YouTube Monetization Changes 2027 — Full Breakdown & Transcript

[00:01] update to YouTube's monetization policy. Um it's like 12:30 a.m. where I am, so little bit messy. Uh but I just want to get you the information that you need getting ready to share with you, I'm also going to put official YouTube links

[00:15] explore this further cuz there's a lot of information about this. So, the CliffNotes are starting February 1st, 2027, uh they are making major changes to their monetization policy. Um we're going to be breaking this video into uh

[00:30] first is long-form content, second is shorts, and then there's some additional that impact both. So, first, if you're already in the uh you don't have anything to worry about right now. Um if you end up losing

[00:46] that uh the qualification, right? If you end up not hitting that 4,000 uh watch hours within the year, then in that case, you know, you're going to have to there. But, if you're already in the partner program, you're consistently

[00:59] don't really have anything to worry about. However, if you're somebody program, let's say you're a small channel, let's say you started your or two, you're trying to figure all this stuff out, and you are plugging away

[01:12] trying to get monetized on YouTube. As of this video, the current requirements are 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 hours of watch get into the partner program. Starting February 1st, 2027, that is

[01:28] time. So, they're doubling the requirement on the watch time side in order for people to be able to qualify for the partner program. How that's you know, trying to get into the partner program is if you do not hit it by

[01:44] February 1st on the current 4,000-hour requirements, if you get 3,900 hours of watch time, the post is going to move on February 1st. So, you got to be really locked in here over the next few months trying to

[01:59] threshold so that you don't have to do that extra work when it comes to qualifying for the partner program. Now, when it comes to YouTube Shorts, Program for Shorts currently, you have to get 10 million views. If it's a

[02:14] Shorts only creator, then you have to get 10 million views just to qualify. Um now, to qualify, you have to get 20 million views in that 90-day period in order to qualify. And then, you have to get 10 million views every 90 days or

[02:29] more, every 90 days, in order to continue getting money from YouTube continue getting money from YouTube Shorts ads. So, to be clear, if you make long-form content and you make short-form content, then in that case,

[02:43] if you used YouTube Shorts to get you know, into the partner program, then in that case, you will still make money on your long-form content. You are not the program. You can still do shopping. You can still do fan funding, all of

[02:57] that. You will just lose your ability to make money on Shorts ads, only for the where you do not reach those requirements. So, if you do it in one 3-month cycle and not in the next, then in that case, you just won't get the

[03:12] then, if you do it again in the following, then you will get the money there. So, this is going to keep people, you know, really really on the grind. So, as a part of this, YouTube is putting together additional incentives

[03:25] requirements. Um for this, they're still working on all of that. They are going to be doing some extra things with shopping and some extra things with brand deals in order to fill in the gaps with some of this stuff. But as of right

[03:38] that, you know, that that are out there in terms of some things that they might So, we'll keep our eyes open for additional information there. Now, part this change is that when somebody gets monetized on

[03:53] YouTube and I actually have really mixed feelings about this. So, when somebody gets monetized on YouTube they often, right? Some people, you they get lots of views, then they hit the power requirements every month and

[04:07] money from ads. However, there's also a staggering amount of content creators that get into the partner program, but they don't hit that $100 threshold and know, paid every month anyway. Now, that's one perspective on this.

[04:21] However, the other perspective is, I believe that if the qualifications are 4,000 hours of watch time in order to get in, that means that people will hit it faster and if people hit it faster, that

[04:34] means that even if you get paid out every two months or every three months, it's still better than not getting paid out any months, right? Um, uh, when it comes to getting money because I know some people, you know, if they get an

[04:49] extra, you know, $200 or $150 every few months, you know, it'll help them pay for important things. So, because of that, I think that side of it is And I understand that when it comes to hosting and things like that on

[05:02] know, that stuff, but and I understand the rebuttal also is going to be that, yeah, but they also made like $60 last year, right? I know that people are going to be saying that too. Uh, but when it comes, you know, to it, I I do

[05:16] think that that side of things uh, you know, sucks uh, when it comes to this. really a but. There isn't really a but to that. That's for some people. Another part of this, and this is from the help center

[05:30] article, they say, "To better recognize creators' consistent effort and reflect anyone's who anyone who's considered inactive will now have an extended 90-day window to meet a lower 1,000

[05:43] qualified watch hours in the last 365 days or 1 million shorts views in the last 90 days to stay in the program. So, that's actually a correction on what I mentioned earlier. So, with this they're going to give like a like a flexible

[05:56] period of time where if you do, you know, fall under it, but you're still, you're still trying to do the thing, uh then in that case the requirements to stay in are going to be a little bit lower for that period of time, but you

[06:09] because if you don't, then you'll end up dropping out. So, it's kind of it's kind know, you're not publishing as much, you're not getting the activity. So, get it together, or if you don't get it

[06:23] not going to be in the Partner Program." So, because of that, this is where, you know, making sure that you are figuring out how to stay process of creating content into your lifestyle is going to become more

[06:37] important than it ever has been on YouTube. And I think a part of this also is, you know, YouTube is getting more competitive. Like creators are getting more creators, and because of that, since everybody's, you know, just

[06:49] getting better at at YouTube, um I think just the bars are just raising in general, and I think because of that, and because YouTube is scaling in the way that it is, um I think that, you know, a lot of these changes are also

[07:02] based on some of that. Because if it's harder for people to get into the Partner Program, then that means there's going to be more money circulating for the people that are in the Partner Program. And, you know, people will, you

[07:14] hit that 8,000 hours. It's not like it's it's into the Partner Program now, but this is just one of those things where, um you know, because they are moving that bar, it's going to make some

[07:27] changes on on both ends. It's also important to know that if you are already in the Partner Program, in order to stay in the Partner Program, uh you also have to make sure that you do accept the updated terms in YouTube

[07:39] accept the updated terms in YouTube Studio by January 31st of 2027. Of stuff, we'll be keeping you up to date on that to make sure you do it. But but yeah, you have to make sure that you do that by January 31st, 2027. And with

[07:54] just go ahead and you know, read them and then make sure that you agree to ahead and accept them. As another part of this, and this is directly from the help article, it says that they are expanding premium light. So, they're

[08:08] countries where premium is available. On average, creators earn more per user from premium than from ads. And this is based on 2026 performance. They say for premium light, creators are going to share in a pool representing 60% of net

[08:21] subscription revenue. For premium views, creators will share in a pool representing 30% of net subscription revenue. In YouTube analytics, premium light earnings are included in your standard YouTube premium metrics. One

[08:34] other thing that they mention here is that they are also doing a earning And this is in the shorts incentive program. Because before I mentioned that brand deal related things like production credits for brand deals.

[08:49] They are also doing something where you can get an earning boost for cultural trend activations. In a nutshell, that means if you start a trend, then they And they say that eligible creators will get direct notifications on how to opt

[09:03] in to these programs when these programs launch. So again, I somebody that's trying to get in the partner program and I know that this might be discouraging. But this is also one of those moments to where, you know,

[09:17] people who make content like me and really just other successful content always talk about is how important it is to make sure that you are figuring out how to monetize off platform. And I know that being in the YouTube partner

[09:31] program is important because it's extra money. Plus, you know, just being in in know, the extra stuff, right? Shopping and you all that. So, because of that, well, which is why people try so hard to get into it. And I know that this is

[09:46] extremely discouraging getting this news if you are a, you know, smaller channel you're headed in that direction, but you like if you're somebody that knows that mark yet by the time February 1st comes

[09:59] around, I know that this is going to be really frustrating for you. But, you to to know about with this. So, historically, if you look at YouTube, so invited into the YouTube Partner Program. Like you couldn't even, you

[10:14] anything like that. Like they had to literally reach out to people and invite them. Back when I started my channel, things had changed by that point to where when you started a channel, you could apply and you could literally be

[10:27] monetized in your first video. And then as time progressed, then they, you know, added, you know, the the watch time requirement, things like that. And that was a big deal, you know, when all of that happened as well. And I I really

[10:40] don't think that this is as big of a deal as that when they first made that change because that went from anybody can make money to like now we have these requirements. And that was a really big deal when that one happened. And I'm not

[10:53] because, you know, moving that bar, you some people. However, you know, as all of these platforms evolve, it's really important to make sure that you are just

[11:05] considering that these types of things will continue to happen over time. And, you know, these platforms can change all of these things at any time. And because are also trying to make money on platform, that you're also thinking

[11:19] about, okay, what can I do to make money off of platform as well? You know, even that's like on platform, but you're actually getting the money from just trying to figure out other ways that you can make money from the content

[11:33] types of things happen, even though they might be impactful, that when these types of things happen that you know, that that it's not you know, as big of a deal when when they do happen. But anyway, like I said, I'm going to put

[11:46] different articles so that you can you know, jump into those to get any as well as that, I'm going to put some other videos down there, too. But let you know what was going on so that you could you know, hear it from me and

[12:00] know that for some of you that this can be frustrating, but hang in there. You They just moved the mark, but that just means that you know, if you can figure time, then you can figure out how to get the 8,000, right? It's just going to be

[12:12] just a little bit more time. So hang in there, you got this and yeah, I'll see there, you got this and yeah, I'll see you next time.