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How Much Money Do YouTubers Make?


Most people think that a successful YouTube channel automatically means good earnings they may be right, but exactly how much money do YouTubers make? Although counterintuitive for many, the truth is, views and subscribers don’t always guarantee a revenue.

the YouTube Logo in how much money do YouTubers make

How Much Money Do YouTubers Make from Ads?

The most important element that makes a YouTube channel monetizable is viewer’s engagement with the ads. This means watching an ad without skipping it or clicking on the ad. The actions that count as interacting with an ad differ as there are more types of ads:

  • On-video ads
    • Overlay: the semi-transparent image ad or text that appears on the lower part of a video; clicking on the ad counts as an interaction.
    • Skippable video ads: displayed before, during or after a video and can be skipped after 5 seconds, but this does not count as interacting with the ad; watching the whole ad or clicking on it does.
    • Non-skippable video ads: displayed before, during or after a video and can be as long as 30 seconds; only clicking on the ad counts as an interaction.
  • Off-video ads
    • Sponsored cards: ads to products or services that are relevant to the video in question, as opposed to the other types of ads that are generally relevant to the viewer’s search history. Clicking on them counts as an interaction.
    • Display ads: they appear on the right side of the YouTube video page, right above the “suggested videos” section. However, some larger ads can appear below the YouTube video player. Clicking on them counts as an interaction.

Other than the terms for different types of ads, there are a few terms that a YouTuber has to be familiar with if he or she wants to get serious about making money on YouTube:

  • CPM = sum advertisers pay to have their ads displayed 1,000 times. It varies in regard to traffic quality, viewer’s country, niche type of the video, price of the ads, actual click rate, etc. This stands for “cost per mille”, or “cost per thousand”
  • eCPM = effective CPM or the sum a YouTuber makes from 1,000 views on videos that display ads. This is also known as RPM, or “revenue per thousand”

How Much Does YouTube Pay Per View?

Unfortunately, there is no easy answer since the value of a view for a video that displays ads varies in terms of:

  • Age and sex of the viewer;
  • Location;
  • Number of displays for the ad;
  • Click rate;

However, it’s difficult to estimate how much money do YouTubers make from one view since ads are not always displayed and many users have AdBlock, so a view does not necessarily mean extra cash. In addition, how much value each of these aspects brings to the CPM and eCPM varies from ad to ad.

how to make money on YouTube with a vlog

Case Studies: How Much Money Do People Make on YouTube?

If we consider the vast number of viewers and how fast a video can go viral, it’s only natural that many popular vloggers or YouTubers quit their jobs in order to dedicate to their channels full time. But is it worth it? How much do YouTubers actually earn?

Well, if you heard about EvanTubeHD, a 7-year-old’s channel with 443 million views, you know he’s up to a great start. The channel started as Evan and his dad’s personal project and snowballed into what it is today. In a typical year, the channel can bring anywhere between $135,000 and over $1,000,000.

PewDiePie is the number 1 YouTuber at the moment, with almost 4 BILLION total views and even in a bad year he still takes home at least $825,000 per year. However, he could be making as much as $8 million per year from his channel.

How Much Money Can You Make from YouTube?

Supposing the CPM is somewhere between 25 cents and 4 dollars since this is the average, here’s how much money you could make if you had a YouTube channel. We’re taking into consideration certain milestones from a new YouTube Channel’s evolution, according to the amount of daily views:

  • 500 daily views = 13¢ – $2 per day, $720 per year tops.
  • 1,000 daily views = 25¢ – $4 per day, $1,440 per year tops.
  • 2,000 daily views = 50¢ – $8 per day, $2,880 per year tops.
  • 10,000 daily views = $2.50 – $40 per day, $14,400 per year tops.
  • 20,000 daily views = $5 – $80 per day, $28,800 per year tops.
  • 50,000 daily views = $12.50 – $200 per day, $72,000 per year tops.
  • 100,000 daily views = $25 – $400 per day, $144,000 per year tops.
  • 500,000 daily views = $125 – $2,000 per day, $720,000 per year tops.

How Do YouTubers Get Paid?

After a YouTuber enables monetization for his or her channel, they have to connect their AdSense account in order to actually come into possession of their earnings. The payment methods differ from country to country, but these usually mean a cheque or direct bank transfer.

how much money do youtubers make monetizing a video

How Much Money Do YouTubers Make from Reviews and Promoting?

There are other ways a popular YouTuber can make money, and they do not involve YouTube or AdSense. If your channel is popular and relevant to a certain group of people (gamers, fashion or make-up enthusiasts, etc.), promoting products or reviewing merchandise are great ways of earning some extra cash. 100,000 views can get paid with as much as $10,000 for a promoting video, straight from the company. If you are a beginner but have a few thousand subscribers, companies will most likely be willing to send free merchandise for you to review. This means you get a free product and get to be direct and honest about what you like and dislike, but there are cases where companies are willing to pay for a review.

So, how much money do YouTubers make? You should now be able to answer this question. Making money from YouTube is not an easy task. It requires time, critical thinking, persuasion, and intuition regarding what topics might be hot and what not to your viewers. A good camera would be needed, too, and video editing skills are a must. However, the thousands of tutorials and free software online will be a great help for any aspiring vlogger out there, so if you want to start making money out of YouTube, you can start right now!

Image sources: 1, 2, 3.


About Stevie Myers

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