YouTube tightens Partner Program requirements, raises bar for Shorts monetization

YouTube is making some of the biggest changes to its Partner Program in years, doubling the viewing requirements for new creators seeking advertising revenue while imposing a new ongoing threshold for creators making money from Shorts.

The changes, which take effect Feb. 1, 2027, come as YouTube says its Partner Program, or YPP, has grown to more than 3 million creators. The Google-owned platform is framing the overhaul as a way to direct more money toward active creators while expanding revenue opportunities beyond traditional advertising.

YouTube said it expects its overall payments to creators to increase in 2027 compared with 2026, though the company did not disclose how much it expects to distribute or how the changes could affect average earnings for individual creators.

The most significant change for new creators is a doubling of the threshold needed to qualify for advertising and YouTube Premium revenue sharing.

Beginning Feb. 1, new applicants will need at least 1,000 subscribers and either 8,000 qualified watch hours during the previous 365 days or 20 million qualified Shorts views during the previous 90 days. The current requirements are 1,000 subscribers and either 4,000 valid public watch hours or 10 million Shorts views.

Creators already participating in YPP will not have to meet the new entry thresholds.

The move effectively doubles one of the biggest hurdles facing creators trying to turn a growing YouTube channel into an advertising-supported business. It also marks a change in direction after YouTube spent several years broadening access to monetization tools.

YouTube’s lower YPP tier, which gives creators earlier access to features including fan funding and some shopping tools, is not changing. That program currently requires 500 subscribers, three public uploads during the previous 90 days and either 3,000 valid public watch hours over 12 months or 3 million Shorts views during 90 days.

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The last comparable tightening of YouTube’s long-form monetization requirements came in 2018, when the company established the 1,000-subscriber and 4,000-watch-hour requirements. At the time, YouTube said the higher standards would help it identify creators making meaningful contributions to the platform and keep advertising revenue away from bad actors.

Shorts creators face an additional hurdle

The changes could be particularly significant for creators whose businesses depend heavily on YouTube Shorts.

Beginning Feb. 1, creators will need at least 10 million qualified Shorts views during a rolling 90-day period to receive advertising and subscription revenue from Shorts — even if they are already members of YPP.

A channel that falls below the threshold will remain in the Partner Program and can continue earning money from qualifying long-form videos. Shorts revenue sharing will automatically resume once the channel again reaches 10 million qualified views during the previous 90 days.

That is a notable change from the current Shorts model. Monetizing creators presently receive 45% of the revenue allocated to them from the Shorts Creator Pool, which combines advertising revenue generated between videos in the Shorts feed and accounts for music licensing costs before distributing money based on eligible views.

YouTube argues that the new minimum will concentrate revenue on creators who consistently generate substantial viewership rather than channels that have an occasional viral hit.

Amjad Hanif, YouTube’s vice president of creator product, said some channels currently generate only a few cents in Shorts revenue during low-viewership months. The company instead wants the system to reward creators who are consistently driving views and engagement.

YouTube also said creators who already generate significant Shorts revenue are unlikely to be affected.

For smaller and midsize creators, however, the requirement could create a considerably more volatile monetization system. A channel could qualify for Shorts payments during one 90-day period, fall below the threshold during the next and stop receiving Shorts revenue until its audience rebounds.

The Shorts requirement is also notable because it does not simply determine admission to the program. It becomes an ongoing performance requirement tied directly to whether a creator receives revenue from a particular format.

YouTube says the change reflects the enormous scale Shorts has reached. The company says viewers now watch more than 200 billion Shorts per day, while YouTube overall generates more than 1 billion hours of daily viewing on television sets.

More creator incentives outside advertising

At the same time it is restricting access to Shorts advertising revenue, YouTube says it plans to introduce additional ways for creators to make money.

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The company is developing incentive programs that could include bonuses tied to YouTube Shopping, incentives for securing brand partnerships and additional payments for creators whose videos start or grow trends.

Those programs could become particularly important for Shorts creators who remain in YPP but do not consistently meet the 10-million-view threshold.

YouTube has not yet disclosed how large those payments will be, how creators will qualify for them or whether the incentives will provide recurring revenue comparable with advertising. The company said more details will be released later.

That shift also reflects a broader change in the creator economy, where advertising is increasingly only one part of a creator’s business alongside sponsorships, affiliate sales, merchandise, memberships and other direct-to-fan revenue.

Premium Lite expands

YouTube is also expanding Premium Lite to every country where YouTube Premium is available, potentially creating another source of subscription revenue for creators.

Under the new structure, YouTube will establish separate creator revenue pools for its subscription products. Thirty percent of net subscription revenue from YouTube Premium will be allocated to its creator pool, while 60% of net Premium Lite revenue will go into a separate pool.

That does not mean creators directly receive 30% or 60% of every subscription. After money is allocated to the applicable pool and distributed based on subscriber watch time and views, creators receive a 55% revenue share for long-form videos and 45% for Shorts.

The difference between the Premium and Premium Lite allocations partly reflects their different economics. Premium Lite costs $8.99 per month in the U.S., compared with $15.99 for an individual YouTube Premium subscription, and does not include YouTube Music Premium. Ads can also continue appearing on some music content, Shorts and portions of YouTube’s search and browsing experience under Premium Lite.

That reduced exposure to music licensing costs may help explain why YouTube can allocate a larger percentage of Premium Lite’s net subscription revenue to its creator pool, although YouTube has not explicitly described that as the reason for the difference.

For creators, YouTube argues the expansion should be a net positive. The company says partners on average earn more when a viewer subscribes to Premium than when that viewer consumes their content through the advertising-supported version of YouTube, based on the platform’s 2026 performance.

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The changes arrive as YouTube increasingly straddles two identities: a user-generated video platform built around independent creators and a major television and streaming service competing for viewing time and advertising dollars with companies such as Netflix and Disney. 

Existing YPP creators will need to accept YouTube’s updated terms by Jan. 31, 2027, to continue monetizing under the program.