EQUIPThe Verge · 1h ago
YouTube is making it harder to earn money on YouTube
Executive Brief
The 30-second read
YouTube will implement stricter monetization requirements for its Partner Program beginning February 1, 2027. Creators must now secure 8,000 annual watch hours or 20 million Shorts views to maintain advertising revenue eligibility.
- 01New mandates double the previous annual qualified watch hour requirement to 8,000 hours
- 02Shorts creators require 20 million views within a 90-day window for program qualification
- 03Baseline subscriber requirements remain unchanged at a minimum of 1,000 followers per channel
- 04Increased thresholds reflect platform efforts to tighten monetization standards for all digital content creators
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Business Travel Management 2026: Program Blueprint →AI-generated summary · Verify at source
Starting February 1st, 2027, creators who want to monetize their channel through YouTube's Partner Program (YPP) will need at least 1,000 subscribers and either 8,000 qualified watch hours over the past year, or 20 million qualified Shorts views in the last 90 days. That's a sizeable jump from YouTube's current requirement of 1,000 subscribers with […]