YouTube Recalculating May Ad Revenue Share for Partners

By Daisy Whitney

YouTube is recalculating the May revenue reports for its partners, a change that could result in as much as a 5% increase in ad revenue for those partners, according to an e-mail obtained by TelevisionWeek.

YouTube contacted partners earlier this month to let them know ad revenue credited against their videos would be adjusted. “Any change to revenue should be zero or, in some cases, positive up to around 5% (i.e., in your favor),” the e-mail said.

YouTube has been under scrutiny in recent weeks for its ability to monetize the massive number of video views on its site. In addition, a number of partners, such as Perez Hilton and “Break a Leg,” have publicly expressed frustration regarding the low effective CPMs they are getting from YouTube videos.

While the e-mail did not specify how YouTube is recalculating revenue, the change could be a move to appease unhappy content providers.

YouTube could not immediately be reached for comment.

YouTube said in the e-mail that it has made “enhancements” to its reporting to deliver accurate revenue numbers per videos.

“Previously, the revenue per video was estimated based on the number of exhibitions (views lasting more than 30 seconds),” YouTube said. “After our enhancements were implemented, we analyzed the reports and noticed that, related to the new change, some minor corrections needed to be made to the revenue numbers. These corrections have now been made, and in the interest of accuracy, we are rerunning the reports for May and replacing them on the Web site. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. We continue to invest in bringing you more timely and accurate numbers and plan on delivering more enhancements in the future.”