YouTube’s added another revenue opportunity for creators, with its “Player for Education” program giving creators a share of any revenue earned when their content is embedded as part of a schools initiative.
That could be a big boost for certain creators who make videos that include an educational element, and could lead to more educational content creators coming to the app.
As explained by YouTube:
“If you create educational videos or Shorts, our educational partners, like schools and teachers, may choose to embed your content in their learning materials. When educational partners choose to embed your content, or watch your already embedded content, they may be using Player for Education. Player for Education is an embedded player that improves the way YouTube shows videos in educational tools.”
Most notably, Player for Education doesn’t include ads, in order to optimize learning, while there are also additional privacy protection elements.
But even though these videos don’t include ads, having them embedded in education programs can earn you money, because YouTube’s educational partners pay to license the Player for Education from YouTube.
“Once you accept payment terms for the Player for Education, you can get paid for your videos played in the Player for Education, based on your proportional share of the monthly watch time in the player. These funds come out of the educational partner licensing fees.”
So rather than the traditional ad revenue share model, creators can get paid direct from these educational licensing deals, giving you another potential revenue stream.
Which you can now view in the YouTube Studio app:
As you can see in this example, posted by app researcher Jonah Manzano, now, in the “Earn” tab in YouTube Studio, there’s a new tab dedicated to “Player for Education,” which will show you if you’ve got any content that’s been embedded into an educational program, and how much you’re earning from that placement.
I wouldn’t anticipate this being a massive consideration for most YouTube creators, who probably aren’t creating classroom-aligned material. But even so, it’s another avenue to keep in mind, and for certain channels, it could provide a big boost.
And depending on how much can be earned from these placements, it could also encourage more creators to push for more educational content, and material that may drive interest with educators.
It’s another revenue option either way, and with YouTube paying out $70 billion to creators over the last three years, it already offers the biggest payout potential for the majority of creators at present.
You can learn more about YouTube’s Player for Education program here.
