Google-Owned YouTube Monetizing on Ads on Unauthorized Content

YouTube’s ads on unauthorized content are paying off. Google-owned YouTube set up a program called Content ID a few years ago to help producers manage their rights and generate revenue from copyright infringement. Content ID enables media companies to monitor when video they own has been uploaded onto YouTube without authorization and gives them the option to sell advertising on the content and make money from it or to have it taken down. More than 5,000 companies are using the program and a majority choose to monetize and track their videos, rather than block them. YouTube has hit $1 billion in payments to companies that participate in the program.