YouTube is doubling key monetization requirements for new creators beginning February 1, 2027. The changes will raise the bar for earning ad revenue, requiring 8,000 watch hours or 20 million Shorts views, while leaving the 1,000-subscriber requirement unchanged.
COMMUNITY
Kim M. Braud | August 10, 2026
YouTube is making it harder for new creators to qualify for advertising revenue.
Beginning February 1, 2027, creators applying for the YouTube Partner Program’s advertising and Premium revenue-sharing benefits will need 8,000 qualified public watch hours during the previous 365 days or 20 million qualified Shorts views within 90 days.
That is double the current requirement of 4,000 watch hours or 10 million Shorts views.
The subscriber requirement will remain at 1,000.
YouTube announced the changes Monday as part of a broader overhaul of its Partner Program, marking what the company describes as its first significant changes to the program since 2018.
For creators already enrolled in the YouTube Partner Program, there is an important distinction: the new entry thresholds will not apply to them.
But for smaller and emerging creators who have not yet reached monetization, the path to earning advertising revenue is about to become considerably steeper.
What Changes February 1, 2027
For new creators seeking advertising and YouTube Premium revenue sharing:
Current requirements
- 1,000 subscribers
- 4,000 qualified public watch hours during the previous 12 months, or
- 10 million qualified Shorts views during the previous 90 days
New requirements
- 1,000 subscribers
- 8,000 qualified public watch hours during the previous 365 days, or
- 20 million qualified Shorts views during the previous 90 days
YouTube said its entry requirements for channel memberships and Shopping will remain unchanged.
The changes come as YouTube reports enormous growth across both short- and long-form viewing. According to the company, Shorts now generate more than 200 billion daily views, while viewers watch more than one billion hours of YouTube content on television screens each day.
More than 3 million creators currently participate in the YouTube Partner Program.
Shorts Creators Face Another Threshold
The changes go beyond getting into the Partner Program.
Beginning February 1, creators will need 10 million qualified Shorts views during the preceding 90 days to remain eligible for advertising and subscription revenue sharing on Shorts.
A creator who falls below that threshold will not be removed from the Partner Program. The channel can continue earning revenue from eligible long-form content, and Shorts revenue sharing will automatically resume if the channel again exceeds 10 million qualified views during a 90-day period.
That distinction could be particularly significant for creators whose audiences are primarily built through short-form video.
YouTube says creators already generating significant Shorts revenue are unlikely to be affected.
YouTube Says More Ways to Earn Are Coming
While YouTube is raising the traditional advertising thresholds, the company is also attempting to expand the ways creators can make money without relying exclusively on advertising.
YouTube says it plans to introduce incentive programs that reward creators for reaching certain milestones, including bonuses connected to YouTube Shopping, incentives for brand partnerships and additional earnings for creators who start or grow trends on the platform.
Additional details about those programs have not yet been announced.
The company is also expanding Premium Lite to every country where YouTube Premium is available.
Under the announced structure, creators will receive a share of subscription revenue based on watch time and views from Premium subscribers. YouTube says creators will receive a 55 percent revenue share for long-form video and 45 percent for Shorts after revenue is allocated through the applicable subscription pool.
YouTube says it expects to pay creators more in 2027 than it did in 2026.
A Higher Barrier for Emerging Creators
The announcement presents two different realities for the creator economy.
Established creators already inside the Partner Program will largely avoid the increased entry requirements, while creators still working toward monetization will have to generate substantially more audience activity before becoming eligible for advertising and Premium revenue sharing.
For a creator pursuing long-form content, 8,000 watch hours equals 480,000 minutes of viewing within one year.
For a Shorts-focused creator, the alternative is 20 million qualified views in just 90 days.
That matters because the people building YouTube channels today are not necessarily aspiring internet celebrities. Independent journalists, educators, podcasters, consultants, small-business owners and niche content producers increasingly use platforms such as YouTube to build audiences and businesses.
For those creators, monetization can represent the point at which content begins helping pay for the equipment, software, production time and other expenses required to produce it.
YouTube's changes do not eliminate that opportunity.
They do, however, move the starting line.
Creators who are approaching the current monetization threshold now have an additional reason to pay attention to the calendar: the new Partner Program terms take effect February 1, 2027.
Kim M. Braud is the Founder & Editor of Evans Cutchmore Press, an independent newsroom covering Louisiana and the Gulf South. Her reporting focuses on government accountability, infrastructure, business, culture, and the public policies that shape communities. Her work combines investigative journalism, public records research, and documentary storytelling.
© 2026 Evans Cutchmore Press. All rights reserved.
