Rabat – YouTube is raising the bar for creators who want to earn money through its Partner Program, introducing higher requirements for new channels seeking access to advertising and subscription revenue.

The changes will take effect on February 1, 2027, according to YouTube.

Under the new rules, creators will need to reach 8,000 qualified watch hours over the previous 12 months or 20 million qualified Shorts views within 90 days to qualify for monetization.

The current requirements are lower. Creators currently need 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 watch hours over the past year, or 1,000 subscribers and 10 million Shorts views within 90 days to access advertising revenue.

The new requirements will apply to creators entering the relevant monetization tier. 

YouTube said creators who are already part of the Partner Program will not be affected by the changes.

New Shorts requirement

YouTube is also introducing a separate threshold for creators earning through Shorts.

Creators will need to maintain at least 10 million qualified Shorts views during a 90-day period to continue receiving revenue through the Shorts Creators Pool.

Channels that fall below the threshold will not be removed from the YouTube Partner Program. 

Instead, their Shorts revenue will pause until they reach 10 million qualified views again.

YouTube said the changes reflect the scale of the platform, which now records more than 200 billion Shorts views every day and more than 1 billion hours of YouTube viewing on television screens each day.

The higher thresholds could make it more difficult for smaller and newer creators to reach YouTube’s main monetization program, particularly those focused primarily on short-form content.

YouTube expands Premium Lite

Alongside the Partner Program changes, YouTube announced the expansion of Premium Lite to all countries where YouTube Premium is available.

The lower-cost subscription offers an ad-free experience on most videos, as well as offline downloads and background playback.

Creators also receive a share of Premium subscription revenue based on members’ viewing activity. 

According to YouTube, 55% of the relevant revenue goes to long-form creators, while 45% goes to Shorts creators.

YouTube said creators can benefit from Premium subscribers because partners can earn more from a Premium viewer, on average, than from a viewer who watches advertisements.

The changes come as other major platforms continue to adjust how creators are rewarded. 

X recently changed its creator payout system to focus on original content, while Facebook has introduced new monetization initiatives aimed at attracting creators from platforms including TikTok and YouTube.