YouTube overhauls monetization rules for first time in 8 years, doubling watch-time threshold

YouTube is significantly tightening its monetization requirements for creators, doubling the watch-time and Shorts view thresholds needed to earn a share of advertising revenue — raising the bar for new video makers looking to profit from the platform.

YouTube announced Monday that it will raise the eligibility requirements for its YouTube Partner Program (YPP) starting in February next year.

Under the new rules, accounts seeking a share of ad revenue must accumulate 8,000 hours of watch time on public videos over the past year, or reach 20 million valid Shorts views within the past 90 days.

That is exactly double the previous thresholds of 4,000 watch hours over the past year or 10 million Shorts views in 90 days. The subscriber requirement, however, remains unchanged at 1,000.

Accounts already enrolled in YPP and approved for monetization will not be affected even if they fall short of the new thresholds. The changes will apply only to accounts that apply for monetization going forward.

YouTube also announced a full expansion of its lower-cost subscription tier, Premium Lite. The plan strips out some features of the standard YouTube Premium subscription — including YouTube Music — and will become available in every country where YouTube Premium is offered.

Creators will receive a share of subscription revenue not only when standard Premium subscribers watch their videos, but also when Premium Lite subscribers do.

YouTube said it will allocate 30 percent of net Premium subscription revenue and 60 percent of net Premium Lite subscription revenue to the creator revenue pool. The company added that payouts from paid-subscriber views are larger for creators than those generated when free users watch ads.

Industry observers expect the policy changes to make monetization harder for new creators. Those who build their channels around Shorts rather than longer videos may face a particularly steep climb, as they will need to rack up more than 20 million valid views in a short period, analysts said.

YouTube said the overhaul is designed "to keep pace with YouTube's growth," citing daily Shorts views exceeding 200 billion and TV-based watch time surpassing 1 billion hours. The company said it expects to pay out more to creators next year than it does this year as a result.

The revision marks the first major overhaul of YouTube's revenue-sharing policy since 2018, about eight years ago.