The news: YouTube announced several changes to the YouTube Partner Program (YPP), including doubling entry requirements for new creators.

• Starting in February 2027, new YPP creators must hit 8,000 watch hours in the past year or 20 million Shorts views in the past 90 days to join the program and start earning revenues. There is no change for existing YPP members. 
• To continue earning Shorts ad and subscription revenues, creators need to maintain 10 million qualified Shorts views over a rolling 90-day window. Channels that fail to do so lose Shorts payouts until viewership recovers.
• Eligible creators can get an additional payout when brands run ads across a select group of up to five channels. Creators receive 45% of the revenues generated by those placements as a bonus.

Advertisers can now seek out high-performing YouTube channels with confidence, knowing that creators in the program have already proven they can draw sustained audience attention.

Zooming in: YouTube frames the update as “broadening revenue opportunities for creators ... by introducing new incentive programs, rather than relying solely on ad revenue.” But some creators are pushing back, arguing the changes make it harder to earn a living on the platform.

For channels under the 10-million-view threshold, YouTube says new milestone-based programs could include bonuses tied to YouTube Shopping, incentives for landing brand deals, and payouts for starting or growing trends.

Why it’s worth watching: The timing of the new monetization rules lines up with a broader push to clean up the platform’s content quality, not just gatekeep new entrants.

• In January, YouTube rolled out an “inauthentic content” policy, which led to a high-profile removal of 16 major AI slop channels with 35 million subscribers and 4.7 billion views. 
• That policy targets low-effort, templated output with no human creative input rather than AI use itself. YouTube isn’t banning AI—channels using AI tools with genuine human direction remain eligible for monetization.

Implications for advertisers: The changes put pressure on new and established YouTube creators, especially on Shorts, but advertisers gain clearer ad performance benchmarks. 

Higher entry barriers mean ad media spend lands on channels with proven viewer stamina, reducing waste on transient clips. 

• Advertisers should budget for higher CPMs on elite channels where audience quality and reduced fraud risk justify the premium spend. 
• Test brand-deal bonuses and Shopping integrations as performance-based add-ons. 
• Monitor creator-partner retention—those surviving the 2027 cutoff will command greater loyalty and viewer trust.

Dive deeper: For more on YouTube’s monetization and advertising, read our YouTube Ad Ecosystem report.

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