Breaking News (June 2023): YouTube is lowering the eligibility requirements for creators to make money.
YouTube has announced a significant change in its eligibility requirements for creators to earn revenue, aiming to provide more opportunities for monetization.
The new policy, unveiled today, allows creators with smaller followings to join the YouTube Partner Program (YPP) and access various monetization methods such as paid chat, tipping, channel memberships, and shopping features.
Under the updated guidelines, creators will be eligible for the YPP once they reach 500 subscribers, which is half of the previous requirement. The benchmarks for watch hours and Shorts views are also being revised. Creators will now need 3,000 valid watch hours or 3 million Shorts views, as opposed to the previous thresholds of 4,000 watch hours and 10 million Shorts views. Initially, these lowered requirements will apply to creators in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Taiwan, and South Korea.
It's important to note that while smaller creators can benefit from these changes, they still need to expand their footprint to generate ad revenue. YouTube emphasizes that the existing YPP requirements will remain in place for revenue sharing. However, once creators meet the higher thresholds, they won't have to reapply to the program.
YouTube has been actively incentivizing creators to monetize their content by sharing ad revenue, particularly focusing on short-form content through the introduction of an ad revenue sharing program for Shorts. Similar to YouTube, other platforms like TikTok have also lowered the entry barriers for accessing creator monetization features.
In recent news, TikTok announced its video paywall feature called Series, which was initially available to creators with over 10,000 followers. However, the company expanded access to the program, allowing users with 1,000 followers who meet certain requirements to apply as well. With Series, creators have the option to share premium content that fans can pay to access. These changes demonstrate the growing opportunities for smaller creators to generate income by offering additional content, interactions, or receiving direct financial support from their fans and followers.
Moreover, YouTube is making other monetization avenues more accessible to a wider group of creators. The shopping affiliate program, previously limited to select creators by invitation only, is now open to YPP participants in the United States who have at least 20,000 subscribers.
Overall, these modifications to YouTube's eligibility requirements and monetization options aim to empower smaller creators and enable them to earn money from their content, while also aligning with similar trends seen on other creator platforms. The success of these monetization features relies on creators cultivating an engaged audience willing to invest in their content financially.