YouTube channel buyer's glossary

Plain-English definitions of the terms you'll see on listings and in YouTube Studio when you buy a channel.

Updated October 16, 2026

Ownership

Brand Account: A Google account for a brand or channel that several people can own or manage without sharing a password. Channels on Brand Accounts can change owners.
Primary owner: The one owner who can remove other owners and transfer the channel. You become primary owner at the end of a transfer.
Owner / Manager: Owners can manage permissions and the channel; managers can run the channel but not change owners.
7-day hold: Google's security delay before a newly added owner can be made primary owner.

Registration date: When the channel was created (YouTube “Joined” date). It never changes, even after a rename.
Handle: The channel's @name. Old channels often have short handles that are no longer available.
Advanced features: YouTube's highest feature tier: custom thumbnails, external links, live streaming and more, unlocked by channel history or verification.
Strike: A Community Guidelines or copyright strike. Three active strikes in 90 days can terminate a channel; check before buying.
Audience geo: The country most of a channel's views came from.
Shorts / long-form: Vertical videos up to 3 minutes vs. regular videos. Channels' upload history can be Shorts-only, long-form or mixed.

YPP (YouTube Partner Program): YouTube's monetization program. Ad revenue needs 1,000 subscribers plus 4,000 public watch hours in 12 months, or 10M Shorts views in 90 days, and a policy review.
AdSense: The Google account that receives YouTube payouts. After buying, you link your own.
CPM: What advertisers pay per 1,000 ad impressions.
RPM: What the creator actually earns per 1,000 views, after YouTube's share — the number to plan with.