YouTube tightens earning conditions for new content creators

Photo: Collected

Tech Desk: YouTube has made its earning criteria for new content creators even stricter. In addition to doubling the required watch hours for long-form videos, the view targets for Shorts videos have also been raised.

​Under the new rules, to start earning from ads and subscriptions, a creator must achieve 8,000 eligible watch hours over the past 12 months, or receive 20 million eligible views on Shorts videos within 90 days.

​These new rules will take effect starting February 1. However, for those who are already part of the YouTube Partner Program (YPP), these changes will not apply.

​Previously, to earn from YouTube, a creator needed at least 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 watch hours in the past 12 months. For Shorts, the condition was 1,000 subscribers alongside 10 million views within 90 days.

​Stricter Rules for Shorts Creators

​YouTube is also introducing new requirements for creators earning from the Shorts Creators Pool. To keep this feature active, creators must maintain at least 10 million Shorts views within 90 days.

​If a channel's views fall below the threshold, it will remain in the YouTube Partner Program and can continue earning from long-form videos. However, earnings from Shorts will be paused. Earnings from Shorts will resume once the channel meets the 10-million-view limit again.

​YouTube stated that these changes were introduced to keep pace with the platform's rapid expansion. According to company data, YouTube Shorts currently gets over 200 billion views daily. Additionally, time spent watching YouTube content on television daily has crossed 1 billion hours.

​Increased Hurdles for New Creators

​Due to these new conditions, starting to earn from YouTube could become more difficult, especially for channels that rely heavily on Shorts. Before qualifying for monetization, creators will need to consistently build a larger audience base.

​As a result, the number of new channels getting the opportunity to enter YouTube's monetization system may decrease.

​Expanding YouTube Premium Lite

​Alongside tightening monetization rules, YouTube has announced the expansion of its low-cost subscription service, YouTube Premium Lite. Premium Lite will gradually be rolled out in all countries where YouTube Premium is currently available.

​Creators receive a share of subscription revenue based on how long and how often members watch their content. According to YouTube data, 55% of this revenue is allocated to long-form video creators, and 45% is allocated to Shorts creators.

​YouTube states that creators can also benefit from the expansion of Premium Lite. This is because creators generally earn more from a user subscribed to a premium service compared to ad views.

​In addition to watching most videos ad-free, Premium Lite includes features like offline video downloads and background playback.

​Changes to Earnings on Other Social Media Platforms

​Parallel to YouTube's updates, other social media platforms are also revising their creator monetization systems. Elon Musk’s X recently modified its payout policies to place greater emphasis on original content.

​Meanwhile, Facebook has launched a new monetization program. One of the main goals of this initiative is to attract creators from other platforms, including TikTok and YouTube.

​Source: Sama TV Online