// KOTAKU — GAMING
Small Creators Are Feeling The Crunch Under YouTube’s New Monetization Rules
YouTube is rolling out new requirements for creators who want to make money on the platform. Starting in February 2027, creators who wish to join the revenue-sharing tier of the YouTube Partner Program will need at least 8,000 hours watched over the last 12 months or 20 million views on YouTube Shorts over the last 90 days. These new totals are double the previous requirements, and the increase has put those aspiring to earn money through YouTube on notice; either make partner soon before the new rules go into effect, or have that potential income stream possibly put out of reach.
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
Some creators on social media have pointed out that while achieving 8,000 hours watched is a high bar to clear, it’s reasonably achievable. The new requirements also don’t apply to creators already in the program, and those who fall below that threshold won’t be kicked out. But the biggest, most worrying change, creators say, is to the YouTube Shorts ad monetization program. Right now, ad revenue for YouTube Shorts is pooled and allocated to creators based on a short’s number of views, whether it uses licensed music, and other factors.
But when the new rules go into effect, YouTube will only pay out ad revenue to creators who meet a cumulative 10 million Shorts views across 90 days—a feat creators say is much harder to reach. Those who fall below the Shorts threshold will not lose ad revenue for their long-form content, they simply will miss out on Shorts ad money until they get their numbers up. What’s worse is that YouTube itself will still be able to run ads against those shorts, but won’t have to pay out creators if they don’t meet the new threshold.
The worse change is absolutely the Shorts change though. If you do not get 10 million shorts views every 90 days your account will no longer receive any money for shorts until you reach the 10 million view threshold again.
— Big Garf (@biggarffan37.bsky.social) 2026-08-11T02:44:01.520Z
The funniest part about being a creator is that the goalposts never stop moving.
YouTube has apparently decided that 10 million Shorts views every 90 days is a reasonable minimum performance requirement to keep earning from Shorts.
lol wtf are we doing anymore https://t.co/KgVeObfcFC