YouTube has raised its earnings thresholds for new creators, requiring at least 8,000 qualified watch hours over the past year or 20 million qualified Shorts views in the last 90 days. This is a significant increase from the current requirements of 4,000 watch hours or 10 million Shorts views.

The changes will take effect on February 1 and are aimed at keeping pace with YouTube's growth, which sees over 200 billion daily Shorts views and one billion hours of watch time globally every day. However, these new requirements make it harder for creators to enter the monetization program, particularly for those focusing on Shorts.

Existing creators already in the YouTube Partner Program will not be impacted by this change. Creators must now maintain 10 million Shorts views over a 90-day period to earn through the Shorts Creators Pool; those below this threshold can continue earning from long-form content with Shorts revenue resuming once the thresholds are met.

As part of these changes, YouTube is expanding its Premium Lite subscription to all countries where it’s available. This offers creators a share of subscription revenue based on member watch time and views, with 55% going to long-form video creators and 45% to Shorts creators, potentially boosting earnings by providing an ad-free viewing experience for users.

These moves come as other social media giants like X and Facebook also adapt their creator reward programs, suggesting a shift in the digital content landscape. The changes could lead to fewer new entrants being able to monetize their content, impacting the diversity of creators on the platform.