The six ways a Short earns
Each line below is from YouTube’s own Help Center, read on 4 November 2026:
- 45%of the Creator Pool revenue allocated to you
- 45%of the Premium revenue allocated to you for Shorts
- 70%of Super Thanks on your Shorts
- 55%of ad revenue on the long videos a Short sends people to
| Way | What you get | What YouTube asks |
|---|---|---|
| Shorts Feed ads (the Creator Pool) | 45% of the revenue allocated to you, by your share of engaged views in each country | The Partner Program and the Shorts Monetization Module; from February 1, 2027, 10 million qualified Shorts views in 90 days each month |
| YouTube Premium | 45% of the net Premium revenue, Premium Lite included, allocated to you for Shorts | The same as the Creator Pool |
| Super Thanks | 70% of the net revenue | The fan funding minimums, an available country, the Commerce Product Module; on public Shorts with comments on and no copyright claim |
| Shopping affiliate | A commission when viewers buy products you tag | The Partner Program, its subscriber threshold, one of 18 countries (Mexico, Brazil and Argentina among them), not a music or made-for-kids channel |
| Brand deals | What you agree with the brand, plus one link to its site on the Short | A brand deal campaign reported under Paid promotion & brands |
| A related video | The views of your long video, which earns 55% of its ad revenue | Advanced features access; the video must be public or unlisted and yours |
Only the first two depend on the size of the pool. The others are paid by viewers, shoppers or brands, and they work with fewer views.
How the Creator Pool decides your share
YouTube adds up the revenue from ads between Shorts each month, sets part of it aside for music, and shares the rest, the Creator Pool, among monetizing creators by their share of engaged views in each country. You keep 45% of what is allocated to you.
YouTube’s own hypothetical example: in Country A, 100 million engaged views and US$100,000 of Shorts Feed ad revenue; 20% of the Shorts use one music track, so the pool is US$90,000. A Short with 1 million engaged views gets 1% of it, US$900, and its creator keeps 45%: US$405. YouTube calls it an example, not a rate.
- Engaged views are what count, and only eligible ones.
- Music changes how much revenue goes into the pool, not your allocation: YouTube says your allocation “is not affected by your use of a music track”, and you keep 45% whether or not you used music.
- The pool is shared country by country, so where your viewers are matters.
- Views from before you accepted the Shorts Monetization Module are not eligible.
What earns nothing
YouTube leaves these views out when it calculates payments:
- Non-original Shorts: unedited clips from other people’s films or TV shows, reuploads of other creators’ content from YouTube or another platform, and compilations with no original content added.
- Artificial or fake views, such as views from click or scroll bots.
- Shorts that do not follow the advertiser-friendly content guidelines.
- Shorts over one minute with an active copyright claim of any kind: they are blocked worldwide, cannot be played or recommended, and cannot be monetized. YouTube says there is no penalty to the channel, and you can remove the claimed content.
Since October 15, 2024, a square or vertical video up to three minutes long is a Short. A three-minute Short with a claimed song is blocked, where the same song in a 50-second Short is not.
Strategies YouTube’s own pages support
- 1
Accept the Shorts module as soon as you can
Shorts views count from the day you accept the Shorts Monetization Module; the ones before it never do.
- 2
Make every Short your own
Original Shorts are the only ones that earn. Clips of your own long videos, your own footage and your own voice all count as yours.
- 3
Keep claimed music out of Shorts over a minute
Over one minute, any copyright claim blocks the Short. Under a minute, music changes the pool, not your allocation.
- 4
Link each Short to a long video
Add a related video in YouTube Studio after upload. The viewers it sends watch a video that earns 55% of its ad revenue, and long videos keep earning in a month when Shorts are under the 2027 line.
- 5
Turn on Super Thanks
Once you meet the fan funding minimums, the Supers tab appears under Earn. Viewers can then buy Super Thanks on your Shorts, and you get 70%.
- 6
Tag products if you are in Shopping
In the 18 countries of the affiliate program, tagged products pay a commission when viewers buy, from Shorts as from long videos.
- 7
Report brand deals and add the link
Under Paid promotion & brands, a reported campaign lets you put one link to the brand’s site on the Short, on screen and in its description.
- 8
Read engaged views and RPM per format
YouTube Studio shows Shorts and long videos separately. Your Shorts RPM is counted on engaged views; YouTube publishes no typical one.
Plan for February 1, 2027
From February 1, 2027, a channel earns from the Creator Pool and Premium for Shorts in a given month only with at least 10 million qualified Shorts views in the 90 days up to the 15th of the month before. Below that, it stays in the Partner Program and keeps its long-video earnings.
From the same date, a Shorts ad targeted at five or fewer channels pays those channels 45% of its net revenue directly. Super Thanks, Shopping and brand deals do not depend on the 10 million line.
Check your Shorts
- You accepted the Shorts Monetization Module, and the date you did is when your views started to count.
- Every Short is your own: no unedited clips of others, no reuploads, no compilations with nothing added.
- No Short over one minute carries claimed music or footage.
- Your Shorts link to a long video, and Super Thanks is on if your channel qualifies.