In 20-7, the YouTube Partner Program was started, which allowed creators to earn money for the content they upload on YouTube. This program has remained unchanged since 2018, but the company has now introduced some new updates for this program.
As per the community post, three important updates are being made to the way you earn from the YouTube Partner Program (YPP) to reflect the growth of YouTube and allow the company to invest in new incentive programs that directly support creators’ growth.
New earning opportunities
Expanding Premium Lite
Premium Lite is expanding to all countries where Premium is available. Premium Lite is a lower-priced YouTube Premium membership that offers fewer interruptions so viewers can watch most YouTube and YouTube Kids videos ad-free, offline, and in the background, though viewers may still see ads on music content, shorts, and when using search or browse.
For creators in YPP, this means more YouTube Premium members may engage with your content and actively contribute to your subscription earnings. When a user signs up for Premium, on average, partners earn more than when the user was watching ads (based on 2026 performance).
Evolving the shorts payout model and opportunities
YouTube is adapting the way the Shorts Creator Pool is distributed, and is launching new incentive programs to reward growth and engagement.
- New Shorts Revenue Sharing requirements: Starting Feb 1, 2027, to earn ads and Premium revenue each month from the Short Creator Pool, creators will need to maintain 10M qualified Shorts views over the last 90 days. Channels below this threshold remain in YPP and continue earning on long-form content.
- New Shorts Incentive Programs: Creators who regularly post Shorts, including those in earlier stages who may fall below the 10M views mark, will soon benefit from new targeted incentive programs designed to support diverse revenue streams. These include bonuses for YouTube Shopping, incentives for brand deals, and earnings boosts for cultural trend activations.
Updating YPP ads & Premium entry thresholds
Entry requirements will now also be referred to as qualified views and watch hours, previously valid public Shorts views and watch hours. If you are already in YPP, your YPP status and ability to earn are not impacted by this update.
Starting Feb 1, 2027, YPP entry thresholds for new applicants are changing to 8,000 qualified watch hours in the last 365 days, or 20M qualified Shorts views in the last 90 days.
There are no changes to the eligibility requirements for access to fan funding features (e.g., Super Chats & channel memberships), YouTube Creator Partnerships, or YouTube Shopping. These products will continue to help creators start their earning journeys even earlier when they reach 500 subscribers and either 3,000 qualified watch hours in the last 365 days or 3M qualified Shorts views in the last 90 days.
Further, additional YPP terms updates are also announced to keep the program running smoothly.
Additional YPP Terms Updates
Staying active in YPP
Anyone who’s considered inactive will now have an extended 90-day window to meet a lower 1,000 qualified watch hours in the last 365 days or 1M Shorts views in the last 90 days to stay in the program.
Direct Shorts Revenue
YouTube is updating its terms to support new Shorts ad formats. With these new ad formats, if an advertiser runs Shorts ads to specifically target 5 or fewer channels, creators will earn 45% of that ad’s revenue in addition to regular earnings from the Shorts Creator pool.
Aligning creators to updated Fan and Funding terms
For creators who enabled fan funding features (like channel memberships or Super Chat) before 2023, you may still be on an older version of YouTube’s terms called the “Commerce Product Addendum”. To keep legal terms consistent, the company is moving everyone to the current Commerce Product Module. There are no changes to eligibility thresholds, how the products work, or revenue share rates.
To keep earning, creators need to accept the updated Watch Page Monetisation module, Shorts monetisation module, and, where applicable, the Commerce Product Module in YouTube Studio by January 31, 2027. These terms are effective from Feb 1, 2027, so if you haven’t accepted the terms by that date, you will stop earning from the associated monetisation features.
The new terms will be available over the coming days. Creators will be notified via email and via a YouTube Studio notification when the new terms are available for them to review and accept.
