YouTube will relax restrictions so that users can earn advertising revenue even if they use abusive words such as 'fuck' in the first 7 seconds

YouTube has updated its content guidelines, removing the rule that restricts advertising revenue if a video contains profanity within the first seven seconds of the video, while maintaining restrictions on content that includes profanity in the title or thumbnail.

Any video that had “limited or no ads” solely due to strong profanity in the first 7 sec is now eligible to earn full ad revenue. In some cases we'll automatically update the previous decision, but you can appeal if you think your video now follows our updated profanity policy!

— TeamYouTube (@TeamYouTube)

July 29, 2025

New profanity update explained - YouTube Advertiser Guidelines - YouTube


The following screenshot shows an archive of the 'Advertiser-Friendly Content Guidelines' posted on YouTube's official help page as of May 23, 2025. As of May 23, 2025, there was a rule that 'videos containing profanity within the first seven seconds will have their ad revenue restricted,' meaning that using words like 'fuck,' 'bitch,' 'douchebag,' 'asshole,' or 'shit' at the beginning of a video would result in reduced or zero ad revenue.

According to YouTube, the word limit in the first seven seconds was created because advertisers didn't want their ads to be played alongside profanity-inducing words. However, the ad system has been updated to allow ads to be displayed according to the 'profanity level of the content,' so the limit is no longer necessary.

At the time of writing, the '

The new rules also apply to videos that are already published, which means that videos that previously weren't monetized may now be eligible to earn revenue.

Any video that had “limited or no ads” solely due to strong profanity in the first 7 sec is now eligible to earn full ad revenue. In some cases we'll automatically update the previous decision, but you can appeal if you think your video now follows our updated profanity policy!

— TeamYouTube (@TeamYouTube) July 29, 2025

Additionally, ad revenue will continue to be restricted for videos that contain profanity in the title or thumbnail, as well as videos that contain profanity throughout the video.