“What’s your Wi-Fi password ?” This question is quite common in Nepal now. The majority of Nepalese households have access to the Internet in contrast to a couple of years ago. As a result of this, Nepalese audience numbers have spiked exponentially directly causing an increase in the number of content creators in Nepal. But, until a few days ago, YouTube didn’t officially acknowledge any Nepalese content creators. So, what has changed then? Let us find out.
What is the YouTube Partner Program (YPP)?
Before we get into the main topic, let us learn a little about YPP. Source
The YouTube Partner Program (YPP) gives creators (YouTubers) greater access to YouTube resources and features like direct access to our Creator Support team. It also enables revenue-sharing from ads being served on your content.
What you get
- Access to our Creator Support teams
- Access to the Copyright Match Tool
- Access to our monetization features
Minimum eligibility requirements to join
- Follow all the YouTube monetization policies.
- Live in a country or region where the YouTube Partner Program is available. (You can now find Nepal in this official list.)
- Have more than 4,000 valid public watch hours in the last 12 months.
- Have more than 1,000 subscribers.
- Have a linked AdSense account.
How did Nepalese YouTubers exist before then ?
If you look at eligibility requirement No.2 of YPP, you may think that YPP wasn’t possible for Nepal back then. Well, you are half correct. Nepalese content creators had to change the location of their YouTube channel to countries that were eligible for YPP (mainly India or the USA). This gave them full access to YPP even if they were in Nepal. Since Google AdSense supported Nepalese banks, earning money from YouTube also wasn’t a problem.
Changes After Nepal In YouTube Partner Program?
The benefits that you would get from YPP set to another country and set to Nepal is totally the same. One of the major change can be seen in the Monetization Tab of YouTube studio. Instead of displaying “YPP isn’t available in your country yet”, it shows the following. Why don’t you check it out on your own account ?
Note – Your revenue can now be shown in NPR (Nepalese rupee) instead of other currency. I don’t know if this was available before Nepal was enlisted in YPP. Let me know in the comments if I am right or wrong.
Other possible changes that are yet to be seen are –
- Separate support page or help line for Nepal ?
- YouTube’s official branch in Nepal ?
- YouTube Fan Fest Nepal as well as other official events ?
- Increase in ads/ad revenue and better ad customizations ?
Conclusion
With the recent news of international payment gateway arriving in Nepal and now YouTube finally recognizing Nepal as an eligible country, I think it paves a path for other international companies to get involved in the growing online community here. Let us wait and see what the future holds for us.
