
Part 1 of 5:Live streaming video is expected to account for as much as 84% of all internet traffic in 2020, and the total value of the live streaming industry is estimated to top $124 billion by 2025. That's a lot of traffic - and a lot of potential ad dollars.
YouTube claims that successful creators earn five to six figures per year on their platform, and that the number of creators earning that much grew by 40% from 2018 to 2019. They are, however, less forthcoming when it comes to disclosing how many fall into that category. But the fact remains: there is significant money to be made with YouTube ads in live streaming.
So, for those who are earning well, how does YouTube monetization work? Content creators who stream on YouTube Live can access monetization options through the platform's Partner Program (as long as they meet the minimum criteria of at least 1000 subscribers and 4000 hours of watched video). Those options include selling ads, subscriptions, merchandise, and more. Let's take a closer look.
How to Make Money on YouTube Live with AdvertisingYouTube creators in the Partner Program connect their AdSense accounts and YouTube places ads within their streaming content. Advertisers bid on ad inventory based on reach as well as on geographic, demographic, and interest targeting, and YouTube serves the winning ad. Creators are paid based on cost-per-click or cost-per-view - the advertiser chooses which they want - and the creator earns 55% of the revenue generated. A typical charge is 18 cents per view, but a view only counts if the ad plays until at least halfway through.
Serving ads through the YouTube Live Partner Program is relatively easy but there are drawbacks. As a content creator, you have very little control over which ads will appear. You can block ad categories or even ads from specific advertisers, but you can't be selective about which advertisers will be associated with your content. Whoever wins the auction will have their ad displayed.
And there are additional limitations to consider. For example:
You're limited to just one pre-roll, one mid-roll, and one display or overlay ad per stream. That may be fine for shorter content but if your streams are longer, the only workaround is the highly manual process of splitting your content into multiple, short feeds, each with its own ads.
Mid-roll ads must be manually inserted.
Spot length is limited to 7 and 15 second only and all ads, regardless of length, are skippable, which means hitting that critical halfway point can be difficult.
All ads are disabled in players embedded on external sites with auto-start turned on, so those viewers will never see your ads.
Only pre-roll ads are viewable on mobile. Mid-roll, display, and overlay ads reach desktop viewers only.
Other Ways to Earn Money on YouTube LiveYouTube Live has also added additional monetization options in an effort to mitigate the uncertainty of ad placement - uncertainty caused by their own limitations.
Super Chat and Super Stickers:
Viewers can pay to pin comments or stickers on live streams. At VidCon 2019, YouTube boasted that Super Chat is used by more than 90,000 channels, with some streams earning upwards of $400 per minute. (You might need a grain of salt with that.)
Merchandise Sales:
Content creators, in partnership with a merchandise supplier, can embed a box below their videos where viewers can browse and purchase products for sale.
Paid Subscriptions:
Creators with more than 30,000 subscribers can offer paid memberships with up to five subscription levels. The higher the level, the higher the price point and the better the perks.
The Bigger the Audience, The Bigger the ChallengeYouTube Live monetization options are extremely difficult to scale for producers with significant viewership. Every one of the limitations listed above is an obstacle to maximizing revenue. Content creators want more control over ad pricing as well as over which YouTube ads they will accept, and from which advertisers. On the buy-side, advertisers also want more control over which inventory their ads support.
Fortunately, YouTube Live monetization options are not the only game in town.
Coming Up Next:Check back soon for Part 2 of this series, where we'll offer a guide to monetizing streaming media, both directly through YouTube Live as well as through third-party alternatives.
Contact us to learn more about how WO Digital Ad Solution can help you monetize streaming video content.
For press inquiries, contact media@wideorbit.com.
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
15/05/2026
Join Calrec at MPTS 2026 | May 13-14 | Stand A40 | Olympia, London We're looking forward to meeting up with customers and partners at this year's Media ...
15/05/2026
86% of media planners would move more linear TV budget to CTV if they had show-level targeting and reporting - and 65% would also shift dollars from programmati...
15/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/05/2026
Clear-Com will showcase new communications solutions and major platform updates at InfoComm 2026 (Booth N7005), June 17-19, in the North and Central Halls of t...
15/05/2026
Following an outstanding inaugural year in 2025, Rise AV is proud to announce the return of its flagship leadership initiative, Elevate. The programme continues...
15/05/2026
Berklee Announces Lineup for Inaugural AI Music Summit The three-day event puts musicians at the center of the future of music creation, ethics, and the indus...
15/05/2026
Lightware returns to InfoComm 2026 with a focused showcase of scalable USB-C connectivity, next-generation AV-over-IP solutions, and technologies that help over...
15/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/05/2026
Delivering a live, arena-scale production of a massively popular band is no small feat. Between expansive in-arena LED walls and a global live stream fed to onl...
15/05/2026
Connection is the heartbeat of any strong community, and with live streaming becoming more accessible in the modern era, it's much easier for faith-based or...
15/05/2026
Powered by GX 3 media servers, optimised IP-VFC workflows and on-site engineering expertise, the production delivers high-performance visuals for one of the wor...
15/05/2026
Back to All News
A Mother, Two Daughters and One Big Scandal: Netflixs Crime-Co...
15/05/2026
Against that backdrop, IAB UK has added retail media to its Gold Standard. Jan Pitt, Commercial Director at ABC, spoke with Liv McCullagh, Retail Media Lead at ...
15/05/2026
Further to RT 's statement released yesterday and in the interest of full transparency, with the full permission of Derek Mooney, we are now publishing the ...
14/05/2026
Sweetwater and Airstream have announced a custom-built Dolby Atmos mobile recording studio inside an Airstream trailer, set to tour music festivals, schools, tr...
14/05/2026
The American Association of Professional Baseball (AAPB) has announced a new par...
14/05/2026
ESPN has announced plans to transform Santa Monica Beach into a broadcast hub du...
14/05/2026
Amagi has announced a significant update to Amagi CLOUDPORT, its cloud-based broadcast playout platform. The update includes 250-plus features shipped in FY25-2...
14/05/2026
Clear-Com will exhibit at InfoComm 2026 (Booth N7005, June 17-19, Las Vegas Convention Center), introducing a new product that builds on Arcadia Central Station...
14/05/2026
Ikegami will exhibit at BroadcastAsia 2026 (Stand 5D3-1, Singapore Expo, May 20-22), introducing two new viewfinders alongside its existing camera, control, and...
14/05/2026
Grass Valley has announced that dB Broadcast has delivered new IP-based outside ...
14/05/2026
NAGRAVISION, a Kudelski Group company, has announced a partnership with the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) to launch Play Snooker,...
14/05/2026
Belden Inc. has announced a definitive agreement to acquire RUCKUS Networks from Vistance Networks for approximately $1.85 billion. The transaction has been app...
14/05/2026
NVIDIA has released the Content Localization Blueprint, a modular reference arch...
14/05/2026
Disney has announced that Disney will be the exclusive U.S. streaming home of the Banana Bowl, the Banana Ball league season championship, streaming live this ...
14/05/2026
Arkona technologies and technology partner manifold will demonstrate their production solutions on the Magna Systems and Engineering stand (Booth 5D1-1) at Broa...
14/05/2026
Haivision will host a webinar on Thursday, May 21 at 10 a.m. ET / 4 p.m. CET cov...
14/05/2026
The CW Network and ESPN have announced a sublicense broadcast agreement for The CW to televise ACC football and men's and women's college basketball gam...
14/05/2026
The agreement marks Scripps Sports' first NBA local rights deal...
14/05/2026
A new report from education-technology company Wiingy testing post-ChatGPT predictions against three years of real-world data has identified broadcasting as one...
14/05/2026
Global Citizen and FIFA have announced that Madonna, Shakira, and BTS will headl...
14/05/2026
LOS ANGELES, CA, May 14, 2026 - The nonprofit Sundance Institute announced today the cohort selected for the 2026 Episodic Lab program, taking place at Dunaway ...
14/05/2026
At Spotify, we're focused on making every listening experience feel intentio...
14/05/2026
Spotify recently welcomed songwriters, artists, executives, and music students t...
14/05/2026
New articulations, ostinatos, Motion Scoring Articulation Sets & more
Sonuscore's flagship cinematic string library has just been treated to a significa...
14/05/2026
World-class studio opens on T rkiye's Aegean coast
P r Recording & Residence have announced their official opening, introducing a new world-class reside...
14/05/2026
Now supports channel layouts up to 9.1.6
Nugen Audio have just released an update for their AI-powered dialogue intelligibility and compliance tool. Set to ...
14/05/2026
New recordings & one-key chord tool
UVI have just announced the release of Orchestral Suite 2, a ground-up redesign of their all-in-one symphonic orchestra ...
14/05/2026
Two new arrivals & expanded factory content
Rob Papen's all-encompassing plug-in and virtual instrument collection has just been treated to another upda...
14/05/2026
Embed QR codes into DAW sessions
FSK Audio's latest plug-in doesn't process audio, but serves as an organisational tool that allows QR codes to be e...
14/05/2026
SBS Board appoints Jane Palfreyman Managing Director
13 May, 2026
Media releases
The Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) Board of Directors is pleased to an...
14/05/2026
Transforming bold ideas into market-ready productions: Digital Originals returns
14 May, 2026
Media releases
SBS, NITV and Screen Australia have announced ...