YouTube hopes stricter ad eligibility requirements will make Shorts revenue “meaningful” for creators

Beginning on February 1, 2027, the benchmarks for ad revenue eligibility on YouTube will be updated. Creators will need more Shorts views to qualify for that format’s ads, and the YouTube Partner Program will effectively double the eligibility requirements for ads and Premium revenue sharing. Currently, creators who get 1,000 subscribers and either 4,000 hours of yearly public watch time or ten million Shorts views over 90 days are eligible to receive ad revenue via the YouTube Partner Program. When the new policy kicks in next February, new applicants to the Program will need either 8,000 hours of watch time over 365 days or 20 million Shorts views over 90 days. Current members of the Partner Program will be grandfathered in and will not have to meet the updated thresholds. YouTube is also updating eligibility requirements for Shorts ads. No matter how a creator qualifies for the Partner Program, they must have significant Shorts viewership to get a cut of YouTube’s short-form ad revenue. Starting next February, Shorts ads will be limited to creators with at least ten million Shorts views over 90 days. Partner Program members who fall below that cutoff will have their Shorts ads restarted automatically once they get back above the threshold. Subscribe for
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