YouTube Partner Program: More viewership time needed for ad revenue soon

Anyone who wants to be newly admitted to the YouTube Partner Program will have to prove twice as many playback hours or Shorts views as before starting February 1, 2027. The prerequisites will then be 8,000 hours of monetizable playback time in 365 days or 20 million monetizable Shorts views in 90 days, YouTube announced on Monday.

So far, 4,000 hours of playback time in the past year or 10 million Shorts views in 90 days are sufficient. The requirement of 1,000 subscribers remains in place. Anyone already in the Partner Program will not lose their status due to the higher thresholds. It is the first major change to the admission criteria since 2018, YouTube writes in a blog post.

The Partner Program offers YouTubers more opportunities to earn money with their content: Participants can run ads and sell channel memberships. They also share in the revenue that Google generates with its premium subscriptions.

Shorts need sustained performance

Shorts creators will no longer be able to rest on their laurels in the future: From February 2027, only those who have achieved 10 million monetizable Shorts views in the preceding 90 days will be included in the ad and subscription revenue from the Shorts pool. Those who fall short will not be completely removed from the program and can continue to earn money with long-form videos.

As compensation, YouTube is hinting at programs that allow creators to earn money outside of ad revenue – such as bonuses for YouTube Shopping, production credits for brand deals, and rewards for activities related to cultural trends. Details are still missing.

Premium Lite for all countries

As a counterweight, YouTube points to its subscription business: Premium Lite, the cheaper subscription without the music service, will be rolled out to all countries where YouTube Premium is available. Of the net subscription revenue from Premium Lite, 60 percent will go into a creator pool; for Premium, it's 30 percent. According to YouTube, creators earn more per user on average from a subscription than from advertising.

Creators must accept the updated terms and conditions in YouTube Studio by January 31, 2027, otherwise revenue from the affected monetization features will cease from February. YouTube regularly tweaks its monetization rules: In January, the platform eased its advertising guidelines for controversial topics, opening up videos about suicide, eating disorders, or abortion to full advertising marketing.

(dahe)