YouTube announced major changes to the YouTube Partner Program taking effect 1 February 2027. New creators will need 8,000 watch hours or 20 million Shorts views to qualify for ad revenue, doubling existing entry benchmarks. Current partners are grandfathered in, though Shorts ad payouts will now require a recurring 10 million views over 90 days.
YouTube is planning a big requirement change to the YouTube Partner Program (YPP) that will make it harder for new creators to start monetizing from ads on the site. Effective 1 February 2027, the company will double its entry benchmarks for ad and YouTube Premium revenue sharing. This marks its first major overhaul to program thresholds since 2018.[1]
New thresholds for program entry and Shorts monetization - Under the upcoming rules, new applicants must accumulate at least 1,000 subscribers along with either 8,000 public watch hours over the last 365 days or 20 million qualified Shorts views over the last 90 days. These figures double the current requirements of 4,000 watch hours and 10 million Shorts views. Existing YPP members will be grandfathered into the program and will not lose their partnership status under the new entry rules. However, current creators must review and accept the updated agreement terms in YouTube Studio by 31 January 2027.
YouTube is also refining how it distributes Shorts ad revenue. To earn a cut from short-form ads, creators must maintain at least 10 million qualified Shorts views over the previous 90 days. Partners who fall below that mark will temporarily lose Shorts ad payouts, though they remain in YPP and continue earning on long-form content, with Shorts revenue sharing automatically resuming once their channels cross the 10-million-view threshold again.
Subscription expansion and new incentive programs - To offset the higher ad entry barriers, YouTube is expanding its Premium Lite subscription tier to all markets where standard YouTube Premium is available. Creators earn a share from dedicated subscription revenue pools. More specifically, they get 30% of net revenue from Premium Lite and 60% from standard Premium based on member watch time. From these pools, creators receive a 55% revenue share for long-form videos and 45% for Shorts. YouTube notes that when a user signs up for Premium, partners average higher earnings than from ad views.
According to YouTube VP of Creator Product Amjad Hanif, the higher benchmarks reflect the massive scale of Google’s platform. The updated figures reflect 200 billion daily Shorts views and over a billion hours of TV watch time daily. YouTube plans to offer new milestone incentives for smaller channels with less than 10 million views, instead of relying on ad splits. This includes YouTube Shopping bonuses, brand deal rewards, and trend boosts. Lastly, entry requirements for Fan Funding tools, like Super Thanks, Super Chat, and channel memberships, as well as shopping products remain completely unchanged. That is, they remain at 500 subscribers, 3 qualified uploads in 90 days, and either 3,000 watch hours or 3 million Shorts views.
Our Take - Doubling the requirements for ad revenue is a tough blow for smaller channels trying to build momentum on YouTube. Hitting 8,000 watch hours or 20 million Shorts views is a big hill to climb, effectively pushing newer creators away from ad splits and toward alternative monetization like brand deals or fan memberships. While YouTube claims this keeps ad revenue meaningful for established partners, it definitely makes the journey from hobbyist to full-time creator much steeper.
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[1] https://www.androidheadlines.com/2026/08/youtube-doubles-partner-program-monetization-requirements-2027-update.html
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