After months of complaints about spammy, soulless, mass-produced content clogging everyone’s feeds, it looks like YouTube is ready to start cleaning house. The video platform is finally taking a stand against the wave of algorithm-chasing garbage flooding its platform—better known as “AI slop.”
YouTube is preparing to flip the switch on a few monetization rule changes starting July 15, 2025. The full update to its Partner Program rules isn’t live yet, but an official help page (via TechCrunch) gives us an early look. The main takeaway is that if your content is not original, don’t count on making money from it.
The update is zeroing in on “repetitious” and “auto-generated” content. YouTube has not name-dropped AI, but with all the junk content piling up lately, the connection is hard to miss.
YouTube clarifies monetization policy update
To clear the air around worries about reaction videos or clip-filled content getting caught in the crossfire, YouTube’s Rene Ritchie posted a video breaking things down (via The Verge). He called it a “minor update” aimed at flagging spammy, cookie-cutter content—stuff that wasn’t making money in the first place.
With the new rules in play, videos using AI voiceovers without any personal touch or storytelling could lose out on monetization. However, YouTube is still fuzzy on what exactly counts as “highly repetitive,” which leaves the door open for a lot of low-effort, mass-produced content to keep flying under the radar.
YouTube’s heart might be in the right place, but enforcing these rules is like trying to bail out the Titanic with a teaspoon. AI tools are evolving faster than policies can keep up, and creators who rely on cheap, automated content will likely just find new loopholes.
If we are to be honest, Google helped fuel the AI slop surge by letting it fester unchecked. But now that it’s oozed into search results and Shorts, the platform is finally stepping in and drawing the line. A very belated one.
