Keywords and Phrases YouTube Demonetise

It’s a moralistic minefield out there! In an increasingly enlightened world, more terms than ever before can lead to the flagging of a video on streaming platforms and the demonetisation of content. But how far should it go?

Back in 2019, an investigation by YouTube channel Nerd City in partnership with the research firm Ocelot AI, and YouTube Analyzed compiled the most popular terms and phrases that YouTube deems unsuitable. The results may surprise you, both in their depth and apparent counter-intuitiveness. 

The study centred around an experiment conducted by Andrew, from the channel Analyzed, in which he compiled over 15,000 typical words and terms. These were lifted from all corners of the resource well, including the Oxford Dictionary, the most viewed listings on Urban Dictionary, and popular search terms. Once the list was complete, he manually uploaded clips, lasting no longer than one or two seconds, each featuring terms from his list. All videos were uploaded with boring, mundane content that would go unnoticed by YouTube bots.

His research resulted in a comprehensive list of terms and phrases that would prove costly to uploaders. 

Some of them are:

“Abortion”, “4chan”, “allegation”, “Arab”, “asian”, “attempted”, “attempts”, “ata”, “aunty”, “blackmail”, “bruceta”, “cannabis”, “Cancer”, “chuj”, “cinnamon”, “condom”, “cumming”, “cure”, “grope”, “gspot”, “referral”.

You can see the complete list of demonetised words here.

Usual suspects such as 9/11, Adolf Hitler, other horrific historical references, and swear words will immediately ensure your video suffers the scourge of demonetisation – and deservedly so.

However, other terms do not deserve the same treatment.

Indeed, some are arguing it has gone too far. Activists from the LGBTQ community have criticised YouTube for including “gay” and “lesbian” on the terminological blacklist. 

The research deemed that YouTube’s bots found the aforementioned terms unfriendly to advertisers, while “straight” and “heterosexual” passed the test with flying colours.

In response to the study, a YouTube spokesperson defended its site, stating: “We’re proud of the incredible LGBTQ voices on our platform and take concerns like these very seriously.”

Are you thinking of uploading some new content? Take a look at the list above to make sure your house is in order. In an era of tightening regulatory frameworks, you must be aware of all YouTube’s ethical trends to maximise your profit.