Overview

• The policy, effective July 29, applies to both regular videos and Shorts, making strong profanity within the first seven seconds eligible for full ad revenue.
• Profanity in thumbnails or titles and repeated strong swearing throughout a video still triggers limited or no monetization.
• Creators with past uploads demonetized for early profanity will see automatic status updates or can appeal under the revised guidelines.
• YouTube classifies profanity into moderate terms (e.g., “asshole”), strong terms (e.g., “fuck”), and extreme slurs, with the latter remaining fully demonetized.
• The update responds to creator frustration after stricter profanity rules introduced in late 2022 and eased in March 2023.