Youtube prohibits users to find their own sponsors and promote them in a video without using Youtube's salesforce, according to an updated FAQ on the Youtube support pages. According to Youtube the update is a clarification of the terms but according to Paul Kontonis of Global Online Video Association (GOVA) it's clearly new policy.
Many Youtube 'stars' add little visual pop ups with a company logo in their video where users can click on. This in addition to so called pre-rolls (advertisements that are shown before the video) and product placements (products of sponsors shown in the video).
Youtube doesn't make anything from these popups and the company is aiming to change that by forbidding them, unless the Youtube star has an agreement with the video platform. For regular advertisements Youtube gets about 45% of the revenues although Youtube users with a large audience get special conditions.
Product placement without an agreement with Youtube continues to be allowed, but the video sites requires users to indicate they use this kind of advertising. According to Kontonis, Youtube has not only updated its terms but also created a new advertising team that will focus on so-called 'product cards'. These are pre-rolls of 6 seconds that can be put in front of a video by a sponsor.
The current pre-rolls are not connected to the content of the video and play longer than 6 seconds. Youtube didn't want to comment on the alleged new advertisement team.
