New YouTube applicants would need 8,000 watch hours or 20 million Shorts views from 2027

The YouTube Partner Program lets eligible channels earn a share of ad revenue from long-form videos and Shorts. Entry depends on a subscriber count plus one of two performance measures, and both measures are set to change.

Today’s bar is 1,000 subscribers and either 4,000 qualified public watch hours in the past 12 months or 10 million qualified Shorts views in the past 90 days. Shacknews, which reported the change on August 10, 2026, says YouTube announced it in a blog post. Shacknews and AIR Media-Tech report that from February 1, 2027, new applicants would need 8,000 qualified watch hours over 365 days or 20 million qualified Shorts views over 90 days.

The current entry tiers

YouTube’s eligibility page describes two routes to revenue share. A channel needs 1,000 subscribers and must meet one of two performance tests. The long-form route requires 4,000 qualified public watch hours in the last 12 months. The Shorts route requires 10 million qualified Shorts views in the last 90 days.

The two routes are measured separately, and a channel only needs to meet one of them. Watch hours from the Shorts feed do not count toward the 4,000-hour figure.

A smaller tier covers fan funding, Creator Partnerships and Shopping. PPC Land reports it as 500 subscribers plus 3,000 watch hours or 3 million Shorts views, and says it is unchanged. AIR Media-Tech adds three public uploads in the last 90 days and says the tier does not include ad revenue. Memberships and Supers are among the monetization options available after a channel joins.

The help page also sets other conditions. A channel must follow the channel monetization policies, live in a country where the program is available, have no active Community Guidelines strikes, turn on 2-Step Verification and link one active AdSense for YouTube account. Meeting the thresholds does not guarantee acceptance, and reviews typically take about one month.

Shorts hours are excluded
YouTube’s eligibility help page says watch hours from Shorts Feed viewing do not count toward the 4,000-hour figure for the long-form route.

How qualified watch hours are counted

Qualified watch hours come from public long-form videos, including podcasts, and from archived livestreams. YouTube’s blog post on qualified metrics, dated August 12, 2026 and written by YouTube Creator Liaison Rene Ritchie, says private, unlisted and deleted videos do not count. Neither do views watched as an ad, Shorts watch hours or unarchived livestreams.

PPC Land reports that ‘valid public’ is being renamed ‘qualified’ under the update. The reporting does not establish whether the counting method itself changes.

The help page says watch hours from Shorts Feed viewing do not count toward the 4,000-hour figure. Shorts views count only toward the separate Shorts route, so the two routes are tested on different inputs.

How qualified Shorts views are counted

A Shorts view counts only when it comes from a public Short and is an engaged view, meaning the viewer watched past the initial seconds. Loops do not count. Private, unlisted and deleted Shorts are excluded, as are Shorts viewed as an ad, long-form views and image posts in the Shorts feed.

The blog post says creators can see engaged views for each video in YouTube Analytics.

Watch hours and Shorts views are counted over different windows, so the two routes are not measured the same way. Watch hours use the last 12 months and Shorts views use 90 days, so a channel’s position against each bar changes as older days leave the count.

What changes on February 1, 2027

Under the reported change, new applicants would need 1,000 subscribers plus either 8,000 qualified watch hours over the past 365 days or 20 million qualified Shorts views over the past 90 days. Shacknews, AIR Media-Tech and PPC Land all give the 1,000-subscriber floor, and AIR Media-Tech and PPC Land say it is unchanged.

PPC Land says the two paths do not cross-count, so hours and views cannot be combined to meet either bar.

Existing partners keep their status and earning ability. PPC Land says they will not be removed on February 1, 2027, even if they fall below the new thresholds. Shacknews says the changes do not affect existing partners.

Creators must accept the updated Watch Page Monetization Module, Shorts Monetization Module and, where applicable, Commerce Product Module in YouTube Studio by January 31, 2027. Missing that date stops earnings from those features on February 1, according to PPC Land, but accepting later restores them. Accepting or declining does not affect YPP status, PPC Land says.

Watch hours and Shorts views are counted over different windows, so the two routes are not measured the same way.

Application timing and the activity test

AIR Media-Tech, in a guide last updated October 6, 2026, says applications that reach YouTube by 23:59 UTC on January 31, 2027 will be reviewed under the 4,000-hour bar, even if the decision comes later. The cutoff comes from AIR’s partner support team and is not listed on YouTube’s help pages.

AIR also says a channel rejected in January that reapplies on or after February 1 faces the new bar, and so does an appeal decided on or after February 1. After a first rejection, a channel can appeal within 21 days or reapply after 30 days. After a repeat rejection, the wait is 90 days.

Channels in the 500-subscriber tier that reach the ad bar after February 1 need 8,000 hours or 20 million Shorts views and face a full review, according to AIR.

AIR and PPC Land both describe an activity test for channels already in the program. From February 1, 2027, a channel counts as active with 1,000 qualified watch hours in 365 days, 1 million qualified Shorts views in 90 days, or uploads of 2 long-form videos or 5 Shorts in 90 days.

A channel that misses all three gets a 90-day window to meet the hour or view condition. AIR says uploads alone do not restore active status, and community posts are not on the new list.

Under the existing rules, the help page says channels that go six months or more without uploading a video or posting to the Posts tab may lose monetization.

Shorts revenue and unpublished incentives

AIR reports that a channel needs 10 million qualified Shorts views over the last 90 days to earn from the Shorts Creator Pool in a given month, with no partial payout. At 9.9 million views, the pool pays nothing that month. Shorts revenue sharing resumes once the channel crosses 10 million again.

PPC Land mentions the same monthly 10 million requirement in its account of creator objections.

AIR reports that YouTube plans bonuses for YouTube Shopping, incentives for brand deals and earnings boosts for starting and growing trends. These target channels below the 10 million threshold, and eligible creators will receive opt-in notifications, AIR says. Shacknews quotes YouTube saying the changes will let it invest in new incentive programs, and PPC Land says no criteria are yet available.

AIR also reports that when an advertiser targets five or fewer channels, eligible creators receive a direct 45% share of that placement, paid on top of the pool. AIR lists the ad revenue split as 55% for long-form videos and 45% for Shorts.

Shacknews reports that the updates allow YouTube to invest in new incentive programs, and cites reactions calling the higher bar unfair. PPC Land reports that YouTube says the program has remained mostly unchanged since 2018, and that more than $100 billion has been paid to creators, artists and media companies over the last four years.

Photo: Petar Milošević · CC BY-SA 4.0 · via Wikimedia Commons