YouTube cracks down on mukbang creators' revenue as top earners boasted massive incomes

Mukbang creators face revenue squeeze amid YouTube crackdown

Mukbang — the genre of online eating broadcasts that spread like wildfire — has hit a wall. YouTube has tightened regulations on content related to binge eating and eating disorders, putting mukbang creators on alert over their livelihoods. Many have stopped uploading videos or deleted large numbers of existing ones.

YouTube said it "limits advertising revenue on content that contains signals that could induce or imitate eating disorders." The platform is not banning mukbang outright, but says it will cut off monetization for content deemed to glorify eating disorders or encourage viewers to imitate such behavior.

Among mukbang creators, confusion is widespread, with many complaining that the standards are vague.

Mukbang creator "Miso" said in a recently published video that she had received a notice from YouTube that her content violated its guidelines, and that an appeal had not changed the outcome. She said she deleted 339 videos from the past four years as a result.

"Salbbaejo," who has 440,000 subscribers, also said monetization on her channel had been suspended. "We are working with the company to find a solution," she said, adding that she had halted uploads because she did not know which videos might be subject to sanctions.

Tzzuyang, one of South Korea's most prominent mukbang creators with about 13.5 million subscribers, said, "I hear that eating a lot is no longer the trend," and pledged to "become a YouTuber who eats in moderation going forward."

With YouTube now actively enforcing sanctions against mukbang creators, many have been thrown into confusion. The criteria are unclear — even among similar mukbang videos, whether a creator earns revenue can depend on how food consumption is presented — and creators face the added burden of reviewing past content one by one to check for violations.

On this, YouTube said the measures were unavoidable in order to protect vulnerable viewers, including minors.

Mukbang creators had long drawn attention not only for the staggering quantities of food they consumed on camera, but also for the equally staggering incomes they earned doing so.

Tzzuyang once revealed her earnings on a broadcast, saying she thought she probably made in a single month what a peer her age would earn in a year. In a 2020 broadcast, she disclosed that she earned between 40 million won and 80 million won a month at her peak.

Now that she has surpassed 10 million subscribers, her income is believed to be far higher. Industry observers estimate she brings in about 100 million won or more per month when subscribers, view counts and sponsorships are factored in.

Ssoyoung, a mukbang creator with 11 million subscribers, also referenced her income on air, saying her monthly mukbang earnings exceeded what she had made over 14 years as an actor, and that she had paid off 900 million won in debt her husband had accumulated.