How to Control Third-Party YouTube Ads on a Brand Channel

Firstly, let’s clear up one confusion. You might think:
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But our channel is not in the YouTube Partner Program and, therefore, not monetized!

WRONG!

From 2020, ads can appear on videos from channels not in the YouTube Partner Program (YPP).

That means you 1) don’t have control over ads on your channel and 2) don’t receive revenue from them.

If this is the case for your brand’s channel, please join the YPP first.

If you’re in the YPP and have access to the YouTube Studio, let’s continue.

Option 1: Turn off ads completely

Sign in to YouTube Studio.
Go to Content in the left menu.
Select all videos.
Click Edit and Monetisation.
Select Monetisation Off.

Option 2: Turn off certain types of ads

Be aware! You can only change the type and location of the ad.

You can’t control the content of ads shown on your channel.

How to change default monetisation settings

Sign in to YouTube Studio.
Go to Settings in the left menu.
Click on Upload defaults and Monetisation.

Here you can turn off all ad categories except for display ads. Learn about different ad types in our blog post.

The location of an ad is less customizable since you can only turn off mid-roll ads by default. However, you can be more flexible on the video level—more on that in the next step.

How to change monetisation settings for separate videos:

Sign in to YouTube Studio.
Click on any video.
Head to Monetisation in the left menu.

As you can see in the image above, you can turn off monetisation completely or adjust it to your preferences. In contrast to the default channel settings, you can control ad location 100% here.