YouTube/Adsense monetization changes
Starting on April 1, 2013, YouTube/Adsense has changed the way they handle monetization. They've made blog posts and help topics that offered no answers for people's problems and confusion. I spent a night figuring things out and here's what I have found. I'll try to be thorough, but easy to understand. If you still have questions, leave a reply and I'll try to help you out.
YouTube Analytics is now showing your most current ESTIMATED earnings. These estimates have always been different than the finalized earnings. You will be able to see daily estimates on YouTube Analytics 24 hours after each day has ended. Each month, those earnings will "finalize" and hit your Adsense account, but it may take up to 14 days after the month has ended. For example, Adsense may not show May's finalized earnings until June 14th.
Everything I could find online about this was suggesting we use the "Payments" tab in Adsense to view final earnings. Doing so, however, shows no activity other than a "starting balance" and "service adjustment" even if I chose to view all time history. This may be a bug in Adsense right now, but that is what was confusing me the most. I've found using the "Click here to see your most recent payment" link that shows up beside your current balance in Adsense will show you your most recent Finalized Earnings (remember that last month may take 14 days to show up, and these numbers may be different than YouTube Analytic 's estimates).
