Nah QA isn't necessarily going to understand code (the best ones do though!)

I also need to do this occasionally, even though I never leave without locking I still need to consciously remind myself of the fact

You mean the 3.6 roentgen from Chernobyl? And when you say "per day", you mean this measurement implies a period of time?

You...don't believe it works like that? Ultimately a sponsor isn't going to pay much if no one watches the spot. Advertising has always involved getting as much data as possible on how your ads are doing.

I don't have any one definitive link that will tell you "this is how it works", but I've picked up a few things from the various discussions I've seen some youtubers have.

Actually that's not quite how it works from my understanding. Youtube is able to provide detailed metrics that can provide information like "how many people actually watched the sponsor segment?" and base the payouts on that. The payout will either be based on estimated views in advance (meaning if it's lower than expected they'll pay less next time) or they'll pay after the video has been live for some period of time.