All terms
Glossary

What Is the YouTube Partner Program?

The YouTube Partner Program (YPP) is how a channel earns from YouTube, through ads and other features, once it meets the thresholds and YouTube accepts it.

To earn a share of ad revenue, YouTube asks for 1,000 subscribers and either 4,000 qualified watch hours on public long-form videos in the last 12 months, or 10 million qualified Shorts views in the last 90 days. Private, unlisted and deleted videos do not count, and neither do hours watched in the Shorts feed.

Meeting the numbers is not the end: YouTube reviews the channel against its monetization policies, and inauthentic or reused content is a common reason AI and faceless channels are turned down. The review looks at the channel as a whole, and YouTube decides.

From February 1, 2027, YouTube updates the program; its help page asks creators to accept the updated terms in YouTube Studio by January 31, 2027 to keep monetizing. YouTube has said new channels will need 8,000 watch hours in 365 days or 20 million Shorts views in 90 days; channels already in the program keep their place.

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Questions

How many subscribers do you need for the YouTube Partner Program?

1,000, together with either 4,000 qualified watch hours in the last 12 months or 10 million qualified Shorts views in the last 90 days (YouTube Help, read 29 October 2026). Then YouTube reviews the channel.

Do Shorts views count for the 4,000 watch hours?

No. YouTube says watch hours from Shorts in the Shorts feed do not count toward the 4,000 hours. Shorts have their own path: 10 million qualified Shorts views in 90 days.

Does meeting the thresholds mean my channel will be accepted?

No. Meeting them lets you apply. YouTube then reviews the channel against its policies and decides.

What changes in 2027?

YouTube updates the program from February 1, 2027 and asks creators to accept the new terms by January 31, 2027. It has said new channels will need 8,000 watch hours in 365 days or 20 million Shorts views in 90 days.

Sources

Related terms

Watch time

Watch time, counted in watch hours, is the total time viewers spent watching your videos. YouTube uses it to rank videos and for Partner Program eligibility.

Open

Inauthentic content

Inauthentic content is YouTube’s name, since 15 July 2025, for mass-produced or repetitive videos that look made from a template, with little change each time.

Open

AI disclosure (altered or synthetic content)

YouTube’s rule that creators say when a video contains realistic altered or AI-generated content that viewers could mistake for real.

Open

Engaged views

Engaged views are the YouTube Shorts views that count for money: plays where the viewer kept watching instead of scrolling past. Shorts views count every start.

Open