YouTube monetisation rules get stricter:New channels will need twice the views to start earning

YouTube has announced a major change to its creator payment rules. This will be the first major change to the YouTube Partner Program (YPP) in nearly a decade. The new rules will come into effect on February 1, 2027. To earn money from YouTube videos, creators need to be part of the YouTube Partner Program. Once accepted, creators receive a share of the revenue generated from advertisements shown on their videos and from YouTube Premium. The change will have the biggest impact on people planning to start a YouTube channel for the first time. How will the new rules change? Under the new rules, the eligibility requirements for channels applying for monetisation for the first time will become stricter. In other words, new creators who want to start earning money from YouTube will need to generate twice the watch time or twice the Shorts views compared with the previous requirement. What exactly is going to change? Here are the key questions 1. What does 8,000 hours of watch time actually mean? The biggest challenge for new creators could be reaching 8,000 hours of watch time. Suppose a creator uploads a five-minute video and every viewer watches the entire video. To reach 8,000 hours, the video would need around 96,000 complete views. But in reality, viewers rarely watch an entire video. If someone watches only two minutes of a five-minute video before leaving, only those two minutes count toward the total watch time. So, simply getting 100,000 views does not necessarily mean a channel will reach 8,000 hours of watch time. The challenge is different for Shorts, where creators will need to generate a very high number of views within a limited period. 2. Will these rules apply to all YouTubers? The new monetisation eligibility requirements will apply to new channels applying for the YouTube Partner Program. Existing YPP members will not be affected by these eligibility changes. However, the Shorts revenue requirement will apply more broadly. Creators will need to maintain 10 million views every 90 days. If their views fall below that threshold, their Shorts earnings will stop, while their long-form video earnings will continue. 3. What new challenge will Indian creators face? In India, advertisers reportedly pay around ₹40 to ₹150 per 1,000 views for videos and around ₹7 to ₹35 per 1,000 views for Shorts. After YouTube takes its share, creators receive a portion of the remaining advertising revenue. With the new eligibility requirements, however, new creators will need to put in significantly more effort to reach the monetisation threshold and start earning. 4. Do creators make money only from advertisements? No. For many creators, advertising revenue from YouTube is only one part of their overall income. Major revenue streams can also include brand deals, selling products through YouTube Shopping and creator incentive programmes. According to Goldman Sachs estimates, around 70% of large creators’ income comes from brand deals. This means that YouTube advertising is not necessarily the biggest source of income for established creators. 5. Are other platforms also introducing stricter rules? Yes. X has also announced changes to its creator monetisation programme, which previously paid eligible creators based on the number of views their posts received. The platform is now placing greater emphasis on original content. Payments for content that is reposted or recycled from other users or platforms are being limited. Overall, the trend suggests that major social media platforms are increasingly focusing on original, high-quality content rather than simply rewarding creators for generating large numbers of views.