The frame rules. In full.

What the product is

FrameYield places a clearly labelled sponsor rail inside the custom 1280×720 thumbnail of a creator’s ordinary YouTube long-form video. The creator does not have to change the video itself unless a separate integration is expressly agreed.

• Creators approve each sponsor, frame and flight before publication.
• The sponsor rail must be visually distinct and may not imitate platform controls.
• A Frame-Only placement never grants the brand editorial control over the underlying content.

What becomes billable

During the private beta, eligible delivery is limited to accepted YouTube long-form video ids and thumbnail-impression reporting returned by the creator’s approved read-only connection. A counted event must be reported by YouTube and pass FrameYield validation.

• Visibility rule: more than one second with at least 50% of the thumbnail visible, where the platform supplies compatible data.
• Only delivery for the accepted long-form video id, inside the agreed dates, regions and eligible YouTube surfaces, counts.
• Duplicate, automated, incentivised, manipulated or otherwise invalid traffic is removed.
• Private chats, copied screenshots and external link previews are organic bonus exposure and are never billed.

Short-form and other platforms

YouTube Shorts, Instagram Reels and TikTok covers are not billable placements in this private beta. They remain waitlist-only until FrameYield defines a separate creative-control, visibility and measurement standard.

• YouTube does not let creators upload a custom thumbnail for Shorts in the same way as long-form videos; a creator selects a frame, and its display surfaces differ.
• The attachment API rejects explicit /shorts/ URLs. The creator must also attest that any id or short link is a standard long-form video; false classification blocks settlement and can trigger review.
• Reach, plays, views or profile activity from excluded formats may be shown as context only and are never renamed or billed as verified FrameYield thumbnail impressions.

Official format references: YouTube custom thumbnail rules and YouTube three-minute Shorts classification.

Rates, validation and creator share

For CPM placements, gross media value equals validated impressions divided by 1,000 and multiplied by the accepted CPM. Creators receive 80% of validated gross media spend; FrameYield retains 20% for measurement, operations and marketplace service. Payment-processing costs and taxes are separate where disclosed.

• Every offer shows the CPM, long-form format, forecast range and maximum campaign value.
• Delivery enters a seven-day validation window after the reporting period closes.
• Pending, validating, scheduled, paid and held balances remain separate in the ledger.
• Forecasts and calculator results are planning estimates, not guaranteed earnings or delivery.

Payout schedule

Cleared creator balances that meet the fixed currency threshold—USD 25, EUR 25, GBP 25 or DKK 175—are scheduled each Thursday at 09:00 UTC for a matching-currency standard bank payout through Stripe Connect. Scheduling is initiation, not confirmation that the bank has credited the account.

• Identity and required tax information must be approved before the first payout.
• Balances below their fixed currency threshold roll forward while the account remains active; account-closure and mandatory-law handling follows the final terms. Currencies are never combined or silently converted.
• A fraud, rights, disclosure, platform or billing dispute may place only the affected amount on hold.
• The dashboard separately records the internal schedule, Stripe transfer, connected-account bank payout, arrival estimate and paid/failed webhook.

The complete qualification, evidence, method, timing, hold and appeal rules are in the creator payout policy.

Creator qualification

The standard beta baseline is 18 years of age, at least 25,000 eligible YouTube long-form thumbnail impressions in the previous 30 days, public original long-form content, custom thumbnails and a channel in good standing.

• Identity verification is required before payout, not before exploring sample offers.
• The payout-enabled private pilot is currently limited to Denmark; creators in other countries may join only as waitlist applicants until local review is complete.
• The creator must control the channel and all rights needed for the thumbnail and underlying content.
• FrameYield may approve smaller, highly relevant channels for separately contracted research, but excluded formats do not become billable beta inventory.
• Creators remain free to reject any sponsor without account penalty.

Brand qualification & excluded categories

Brands need a verifiable business, responsible billing contact, working landing page, substantiated claims and a minimum USD 250 test budget.

• No illegal products, adult services, tobacco, unlicensed gambling or unapproved pharmaceuticals.
• No misleading financial, health, environmental or performance claims.
• No political persuasion or campaigns directed primarily at children during beta.
• No counterfeit goods, malware, deceptive subscriptions or offers that hide material conditions.

Disclosure, safety and creative control

The commercial relationship must be clear both in the frame and wherever local law or platform policy requires another disclosure. In Denmark, for example, an unambiguous advertising label such as “REKLAME FOR [BRAND]” may be required depending on context.

• Use the platform’s paid-promotion declaration whenever applicable.
• Local-language disclosure takes priority over a generic “AD” label when law requires more.
• The creator sees the final frame and can request changes before accepting.
• CTR and channel-health guardrails can pause a placement without altering historic validated delivery.

Changes, removals and disputes

FrameYield keeps an auditable event trail for offer acceptance, creative versions, reporting periods, exclusions and settlement decisions.

• Creators may remove a frame early for safety, rights or platform reasons; only validated eligible delivery remains payable.
• Brands may pause future delivery, but cannot reverse already validated eligible delivery without a documented dispute.
• A participant may request the calculation inputs and reason code for a hold or exclusion.
• Appeals should be filed within 30 days of the relevant ledger event and are reviewed by a person before final closure.

FrameLock creative, composition and hash standard

A YouTube long-form campaign locks a 15%, 18% or 22% sponsor rail. The brand supplies one or more finished rail-only PNG variants; the creator chooses an approved variant and builds the complete 1280×720 thumbnail in the remaining area.

• The brand rail is exactly 192×720, 230×720 or 282×720 px respectively after integer rounding; incorrect files are rejected before storage.
• Every rail variant has its own name, version, SHA-256 and admin decision. Only approved variants matching the campaign rail are shown to the creator.
• The creator may choose between approved brand variants, but may not crop, recolour, cover or otherwise modify the selected rail. The creator edits only the remaining 1088, 1050 or 998 px-wide area.
• The final 1280×720 FrameLock record stores both the complete-thumbnail hash and the selected rail variant id and hash.
• A signed server fetch identifies the live YouTube thumbnail used for comparison.
• Exact source hash may auto-pass; recompression similarity from a browser is evidence for human review, not sufficient by itself for automatic payment.