In this article, I will reveal the profitable topics that earned me over 10 million won in a month with just 5 AI long-form videos.
After disclosing my YouTube earnings, the most frequent question I received was just one:
'Exactly what kind of topics do you make videos about?' Many of you have likely been waiting for this post.
Today, I will reveal the identity of the categories I operate and why this market is so profitable.
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Reality Check Before We Start
Before diving into the main topic, I want to share one fact. This category is
Currently ranked as the #1 area for 'monetization suspension' on YouTube.
(Please refer to the previous article on 'False Content'.)
It is a very dangerous area where, realistically, over 70-80% of the market has already faced monetization suspension. Therefore, I do not recommend that you start a channel in this category right now.
However, the reason I am writing this is clear.
Because it is a market that definitely makes money.
If a direct approach is difficult, I hope you understand the profit structure of this category and consider 'safe ways to approach it' or apply it as a strategy to expand into other categories.
1. Senior Demand on YouTube
Everyone, do your parents use YouTube? Or have you ever noticed what seniors are doing on their phones while commuting on the subway?
Take a look from now on.
Surprisingly, many seniors are watching YouTube.
In a previous article, I mentioned that the short-form content I usually watch seemed too difficult for me to produce, so I was contemplating what kind of YouTube to do. Then one day, I saw my mother watching YouTube.
I started observing closely what seniors watch on the subway. While they watch a lot of news and politics, many also watch videos related to tarot, wealth, and retirement, just like my mother.
Blueberry Benefits
That's when I discovered a video titled [TOP 3 Foods That Are Incompatible with Blueberries]. It was a 25-minute long-form video with 1.32 million views.
Isn't that amazing?
Analyzing the video makes it even more mind-blowing. It was just subtitles over free images or videos, yet it had 1.35 million views. I tried it immediately. I got a script from Claude using free prompts and produced the video with Vrew.
I recorded about 100 to 1,000 views and failed at monetization. Of course, the results were even more disastrous because I tried it blindly without analysis. However, the reason I quit the health information niche was because of the government.
As government regulations on videos impersonating doctors tightened, I immediately closed the health information category. But with the insights gained here, I started looking for other profitable categories.
2. The 4 Most Profitable Senior Long-Form Categories
2-1. Senior Information (Most Recommended)
Senior Information
This includes essential daily life information such as pensions, retirement preparation, and how to use kiosks.
Are your parents good at using the internet?
My parents are older, so they can barely do anything on the internet or their phones. They call me every time they want to add a friend on KakaoTalk.
Older people want to adapt to the changing times but don't know how. The category that satisfies these senior needs is Senior Information. Due to its informative nature, it can be watched multiple times as needed and is a great category to share with friends.
Senior Information Yard
Senior Information Yard
This channel was opened in August 2024 and is already a large channel with 120,000 subscribers. With views like 1.2 million, 840,000, and 730,000, the total channel views are nearly 6 million.
Look closely at the thumbnails. Do they look hard to make? Anyone can make thumbnails like these. You can easily create them using the free version of MiriCanvas.
The biggest reason I recommend Senior Information is that it is relatively safe from YouTube monetization suspension and there is continuous demand from the senior demographic. (Though it is not 100% safe.)
For example, someone might be 64 now and not eligible for the basic pension, but a month later, they turn 65 and become eligible. Since they don't know how to receive it, they will search for it. Also, senior benefits change slightly every year depending on policy. They want to find information that matches those changed policies.
Besides this, daily life information like how to save on boiler heating bills or air conditioning costs also gets good views.
In short, I recommend it most because it is a category with steady demand from seniors and is relatively safe from YouTube monetization suspension.
[Summary]: Thumbnails are easy to make with MiriCanvas, and if the information is useful, it gets shared on KakaoTalk, leading to high views. It is the most recommended as it is currently the safest from monetization suspension.
2-2. Wisdom and Life Lessons Category
Wisdom and Life Lessons
This is the category for quotes and life wisdom from sages like Monk Beopjeong, Buddha, Shakyamuni, and Jeong Yak-yong.
Lamp of the Sages
Looking at the Lamp of the Sages channel, you can see it records high views such as 530,000, 300,000, and 290,000.
Similarly, the thumbnails use AI-generated images of figures like Jeong Yak-yong.
These quote categories often have high average view duration because people play them to listen to the audio before sleeping. Since they aren't trend-dependent, they continue to get steady views over time.
[Summary]: Not trend-dependent. Video production is simple, taking at most 3 hours to create one long-form video.
2-3. Senior Stories (High Risk, High Return)
Senior Stories
North Korean Stories
Overseas Touching Stories
This includes Senior Stories, North Korean Stories, Overseas Touching Stories, and Folk Tales.
You can expect high profits with long-form videos ranging from 20 minutes to over an hour, but this is the #1 category for YouTube monetization suspension. It is a high-risk category where nearly 70-80% of channels face suspension.
The characteristic is that these are fictional stories.
Senior stories are like morning dramas or soap operas, and North Korean stories about defection are of high interest to seniors. Overseas touching stories are 'patriotic' (Gukppong) channels that can find materials linked to news events.
In other words, because these are story channels that seniors love and involve a lot of creativity, finding material is difficult, but because the videos are long, you can earn higher ad revenue than 20-minute videos.
Because of this, hundreds of videos are already flooding the market daily, and due to YouTube's crackdown on mass-produced content (false content), a huge number of channels become targets for monetization suspension.
Korea Empathy
In the case of overseas touching story channels, it's easier to find material from the news compared to other senior stories.
Among them, the channel 'Korea Empathy' is one I personally referenced a lot; it generally has high views. With views like 660,000, 620,000, and 440,000 and video lengths of 20-40 minutes, the work time is relatively low.
[Summary]: The risk is high as it's the #1 category for monetization suspension, but high profits are possible due to the long video lengths.
2-4. Economics
Economics
This uses actual news such as Trump, collapses, Samsung labor unions, and the Strait of Hormuz.
While senior stories have limits in finding material due to the creative aspect, economics has less stress regarding material because videos are made based on actual news.
You can get fast and high traffic by making videos about today's issues or recent events.
Curious Economics
Representative channels include 'Curious Economics' and 'Pleasant Economics.'
Looking at the Curious Economics channel, it only has 38 videos but records high views like 1.07 million, 810,000, and 380,000. Since relatively younger people also watch it, it has the advantage of securing a wider audience rather than being limited to seniors.
[Summary]: Less stress in finding material as it's based on actual news, and easy to make 20-30 minute videos. Using NanoBanana, Grok, or GPT to create animated images for the video gets a good response. Similarly, it is not free from the mass-produced content issue.
3. Why Senior Long-Form Profits Are High
So far, we've looked at senior categories. You can see that surprisingly many seniors watch YouTube and the views are high.
Even though the video quality isn't exceptionally high, they record high views. That's why anyone can easily try it. However, many channels have already occupied the space, and since it's a high-risk category for monetization suspension, there's a risk of working hard and not receiving a single penny.
In the case of senior long-form, monetization is easier to achieve and you can get relatively higher profits. Why is that?
1. Subscribing, Liking, and Commenting
When you watch YouTube, do you subscribe, like, and comment often?
In my case, I subscribe often, but I've almost never liked or commented. I can count the times on one hand. For the 10-40 age group to comment, the video must be really funny, useful, or provocative.
However, seniors tend to subscribe, like, and comment much more. If they like a video, they do it a lot, which is advantageous for reaching 1,000 subscribers.
2. High Average View Duration
You have to look at the characteristics of seniors. Think of your parents. Have you ever turned off the TV because they seemed to be sleeping, only to hear "Dad's not sleeping"?
Seniors often watch a video to the end if it's interesting at the start. They often listen to the audio while working, doing dishes, or sleeping, so the average view duration is high.
3. No YouTube Premium Subscription
Personally, this was the best part.
Most seniors do not subscribe to YouTube Premium. Looking at the seniors on my channel, only 1-2% are Premium subscribers, and the rest are non-subscribers. Seniors are reluctant to have monthly subscription fees.
Therefore, many people watch the mid-roll ads. While some skip ads or get angry that there are too many, most seniors are listening to the audio while working.
So they often just let the YouTube ads play. This allows for high profit generation.
4. Summary
In summary, senior demand is high, the response is good, and they watch all the ads. Therefore, monetization is much faster than targeting the 10-30 age group.
The criteria for long-form monetization are 1,000 subscribers, 3+ videos, and 4,000 watch hours. Since the average view duration is relatively long, achieving monetization is a bit easier compared to other target groups and Shorts. (Of course, that doesn't mean it's easy.)
13 Million Won
I focused on the 'profitable' senior targeting rather than the videos I wanted to make. Thanks to that, I was able to make over 10 million won in profit with just 5 videos in April.
However, as it is a category with a high risk of monetization suspension, you should now consider expanding into senior information channels, methods where a person actually appears, or operating multiple channels.
In fact, some of my acquaintances barely reached the monetization criteria and were supposed to receive their first payment, but they became targets for mass-produced content (false content) and didn't receive a penny. Another acquaintance became a target just a day before receiving the money, but luckily was able to receive the March earnings.
However, if you produce content only with AI, you will become a target for monetization suspension regardless of the category. You might end up just paying expensive AI subscription fees and having your channel suspended instead of monetizing, so you must be careful.
Despite being such a high-risk category, I decided to write this article because it is still a profitable category.
Currently, I do not recommend anything other than informative channels. My channel survived today, but it could be hit with a monetization suspension tomorrow and I might not receive the 13 million won in profit. That's why I'm considering channel or platform expansion.
If you challenge the senior long-form market, I recommend prioritizing informative content or having a person actually appear, and try to discover new categories.
Check right now what your parents are watching on YouTube. That is where the opportunity to make money lies.
