All of us have been affected by the new algorithms that youtube have applied over the last year. I have had two of my videos demonetized so I thought I would do some research into the reasons why.
The first line of demonetization tactics
You keywords and tags are the first way to get your video demonetized because these words are picked up by a computer. You has put 'flags' onto thousands of words that can be picked up quickly and easily and your video is then demonetized immediately. There are obvious ones like Porn, ISIS, Terrorism, bomb making etc but I have also found that there are some very unusual ones like girlfriend, boyfriend and dog, doggie and dogs!!
I will do a separate post to list all the keywords that I have found that trigger the first line algorithms.
The second line of demonetization tactics
This is done through the number of dislikes a video gets and the number is quite small. If a video gets more than ten dislikes in a single day, it triggers the computer to instantly demonetize the video. The Youtuber would need to request a manual review to re-monetize it.
The other thing that would trigger an automatic demonetization would be if the video attracted a 'report'. It only takes one person to file a report on the video and it is immediately demonetized.
There are several categories for reporting a video. (See picture)
The one that says "spam or misleading" is a general 'coverall' for anything that the viewer doesn't like. The other main one is "hate speech". The viewer may not agree with your political views and this means that they can accuse you of hate speech. Try using the word 'Feminism' in your tag words and you will soon find that your video is demonetized because the left wing feminists will quickly report you.
The third line of demonetization tactics
If your video gets more than ten thousand views in one week you will be instantly demonetized and you will have to request a manual review. For those people who have managed to upload a video that has gone viral, Youtube will soon pick it up and try to prevent you from making lots of money from advertising. For example, Christopher Green of AMTV has all of his videos instantly demonetized within twenty four hours of uploading them. He then has to request a manual review. Mundane Matt is also in the same position.
Conclusion
Youtube is no longer allowing free speech and there is nothing that we Youtubers can do about it. Many people have resorted to going to Patreon or Steemit as an alternative to making online cash but both of these are very slow to build up a following. The only thing we can do on Youtube is to be aware of what is likely to get our videos demonetized and work with their new system.