the content is 18+ to stay on the safe side. Optionally, you can put the appropriate watermark in the video itself.
Products or services of erotic content, models in ambiguous positions and outfits are not allowed. Everything related to dating sites, erotic films, or magazines is not allowed to be advertised.
The following points don’t need to be described, but they worth mentioning:
- Trademarks
- Financial services
- Alcoholic drinks
- Political content
- Healthcare and pharmaceuticals
As for the rest, the Google policy is quite loyal and meets the authors halfway. You can see it by special mechanisms that help authors find the right audience and get to the top.
Let’s get back to our initial question: how to choose a video for promotion? If you've been creating YouTube content for a long time, go for the video that has the most likes and views. If you are just starting out, choose the most vivid, interesting, and popular video that can be potentially interesting not only to you but also to a large number of people. Here you can rely on those who have already achieved something in the topic you make videos about. Search for a video that is best popular among viewers and try to address the same topic, but expand it in your own way.
For more details, please refer to Google Help. Any situation that you come across, has been definitely studied by the moderators and is described in the instructions. If not, we are always happy to help you figure it out. For this, visit our "FAQ" page.
