YouTube is making it harder for creators to start earning money

YouTube CEO Neal Mohan and celebrity YouTuber MrBeast. Noam Galai/Getty Images for YouTube YouTube is changing the requirements for creators to be accepted into its primary monetization program. YouTube's Partner Program, which pays creators a cut of ad revenue, has propelled careers. Starting in February, it's going

New YouTube partners will now need twice the number of watch hours or Shorts views in order to qualify for a cut of ad revenue.

Creators who want to start earning on the platform will need at least 8,000 qualified watch hours over the past year or 20 million qualified Shorts views in the last 90 days.

Starting February 1st, 2027, creators who want to monetize their channel through YouTube's Partner Program (YPP) will need at least 1,000 subscribers and either 8,000 qualified watch hours over the past year, or 20 million qualified Shorts views in the last 90 days. That's a sizeable jump from YouTube's current require

New creators will face higher thresholds for ad revenue as YouTube changes how current partners earn money from Shorts.