If you’re in the YouTube Partner Program, you can turn on ads for videos – including Shorts – if your content meets our advertiser-friendly content guidelines.
When you turn on ads, you’ll see a monetization icon next to each video, which shows you the monetization status of the videos. Keep in mind that whether you’ll get revenue depends on several factors, including copyright claims, revenue sharing, and advertiser-friendliness. For more info, check out uploading videos to monetize with ads.
In general, if an icon is green 
Checking
You’ll see this icon in your video list when our systems are checking a video for ad suitability. No ads are shown while the check is running.
Our systems check for ad suitability during the upload process. This usually take less than 20 minutes and at most 1 hour. You’ll see the monetization status shown when the check is complete. To make sure you maximize revenue potential, we recommend you wait for checks to be complete before making your video public. Learn more about ad suitability checks.
On
You turned on monetization, and because the video meets our advertiser-friendly content guidelines, it’s eligible for most ads. Keep in mind that you may not get all the ad revenue for this video. Sometimes, your revenue may be temporarily held because of a copyright dispute or invalid traffic.
What the green icon means for you
- If the status description says “on”: You’re earning full revenue on this video.
- If the status description says “Exceptions”: This video is only eligible for non-personalized ads because its audience is set as made for kids.
Sharing
You turned on monetization for a cover video of a song, but a music publisher claimed it. This music publisher has previously agreed to share revenue with creators in YPP who make music covers.
What the green icon means for you
- If the status description says “Copyright claim. Revenue sharing”: That means you’ll get some, but not all revenue for this video. Learn more about revenue sharing and monetizing eligible cover videos.
Escrow
You turned on monetization, and revenue is being held separately during the Content ID dispute process, and once the dispute is resolved, we'll pay it out to the appropriate party.
What the green icon means for you
- If the status description says “Copyright claim”: That means the video was found to contain copyrighted material and the copyright owner is reviewing your dispute or appeal. Learn more about monetization during Content ID disputes.
Limited
You turned on monetization for this video, but because it doesn’t meet all our advertiser-friendly content guidelines, brands may choose to opt out on content. This generally means you may earn less revenue on this content (because fewer ads are likely to appear) compared to content that’s suitable for advertisers.
What the yellow icon means for you
- If the status description says “causing limited or no ads. You can request a review”: That means our automated systems assessed this video. You can request a review, which means a policy specialist will look at the video again, and if appropriate, can change the video’s monetization status.
- If the status description says “currently causing limited or no ads, but video is under review”: That means a policy specialist (a real person, not a machine) is reviewing this video. Our specialists can keep or change the monetization status, and their decision is final.
- If the status description says “currently causing limited or no ads. Confirmed by manual review”: That means our policy specialists have looked at the video, and believe that it doesn’t meet all of our advertiser-friendly content guidelines. The yellow icon status is locked and cannot be changed.
Note: If a video has invalid traffic, it won't result in a yellow icon. Yellow icons are only applied to videos based on our advertiser-friendly content guidelines.
Ineligible
You turned on monetization, but there’s a copyright claim on the video. It cannot be monetized.
What the red icon means for you
- If the status description says “copyright claim”: This means a rightsholder has either claimed your video using Content ID or has submitted a complete and valid copyright removal request because your video uses their copyright-protected work without authorization. As a result, you're no longer monetizing the video.
Off
For Watch Page ads, this icon means you chose not to turn on monetization for the video. If you see this icon on your Shorts, it means you haven't accepted the Shorts Monetization Module in YouTube Studio.
What the gray icon means for you:
- If the status description says “copyright claim. Eligible for revenue sharing”: That means someone else owns the copyright on content within your video. Ads are running and revenue is going to the copyright owner. The good news for you is that the copyright owner is open to sharing revenue with you. If you change the monetization status to “on,” you’ll get partial revenue for this video.
Why the icon changes from green to yellow
Sometimes a video's monetization icon changes between green (monetizing)
What you can do about icon changes
Before you set your video live
We recommend waiting for checks to complete during upload before pushing your video live. Learn more about self-certification.
After your video is live
A video's classification may change in the first 24-48 hours of upload. It generally stabilizes after 48 hours. Keep in mind that it can change again based on how viewers engage with your video. If you think that a yellow icon
Use icons to check video monetization status
To see what monetization icons are on your videos:
- Sign in to YouTube Studio.
- From the left menu, select Content
.
- In the Monetization column, look for the monetization icons and hover over them for more info.
To filter your video list by monetization status:
- Click the filter bar
Monetization.
- To see videos with green icons, check Monetized. To see videos with red and gray icons, check Not monetized. To see videos with yellow icons, check Limited.
- Click APPLY.
Monetization.To request a copy of your video list, get in touch with Creator Support.