Alphabet's YouTube is increasing the requirements for its Partner Program to tighten monetization eligibility.
The new policy takes effect February 1, 2027.
New channels must accumulate 8,000 public watch hours over the past year to qualify for ad revenue.
Alternatively, creators can qualify with 20 million Shorts views within the last 90 days.
The new watch hour requirement doubles the previous 4,000-hour threshold.
The Shorts view requirement doubles the previous 10-million-view mark.
YouTube will maintain the existing requirement of at least 1,000 subscribers.
Current members of the YouTube Partner Program are grandfathered in and exempt from the new standards.
This update represents the first major overhaul of the program’s eligibility criteria since 2018.