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Amanda Perelli and Marta Biino
Updated
2022-11-24T12:48:42Z
- YouTubers can monetize their videos with ads when they have 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 watch hours.
- Google places ads and pays creators based on factors like watch time and viewer demographic.
- Four creators with 1 to 2 million subscribers shared how much they made from ads.
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For many YouTubers, breaking the 1 million subscriber mark can really make them feel they've made it. And it often means they're earning a full-time living from the platform.
To start earning money from YouTube, creators must have at least 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 watch hours in the past year on their long-form videos. Starting early 2023, creators who have 1,000 subscribers and 10 million views on short-form videos over the previous 90 dayswill also become eligible.
Once they reach that threshold, they can apply for the Partner Program. Creators who are part of the Partner Program can monetize their videos with Google-placed ads.
TheCPM rate (the cost advertisers pay per thousand YouTube ad views) varies from channel to channel (and video to video), and some top YouTubers also have ad-placement strategiesto maximize their earnings.
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One key to earning more money from a particular video is placing ads before viewers typically "drop off" from the video. Viewers often drop off if an intro is too long or the creator stays for a long time on one subject, industry experts have told Insider.
Direct ad revenue from Google isn't the only form of income for the majority of digital stars — most of them earn money a variety of income streams, like brand sponsorships, merchandise sales, or affiliate marketing.
And with a difficult economic situation, creators are trying hard to diversify their businesses, in order to be prepared in case of a recession.
But for now, ad revenue from Google seems to be a stable income source for many creators.
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Insider has spoken with dozens of YouTube creators about how much each of them earned from the platform. Four YouTube creators we spoke with had between 1 million and 2 million subscribers. They shared insights on financial topics, like their average CPMs, what they'd made per month, and the most they'd earned from a single video.
Here's a breakdown of what they said. The creators are listed from the least to the most subscribers:
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Nate O'Brien — 1.29 million subscribers
Nate O'Brien is a personal finance and entrepreneurship YouTuber who has 1.29 million subscribers. He had about 1 million when he spoke with Insider in June 2021.
Some of O'Brien's recent videos have included "Stock Market for Beginners 2022" or "8 Profitable Business Ideas for the 2022 Recession."
How much he earns from 1 million views
O'Brien's earnings for 1 million views have changed throughout 2021. For example, he made $39,200 in February 2021 for 1.7 million views, and $31,500 in March for 1.6 million views. In April, he made $25,700 for 1.2 million views.
How much he made in a year on YouTube
From from May 2020 to May 2021, O'Brien's estimated revenue earned through YouTube's Partner Program was about $444,000, he shared with Insider in June 2021.
This includes revenue he has earned from the subscription serviceYouTube Premium.
YouTube shares some of the revenue earned from Premium with its creators "based on how much members watch your content,"according to YouTube. O'Brien's channel earned about $4,000 fromYouTube Premium from January to May 2021.
Read the full post: How much a YouTube creator with 1 million subscribers earns per month from his personal-finance videos
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Shelby Church — 1.76 million subscribers
Shelby Church is a tech and lifestyle YouTuber who has 1.76 million subscribers. She had about 1.6 million when she spoke with Insider in January 2020.
Some of Church's videos include tech reviews with topics like which iPhone is worth the cost, or real estate videos about her Airbnb business and tiny houses.
How much she earns from 1 million views
Videos with about 1 million views have earned her between $2,000 and $30,000 depending on the video subject, she told Insider in January 2020.
Her video about Amazon FBA (Fulfillment by Amazon) had an unusually high CPM rate, she said in January 2020. The video earned her about $30,000 in AdSense revenue from 1.8 million views (at the time).
How much she made in a year on YouTube
Church earned $140,000 in 2019 from YouTube, she said in January 2020. This was more than double what she made in 2018.
Her average CPM rate
She found that her videos over 10 minutes long generally made $5 per 1,000 ad views, while the videos under 10 minutes usually made $2 per ad 1,000 views. YouTube takes 45% of that and she keeps the rest.
The most views she's gotten on a single video
She had a widely shared video in 2019 on how much YouTube paid her for a video with 1 million views, which has nearly 8 million views. She said that video had generated about $26,000 in AdSense money by January 2020, when it had about 6 million views.
Read the full post:How much money YouTube paid a creator with over 1 million subscribers during 2019
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Tiffany Ma — 1.79 million subscribers
Tiffany Ma is a YouTube creator who films videos about her daily life and has about 1.8 million subscribers. She spoke with Insider about her earnings in May 2021.
Ma has recently published videos about how much she spends as a business owner, her experience getting a puppy, and about remodeling her bathroom.
How much she makes with 1.8 million subscribers
Ma broke down how much her channel has earned from Google-placed ads in 2021 through the Partner Program, which creators can access when they reach 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 watch hours in the past year.
Here's a monthly breakdown:
- January 2021: $4,500
- February 2021: $11,500
- March 2021: $10,500
- April 2021: $5,700
"To really optimize your audience, I think YouTubers should definitely put three to four ads within a video," Ma said.
Read the full post: How much a YouTube star with 1.8 million subscribers earns per month from her lifestyle videos
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Andrei Jikh — 2.18 million subscribers
Andrei Jikh is a personal finance and cryptocurrency YouTuber who has 2.18 million subscribers. He had 1.7 million when he spoke with Insider in October 2021.
Some of Jikh's recent videos have covered the crypto market crash, how to stay financially protected in case of a recession, and how he lost one million dollars in investments.
His average CPM rate
In 2021, making videos about cryptocurrency helped Jikh boost his CPM rate, or how much money advertisers pay YouTube per 1,000 ad views.
His channel's average playback-based CPM rate was $32, and average RPM rate, or how much revenue a creator earns per every 1,000 video views, was $17.
How much he made on YouTube since 2019, and how much he made in 2021
As of October 2021, Jikh's channel had earned over $1.6 million in AdSense revenue with 126 million views. These numbers were calculated from when he joined YouTube in 2019.
Between January and October 2021, his channel earned $853,000 in ad revenue.
From April to October 2021, he earned between $50,000 and $125,000 a month on YouTube in ad revenue.
Read the full post: How much money a YouTuber with 1.7 million subscribers has made this year from crypto and personal-finance videos
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