youtube is implement new requirements for creators who want to make money on the platform. Starting in February 2027, creators who want to join the revenue-sharing tier of the YouTube Partner Program will need at least 8,000 hours watched in the last 12 months or 20 million views on YouTube Shorts in the last 90 days. These new totals double the previous requirements, and the increase has put those who aspire to make money through YouTube on notice; either become a partner shortly before the new rules take effect, or put that potential income stream out of reach.
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Awesome. I love when platforms make it even harder to succeed… https://t.co/h0WQtVcuie pic.twitter.com/4Kf7QyxUUn
— Nanaru 🥀🌙Spider lilly wolfie🌙🥀SpiritVeil (@nanaruultaru) August 11, 2026
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Some creators on social media have pointed out that while achieving 8,000 hours of viewing is a high bar, it is reasonably achievable. The new requirements also do not apply to creators already in the program, and those who fall below that threshold will not be kicked out. But the biggest and most concerning change, creators say, is the YouTube Shorts ad monetization program. Right nowYouTube Shorts advertising revenue is pooled and allocated to creators based on the number of views of a short, whether it uses licensed music, and other factors.
But when the new rules go into effect, YouTube will only pay ad revenue to creators who reach a cumulative 10 million Shorts views in 90 days, a feat creators say is much harder to achieve. Those who fall below the Shorts threshold will not lose ad revenue for their long-form content, they will simply lose Shorts advertising money until their numbers increase. What’s worse is that YouTube will still be able to run ads on those shorts, but it won’t have to pay creators if they don’t meet the new threshold.
However, the absolute worst change is the shorts change. If you don’t get 10 million shorts views every 90 days, your account will no longer receive money for shorts until you reach the 10 million views threshold again.
This is blatantly stealing money from the creators!
— Big Garf (@biggarffan37.bsky.social) 2026-08-11T02:44:01.520Z
The most fun part of being a creator is that the goalposts never stop moving.
Apparently, YouTube has decided that 10 million Shorts views every 90 days is a reasonable minimum performance requirement to continue earning with Shorts.
hahaha, what are we doing anymore? https://t.co/KgVeObfcFC
— Commander Karl (@kommanderkarl) August 10, 2026
Well, I worked hard to monetize myself and started making money with shorts, but it won’t be for long. Rocket League content is a bit difficult to get 10 million views on short content in 90 days. this really sucks https://t.co/9JsKcF8nNB
— countries (@landen_rl) August 10, 2026
So if I’m reading this correctly, despite being in the YPP for a few years now, I will no longer receive advertising revenue from the shorts? My channel has never exceeded 10 million views in 90 days. If true, this is comically unfair. Please clarify. @TeamYouTube pic.twitter.com/7zEmfXZpZJ
– Mystic Aidan 🌺💥 (@MysticAidanYT) August 10, 2026
YouTube says the changes are intended to “reward creators who drive conversation and engagement on YouTube.” Some have said that the higher entry bar to the partnership program is an effort to make it harder for AI farms to quickly create new accounts and start making money from YouTube. But the changes to Shorts appear to primarily reward high-volume, low-effort creators.
AI comes in and abuses the system and YouTube’s solution to combat this is to punish regular people, especially smaller channels just starting out. This is nonsense. https://t.co/Txrpw968UD
– HARU REN (@HaruRen364) August 11, 2026
It really is a horrible change, this will only make Ai’s problem worse.
AI pipelines can easily double their output and hit these crazy requirements, meanwhile, human pipelines have to find a way to put in twice the time and twice the effort.
6 months to reverse this
— mizu (@mizu_to_gohan) August 11, 2026
In today’s attention economy, short-form videos have been declared king, and YouTube Shorts is Google’s attempt to challenge the god emperor of short-forms, TikTok. The new program incentivizes creators (or AI farms, as it’s obvious which type of creator is most effectively set up to take advantage of this change) to create more shorts, increasing overall volume on YouTube and, as the platform likely hopes, ultimately making it a competitor. worthy of the advertising dollars TikTok has absorbed. But the plan may backfire when the creators realize that the juice is not worth the squeeze. If monetization and ad revenue are locked behind what creators consider an impossible goal, why try?
They want you to treat YouTube like a full-time job, but at the same time pay you absolutely nothing while you work your butt off 👋 https://t.co/gYbamOVJ8y
— Puggapillar (@puggapillar) August 11, 2026
The truth is, we’re already working harder than ever just to make a few quid, and even though I’ve never done this for money, I still feel like we’re being crushed. Add this to the government’s plan to boost YouTube’s mainstream media over actual creators…we’re basically doomed. https://t.co/W9hgjKg6BQ
— The planetary pilots ✨ (@Planetary_Pilot) August 11, 2026
