- This is the moment you've been waiting for.
It is not April the 1st, and this is confirmed by YouTube.
Monetization requirements are going down.
(dramatic music)
You're waiting for a but, aren't you?
Yeah, there is one.
Before we get to that, let's start off with all
of the good news.
These changes come into effect today
as you are watching this video right now,
and the changes are truly historic.
After more than half a decade,
YouTube are lowering the requirements
into the YouTube Partner Program.
(lively music) (screen whooshing)
And here are the headline numbers.
You now need 500 subscribers, free public uploads
over the last 90 days, and then 3,000 watch hours
over the last year
or three million YouTube Shorts views over 90 days.
- That's 50% fewer subscribers, 25% fewer watch hours,
or 70% fewer YouTube Shorts views.
That calls for celebration, right?
Too right it is.
And you unlock Super Chats, Super Stickies, Super Thanks
and channel memberships right from the start
and you'll even be able to start selling your own products
through YouTube Shopping.
This news just keeps getting better and better, doesn't it?
(record scratching)
Until all of a sudden, it doesn't.
Yes, these are new YouTube Partner Program requirements
but not the YouTube Partner Program we're all familiar with.
As creators continue to grow their channel,
they'll automatically become eligible
to earn revenue sharing from ads
and even more benefits
once they reach the existing YPP eligibility criteria
without having to go through
the full YPP application process again.
These existing eligibility requirements
to unlock revenue sharing remain unchanged,
and what all of that means
is that these requirements get you
into the YouTube Partner Program L-I-T-E, Lite edition
and not what the vast majority of you want, ad revenue.
So even though you may get invited, agree to all
of the terms, set up an AdSense account, get reviewed
and accepted into the YouTube Partner Program,
to turn on ads,
you'll still need the classic 1,000 subscribers,
4,000 watch hours or 10 million YouTube Shorts views.
If YouTube don't get a communication right on this,
I can see this being very confusing.
In the coming days and weeks,
we'll talk a lot more about this
on the vidIQ channel, so don't forget to subscribe
but here are my initial thoughts.
It is awesome
that YouTube are recognizing the big creator dream
to monetize their channels and to do it quicker.
Lowering the requirements enables creators
to start making money sooner, which can only be a good fit.
However, what YouTube is enabling small creators to do
is to monetize their audience and not their content,
and given the size of the communities and the development
of the creator at that point in their YouTube journey,
most are just not equipped to take advantage
of these features.
My assumption is that the majority of you,
at least to begin with, just wanna make videos,
flip a switch, and earn dollars from views.
And in this YouTube update,
that's not what they're offering.
Super Thanks, Super Chats, memberships, shopping,
all of that requires you, the creator,
to cultivate a community over a period of time.
And it is hard work.
The big channels with huge followings, a business mindset
and a team of people to help them can take huge advantage
of these features, but for the average small creator...
But as I say, we need to let this news sink in
and think about it a little more.
The rollout of these new requirements starts
with the US, UK, Canada, Taiwan, and South Korea today
with all other countries to follow in the future.
And a new 20,000 subscriber tier is being added
for the shopping affiliate program,
which certainly has potential.
I have a simple question for you.
Do you think these new monetization requirements
are fair to help creators get monetized quicker
with some restrictions?
Let us know in the comments below.
In the meantime, if you are working
towards ad revenue requirements, we've got the full guide
on how to do that in just five minutes over here.