What Are the New Rules for YouTube Creators for Earning? How Many Views Are Now Required?
YouTube has doubled its monetization thresholds for new creators, requiring 8,000 watch hours or 20 million Shorts views starting February 1. The platform also tightened rules for existing partners while expanding its ad-free Premium Lite subscription globally to support creator payouts.
ouTube has announced significant changes to its partner program, raising the eligibility thresholds for new content creators seeking to earn ad revenue and subscription income. Effective from February 1, aspiring partners will need to achieve double the previous metrics, reflecting the platform's massive expansion in daily video consumption and short-form traffic.
YouTube's updated guidelines require new applicants to accumulate at least 8,000 qualified public watch hours over the past year, or alternatively reach 20 million qualified Shorts views within a 90-day window. The baseline requirement of 1,000 subscribers remains unchanged.
Stricter Thresholds for Shorts Creators
The platform is also placing stricter ongoing performance demands on existing participants, particularly within the short-form video ecosystem. Creators earning from the Shorts Creators Pool must maintain a minimum of 10 million views over a 90-day period.
If a channel's view count drops below this threshold, its Shorts-specific monetization will be temporarily paused until the required metrics are met again. However, this adjustment does not remove the channel from the overarching partner program entirely, allowing creators to continue earning from long-form content.
Expansion of the Premium Lite Subscription
Alongside the threshold increases, YouTube is expanding its more affordable Premium Lite subscription tier to all regions where standard YouTube Premium is available. The plan offers an ad-free viewing experience minus music streaming perks. YouTube Shorts Monetization: Google Now Monetising Short-Videos, Early Results Encouraging.
Revenue sharing from subscriptions allocates 55% to long-form creators and 45% to Shorts creators based on member watch time. Company leadership notes that subscriber engagement through these tiers frequently yields higher earnings per viewer compared to traditional advertising models.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 11, 2026 12:12 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).