If you’ve ever been the proud owner of an extremely popular and viral (by the site’s standards) YouTube video, you know that YouTube can be a rewarding site. Google often sends rewards of the advertising sort to creators of videos that go viral. In order to become part of the so-called “Partner Program,” videos have to reach a certain number of hits and adhere to YouTube’s “popular” criteria. Well, this isn’t the case anymore.

Today, YouTube announced that the site will be offering Partner Program advantages for all. You no longer have to have a popular video (although you still have to meet certain requirements) to become a YouTube partner and gain all that comes with that title. What kinds of things do partners have access to? Basically, the YouTube Partner Program allows video creators to advertise freely throughout a video. This, in turn, generates revenue for the creators of certain videos. In short, opening up the Partner Program to anyone who creates qualifying content might create a kind of advertising mayhem.

Is This A Good Idea?

Right now, a large number of YouTube videos are ad free. Granted, most popular videos are strewn with ads, but these are the videos that have reached the once coveted Partner Program status. Now, almost any video that you watch on YouTube will likely be spotted with a number of ads. If you’re on the creative side of things, you can probably already tell that the new set of partner program rules put out by YouTube will mean that you can generate revenue easily.

If you’re on the user side of things, you might have a different way of looking at the recent YouTube news. It could become frustrating to video videos with constant ads if Google provides free advertising for all. Right now, those who live within the 20 countries that Google has outlined (the U.S. and Canada are included), can be eligible for the Partner Program. This program also includes access to Google’s Partner Program seminars and other features.

What the Program Won’t Include For All

If you’ve worked really hard to make sure that a video you’ve posted is popular (in order to earn that Partner Program status) and this new news is making you upset, there’s some comfort in knowing that your time hasn’t been wasted. Those who do not have popular videos won’t be allowed to create custom banners or thumbnails just yet and advertising will be tailored and limited in some ways. Exact details are still somewhat scarce, but Google is bound to announce these specifics within the next few weeks.

Google has been making a lot of YouTube changes lately from interface details to Partner Programs, it’s clear that the search giant plans to do something big (bigger) with the popular video site. The question that a lot of YouTube users are asking though is: will these changes be positive of will YouTube turn into something unrecognizable? As with most other things, only time will tell.