YouTube is to significantly raise the threshold for creators seeking advertising and subscription revenue through its YouTube Partner Programme (YPP), while introducing new performance requirements for Shorts monetisation.
The changes, which take effect on February 1, 2027, represent the first major overhaul of the YPP since 2018. YouTube says the changes will ensure the programme continues to reward active creators as the platform’s creator economy expands.
The most significant change will affect new creators seeking to qualify for advertising and YouTube Premium revenue sharing. From February 2027, new YPP applicants will need either 8,000 qualified public watch hours over the previous 365 days, up from 4,000, or 20 million qualified Shorts views in 90 days, up from 10 million.
The existing 1,000-subscriber requirement remains in place. The higher thresholds do not, however, affect access to YouTube’s Fan Funding and shopping products, whose eligibility requirements remain unchanged.
For creators already in YPP, the key change concerns Shorts. From February 1, channels will need to generate 10 million qualified Shorts views over a rolling 90-day period to remain eligible for advertising and subscription revenue from Shorts.
Creators falling below that threshold will not be removed from the Partner Programme. Instead, Shorts revenue sharing will pause until the channel again reaches 10 million qualified views. Their ability to earn from long-form content will be unaffected.
YouTube says creators already generating significant Shorts revenue are unlikely to be materially affected.
The changes come as Shorts consumption has reached unprecedented levels, with YouTube reporting more than 200 billion Shorts views every day. The platform also says more than three million creators are currently in the YPP, while viewing on television has passed one billion hours per day.
Alongside the tighter requirements, YouTube is promising new ways for creators to earn. These include incentives around YouTube Shopping, support for brand deals and potential earnings boosts for creators who start and grow trends on the platform. Further details on those programmes have yet to be announced.
The company is also expanding YouTube Premium Lite to every market where YouTube Premium is available, creating an additional subscription revenue stream for creators. YouTube says 60% of net Premium Lite subscription revenue will be allocated to a creator pool, compared with 30% for standard Premium. The resulting pool is distributed according to member watch time and views, with creators receiving a 55% revenue share for long-form content and 45% for Shorts.
For new creators, the immediate effect is a substantially higher bar for reaching advertising revenue. But taken together, the changes point to a strategic shift in YouTube’s approach to creator monetisation. While advertising remains central, the platform is increasingly looking to reward sustained engagement and build alternative commercial routes through subscriptions, shopping and brand partnerships.
