YouTube has lowered monetisation eligibility to 500 subscribers

Google-owned video-sharing platform YouTube is relaxing the eligibility criteria for creators to earn from their content through the company’s partner program.

Previously, a creator had to have at least 1,000 subscribers and either 4,000 watch hours in the past year, or 10 million Shorts views in the last 90 days to qualify for the YouTube Partner Program (YPP).

Now, the subscriber threshold has been lowered to 500 subscribers, with a minimum of 3 public uploads in the last 90 days and either 3,000 watch hours in the past year or 3 million Shorts views in the last 90 days.

Eligible creators can apply for the YPP and get access to tipping features like channel memberships, Super Chat and Super Thanks, among others.

“We’re starting to roll out this new level of YPP to creators in the U.S., U.K., Canada, Taiwan, and South Korea, and will introduce earlier access to YPP across all countries where YPP is available over time,” YouTube said in a blog post.

The company added that as creators continue to grow their channel, they will automatically become eligible to earn revenue sharing from advertising and 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.”

With the YPP, creators can earn around half of their total revenue from Google-placed ads on their videos.

Even so, YouTube’s monetisation is still shrouded in intricacies; the money a creator earns for 1,000 views, known as the RPM rate (revenue per mile), differs based on a variety of factors, from the type of content they make, and geographical location, to the length of their videos.

Additionally, while a creator’s video might rake in hundreds of thousands of views, only a portion of the viewers may have met the 30-second ad watch-time threshold, with the others skipping or using ad blockers.

In Kenya, YouTubers earn as low as Ksh.1,000 (under $10) per 10,000 views, making their revenue source mainly dependent on sponsored content for clients.

This is lower than their Western counterparts, who sometimes make up to Ksh.4,000 ($29.30) per 10,000 views for long-form videos, according to a May survey by American publisher Business Insider.