Spam and deceptive practices policy

This policy governs behaviour rather than subject matter. It covers scams and phishing, links to malicious software, titles, thumbnails or descriptions promising something the video does not contain, incentivised engagement such as sub-for-sub, artificially inflated metrics, mass-posted repetitive uploads and spam in the comments. Enforcement runs from removal of the video up to a strike on the channel.

Creators mix it up with the monetisation policies, which are a separate rulebook. One decides whether content stays on the platform, the other whether it can earn. A video can sit comfortably inside the Community Guidelines and still be ineligible for ads, and the two decisions arrive through different processes with different appeals.