YouTube says that from February 1, new creators will need double, or 8,000, watch hours over the past year or 20M Shorts views in the past 90 days to earn money
YouTube announced on Monday that new creators will have to meet higher thresholds to begin earning money from ads and subscriptions.
Context & Ripple Effects
YouTube has repeatedly reset the entry terms for its Partner Program: the 2018 watch-time gate set a 4,000-hour benchmark, while 2023's lower requirements broadened access. The new policy reverses that easier-entry direction for new creators.
Short-form economics are being tightened in parallel: YouTube's earlier Shorts revenue plan used a 10 million-view, 90-day benchmark, compared with the newly announced 20 million-view route.
First-order effects
- New creators must clear 8,000 annual watch hours or 20 million Shorts views in 90 days before they can earn through YouTube ads and subscriptions.
- Creators who would have qualified under the prior watch-time or Shorts-view thresholds face a longer period without Partner Program monetization.
Second-order effects
- The higher bar favors established YouTube channels, which already have the audience scale needed to meet eligibility thresholds, over smaller entrants seeking to turn early traction into revenue.
- Creators focused on Shorts now need twice the view volume under the eligibility route described in YouTube's earlier revenue-sharing plan, raising the scale required for a Shorts-led business.
Third-order effects
- If YouTube maintains the higher thresholds, the Partner Program becomes a more selective layer of the platform, concentrating direct monetization among creators with demonstrated audience scale.
- The shift marks a retreat from the lower-entry approach in YouTube's recent program history, making monetization eligibility a stronger filter on the creator supply seeking ad and subscription revenue.
The trend: YouTube is moving from expanding Partner Program access toward using higher audience-scale thresholds to govern who reaches direct platform monetization.