What is Self-Certification?
Self-Certification is a system where creators rate their own videos based on YouTube’s advertiser-friendly content guidelines.
This helps YouTube:
- Make monetization decisions faster
- Improve accuracy of ad suitability decisions
- Train systems using creator input
How It Works
When you upload or monetize a video:
- You rate your content (self-certify)
- YouTube reviews it using automated systems
- A monetization decision is made
- If needed, you can request a human review or appeal
Why It’s Important
Self-Certification helps:
- Improve speed of monetization decisions
- Reduce mistakes in automated systems
- Give creators more control over how content is classified
If your ratings are consistently accurate, YouTube will rely more on your input.
What You Need to Rate
You must rate:
- New videos you monetize
- Previously uploaded videos you now monetize
You do NOT need to rate:
- Existing videos that already have ads enabled
How to Rate Your Videos
When uploading a video in YouTube Studio:
- Go to Upload in YouTube Studio
- Turn monetization ON
- Go to Advanced Settings
- Complete the Ad Suitability questionnaire
- Submit your rating
- YouTube runs a content check
- Choose video visibility and finish upload
If nothing applies, you can select:
- “None of the above”
Ad Suitability Review Process
After rating your video:
- YouTube checks it using automated systems
- If flagged, you may request a human review
- A policy specialist will make the final decision if reviewed
Rating Accuracy System
YouTube tracks how accurate your ratings are by comparing:
- Your self-rating
- Automated system decisions
- Human reviewer decisions
You can view your accuracy in YouTube Studio.
Rating Status Explained
Your Rating
What you think your video contains.
YouTube Rating
What YouTube systems or reviewers decide.
Review Type
- Computer = automated system decision
- Human = reviewed by a policy specialist
What You Can Do
- Request review → if you disagree with automated decision
- View feedback → if reviewed by a human
- Improve ratings → to increase accuracy over time
How Accuracy Affects Your Channel
- High accuracy → YouTube uses your input more
- Low or unknown accuracy → YouTube relies less on your ratings
- Accuracy improves over time with more rated videos
Self-Certification helps creators take part in monetization decisions by rating their own content. The more accurate you are, the more YouTube trusts your input.
