YouTube has announced stricter eligibility requirements for new creators seeking to earn money through its monetization programme, doubling the required watch hours for long-form content and increasing the threshold for Shorts.
Under the new rules, creators will need 8,000 qualified watch hours during the previous 12 months or 20 million qualified Shorts views within 90 days to begin earning from ads and subscriptions.
The changes will take effect from February 1 and will not affect creators who are already part of the YouTube Partner Program.
Previously, creators needed 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 watch hours over the previous year, or 1,000 subscribers and 10 million Shorts views within 90 days.
Stricter rules for Shorts creators
YouTube is also introducing a new requirement for creators earning through its Shorts Creators Pool.
Creators will need to maintain 10 million Shorts views within a 90-day period to continue earning from the programme.
Channels that fall below the threshold will remain in the YouTube Partner Program and can continue earning from long-form content. Shorts revenue will resume once they reach the 10 million-view threshold again.
YouTube said the changes are intended to keep pace with the platform's rapid growth, noting that Shorts now generate more than 200 billion views a day, while viewers watch more than one billion hours of YouTube content on television every day.
Higher barrier for new creators
The higher thresholds could make it more difficult for new creators, particularly Shorts-focused channels, to reach monetization.
Creators will now need to consistently attract large audiences before qualifying to earn money, potentially reducing the number of new channels able to enter YouTube's monetization ecosystem.
YouTube expands Premium Lite
Alongside the monetization changes, YouTube announced that its lower-cost Premium Lite subscription is being expanded to all countries where YouTube Premium is available.
Creators receive a share of subscription revenue based on member watch time and views, with 55% allocated to long-form video creators and 45% to Shorts creators, according to YouTube.
The company said creators could benefit from the expansion because partners generally earn more when viewers subscribe to Premium than when those users watch advertisements.
Premium Lite offers an ad-free experience on most videos, as well as features including offline downloads and background playback.
Social platforms tighten creator payouts
YouTube's changes come as other social media platforms also revise their creator monetization programmes.
Elon Musk's X recently changed its creator payout guidelines to focus on original content, while Facebook has introduced a new monetization programme aimed at attracting creators from platforms including TikTok and YouTube.
