SAN BRUNO, CALIFORNIA, United States — YouTube is raising the bar for creators seeking to earn from advertising and Premium revenue, requiring twice as much watch time or Shorts views from new applicants to its Partner Program from February 2027.
YouTube will significantly raise the eligibility thresholds for new creators seeking to earn advertising and Premium revenue, making it harder for smaller channels to monetise their content from February 2027.
Under changes announced by the Google-owned video platform on Monday, new creators applying to the YouTube Partner Program (YPP) will need 8,000 qualified public watch hours in the previous 365 days or 20 million qualified Shorts views in the previous 90 days.
The new requirements will take effect on February 1, 2027.
The change represents a doubling of the current 4,000-hour watch-time threshold for long-form content and the 10 million qualified Shorts-view threshold for creators pursuing monetisation through short-form videos.
YouTube said the new thresholds apply to creators seeking access to advertising and Premium revenue sharing and will not affect channels already participating in the YouTube Partner Program.
The platform said the changes are part of its broader effort to reward active creators as the scale of YouTube’s creator economy continues to expand.
The company said the Partner Program now has more than three million creators and that YouTube receives more than 200 billion Shorts views every day, while viewers watch more than one billion hours of content on televisions each day.
New hurdle for Shorts creators
Short-form video creators face another significant change.
From February 1, 2027, creators will need to maintain at least 10 million qualified Shorts views over a 90-day period to remain eligible for advertising and subscription revenue sharing on Shorts.
Channels that fall below the threshold will not be removed from the YouTube Partner Program and will continue earning from eligible long-form content.
Their Shorts revenue-sharing eligibility will automatically resume once they again reach 10 million qualified views within 90 days.
YouTube said it is also developing alternative incentives for creators who fall below the Shorts threshold, including potential bonuses linked to YouTube Shopping, brand deals and the ability to generate or grow trends on the platform.
The company said further details on those programmes would be released later.
What the changes mean for new creators
The revised thresholds could make YouTube significantly more difficult to monetise for emerging creators, particularly those relying heavily on Shorts.
A creator who previously qualified through 4,000 hours of watch time will now need to generate twice that amount before becoming eligible for advertising and Premium revenue sharing.
Likewise, Shorts-focused creators will need to generate 20 million qualified views in 90 days to qualify as new YPP applicants — effectively requiring sustained viral-level reach rather than an occasional breakout video.
The policy also signals a shift in YouTube’s approach to monetisation: large audiences alone may no longer be enough; the platform increasingly wants sustained engagement and activity.
For established creators, however, the immediate impact is limited because YouTube has explicitly said existing YPP members will not be affected by the higher entry thresholds.
YouTube expands Premium Lite
Alongside the monetisation changes, YouTube announced the global expansion of Premium Lite to all markets where YouTube Premium is available.
Premium Lite offers uninterrupted viewing of most content, as well as offline downloads and background playback.
YouTube said creators will also benefit from subscription revenue generated through the service.
According to the company, 60% of net Premium Lite subscription revenue is allocated to a creator revenue pool. From that pool, creators receive a 55% revenue share for long-form videos and 45% for Shorts, based on member watch time and views.
YouTube said its 2026 performance data indicates that partners, on average, earn more when a viewer becomes a Premium subscriber than when that viewer continues watching with advertising.
A broader shift across the creator economy
YouTube’s decision comes as major social platforms increasingly tighten or redesign their creator-reward systems.
The changes reflect a broader shift away from simply paying for large volumes of content or occasional viral success towards rewarding originality, sustained engagement, audience loyalty and commercial value.
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For creators, that could make the digital economy more competitive.
It also means that aspiring YouTubers may need to build audiences for longer before they can turn their channels into reliable sources of income.
YouTube said the updated terms will be available for creators to review and sign through YouTube Studio before they take effect on February 1, 2027.
The company said the changes are intended to allow it to invest in new incentive programmes designed to support creator growth and diversify the ways creators can earn money beyond traditional advertising revenue.
For millions of aspiring creators, however, the immediate message is clear: from 2027, getting into YouTube’s main monetisation programme will require a substantially larger and more consistently engaged audience.
