Can the Longest YouTube Video Be Monetized for Ads?

Longest Video on YouTube

YouTube has so many videos that you'll never be able to watch them all in your lifetime.

YouTube currently has over 1.3 billion videos, with 300 hours of video uploaded every minute. As a result, by the time you finish reading this article, over 30 hours of video will have been uploaded to the video platform.

Of course, with billions of videos uploaded, there are plenty of milestones, including most liked, most disliked, most views, and so on.

But what about the video with the most views on YouTube?

You might be surprised to learn what it is and what it can do for advertisers looking to place ads on popular YouTube videos.

 

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Longest Video on YouTube

Jonathan Harchick of Moldy Toaster Media currently holds the record for the longest video on YouTube, titled “THE LONGEST VIDEO ON YOUTUBE – 596 HOURS.” The video was uploaded back in 2012 and hasn’t been beaten as far as we know.

You can watch the video on YouTube, but keep in mind that it will take you 596 hours to watch without skipping or speeding up!

That equates to slightly more than 24 DAYS to watch the video from beginning to end.

Because the video is so large, some devices may be unable to play it. For those who are unable to view the video, it is simply a slideshow of Harchick's photographs. That is all there is to it.

Imagine having a podcast and slideshow every day for 24 days, and that is essentially what the video is.

Funnily enough, the previous record-holders were also from Harchick:

  • The longest video on YouTube 590 hours (Uploaded 2012)
  • The longest video on YouTube 580 hours (Uploaded 2015)

I'm guessing Moldy Toaster Media intended to break his own world record with another video titled "THE LONGEST VIDEO ON YOUTUBE – 596.5 HOURS," which was 30 minutes longer than the current record.

However, for the time being, the video is only 16 seconds long.

Who Is Moldy Toaster Media's Jonathan Harchick?

The rest of Moldy Toaster Media's YouTube videos range in length from short to long.

Some videos are only a few seconds to a minute long, whereas others, such as "World's Longest Fart 50 HOUR" and "HEADON 50 HOURS," can be played for two days in a row.

Jonathan Harchick is a member of Moldy Toaster Media and enjoys browsing YouTube on his tablet. The account, dubbed a "TV network for the web," claims to feature "gritty, edge, highly-targeted, and in-depth form of entertainment." It was created in July 2009.

Despite having the longest video on the platform, Moldy Toaster Media doesn’t have a large fan base. They only have about 55,600 subscribers as of 2021, compared to YouTubers like the Indian music video channel T-Series (with 190+ million subscribers) and Swedish gamer PewDiePie (110+ million).

Despite being the account with the longest video on YouTube, their view count isn't particularly impressive.

With 12.3 million views, it pales in comparison to the music video for Psy's "Gangnam Style," which was the first video on YouTube to reach a billion views in 2012. Since then, numerous other videos, including Luis Fonsi's "Despacito" and the Pinkfong Kids' Songs & Stories' "Baby Shark Dance," have amassed billions of views.

Moldy Toaster Media and their longest video aren't doing so well in terms of user engagement.

This is why, if you're considering advertising on the longest video, you should reconsider.

YouTubes Video Time LimitYouTube's Video Time Limit

YouTube gradually lifted its upload time limit in 2010. Selected users were given 15 minutes while the rest of us started at 10 minutes. Today, all users can upload videos up to 15 minutes long by default.

Users have to verify their Google account in order to upload a video longer than 15 minutes.

The maximum upload size is now 128GB or 12 hours of video, whichever is less. According to YouTube's Help Center, this means that it is still possible to upload a file longer than Moldy Toaster Media's current record-holding video.

Jonathan Harchick's video is 549 megabytes in size, which explains the poor video quality.

This means that a video that is longer than 24 days must be smaller than 128GB in size. And, given the size of such a video, it would have to be in standard or low-quality resolution.

Other Monetizing Guidelines For YouTube

If you're new to making money on YouTube, keep in mind that video length isn't the only criterion for getting monetized for ads.

You must also meet the following criteria:

  1. You have successfully set up your AdSense account
  2. You have at least 1,000 subscribers on your channel
  3. You comply with the website's policies and guidelines
  4. Your videos have generated at least 4,000 watch time hours over the past 12 months

Having the longest YouTube video on your channel will not help you if you are not adhering to the guidelines!

Longer Videos No Longer Interest Advertisers

Longer Videos No Longer Interest Advertisers

Even if you follow the guidelines and publish longer videos, this does not guarantee that advertisers will flock to your YouTube channel.

Despite holding the record for YouTube's longest video, Moldy Toaster Media's statistics are underwhelming to advertisers.

The world's longest YouTube video, with 12 million views and 54,000 subscribers, pales in comparison to 3-minute music videos from KPOP group BTS or a 30-minute live stream gaming video from Markiplier.

Who Would View a 24-Hour Video?

In all honesty, would you keep your phone or computer open 24 hours a day, seven days a week for three and a half weeks to watch a video that long from beginning to end?

Most likely not, and you’re not alone.

Sure, the idea of someone watching the entire video without pausing or changing the playback speed is amusing at first, but the novelty will wear off.

The novelty of a 24-day video wore off for Moldy Toaster Media after 12 million viewers.

People will be curious about YouTube's longest video, search for it, and then click away – and advertisers don't want to waste their time on something that won't guarantee views throughout the video.

No Long Attention Span

No Long Attention Span

No advertiser worth their YouTube channel name would think it's a good idea to run an ad after the 1-hour mark of a 24-day-long video.

Sure, some content marketers and creators embellish their videos in order to turn 5 minutes of content into 15-minute videos.

However, they do it in a way that encourages viewers to watch the entire video and persuades advertisers that their videos are worth monetizing.

The average human has a 20-minute attention span, but with the internet delivering content to everyone's fingertips, this is expected to be shorter.

In fact, if a video does not give people what they want within the first minute, the viewer is likely to click away.

There is probably no advertiser-friendly topic in existence that can help you sustain people's attention for 25 days when it comes to creating a video longer than Jonathan Harchick's.

Sure, you could come up with a topic and divide your video into chapters that they can revisit whenever they want, but this will not sit well with advertisers and people will not want to sit through your video to find the content they want.

That’s why even the longest music videos are under 15 minutes long.

When Lady Gaga released the

that focused solely on the song.

You may have noticed that popular YouTube gamers who monetize their videos tend to cut their gameplay into segments rather than uploading the entire gameplay that last for hours.

When the game Until Dawn was released in 2015, Markiplier released 15 gameplay videos ranging in length from 25 minutes to 40 minutes. If he had uploaded a single long video instead, it is unlikely that many people would have the attention span to watch the entire thing – and advertisers are less likely to touch that.

Quality Over Quantity

Think again if you think that beating the current record holder for the longest YouTube video will help you get monetized and earn money from advertisers.

It is not enough to simply upload a basic 25-day video and call it a day in this stage of the game.

So, what do advertisers look for in a potential YouTube video that they can monetize?

Quality. They're looking for ad-friendly videos (that is, videos that don't cause a scandal and don't have their ads linked to controversial videos).

If you recall the YouTube Rewind 2018 debacle, you may recall how people accused YouTube of struggling to create a good Rewind that year because they had to strike a balance between actual notable events (PewDiePie vs. T-Series, Jake Paul vs. KSI, beauty community drama) and advertisers.

Based on the video, it was clear that YouTube prioritised advertisers over the community, producing this overly-PC, ad-friendly video devoid of any popular YouTuber involved in a scandal.

It was a shambles, but it demonstrated exactly what advertisers want in their videos. They want PG-13 content that anyone in their target demographic would watch.

And, no matter how good a speaker, animator, or podcaster you are, no one is going to watch your PG-13 video for 25 days in a row!

Don't Make Long YouTube Videos Unless You Have a Good Reason

If you want to earn passive income by publishing extremely long YouTube videos like Moldy Toaster Media, this strategy will not work.

Rather than attempting to game the system by creating the longest YouTube video possible, make an effort to publish content that your audience will enjoy.

Remember that viewers go to YouTube for two reasons, entertainment and to find a solution to a problem.

Your viewers are more likely to share your content if you create rich and engaging content. You will be able to enjoy a good share of advertising revenue if you upload excellent content that delivers on those two reasons, to entertain or to solve problems.

About the Author
Daniel Luke
Daniel is a web designer and developer. He has been a developer for the last 10 years working with various WordPress themes that allows him to compare and contrast different themes, understand the strengths and weaknesses to develop factual, real-world reviews. He is also a mobile app developer and technology reviewer. Over several years, he has developed his own mobile apps, both on Android and iPhone. This hands-on specialisation in mobile and web development allows him to be an authoritative voices when it comes to technology reporting.

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