I'm really disappointed to hear of the new rules that YouTube rolled out in regards to smaller creators and monetization, thumbnails etc. Its literally a way to say "you are unimportant to us." It tells eager new creators that they must work 10x harder to get seen. So unfortunate
Mind if we jump in? Creators who have their channel verified (by mobile phone) will still have access to features like custom thumbnail. More details: https://goo.gl/HvuGdr . Hope this helps clarify!