Coronavirus has claimed its latest, albeit unexpected victim: the revenues of those YouTube creators who publish content about the disease.
Even by YouTube’s many and “creative” demonetization standards, this latest one stands out.
The announcement was made almost in passing on Creator Insider, a channel run by YouTube employees.
The giant is updating its guidelines, the host said, “to reflect” – i.e., reclassify – the coronavirus outbreak as a sensitive event.
And that means all videos focusing on the subject have been demonetized.
The decision will remain in force until further notice, the host remarked – and moved on to other topics.
But given that coronavirus has dominated the news cycle around the world and across various media formats, including social media like YouTube for weeks now – many publishers must be left scratching their heads as to why the platform made this decision, and why now.
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