"Should I Just Quit My Job and Try YouTube?" ...Monetization Barriers Rise for New YouTubers

New Standards Take Effect from February 1 Next Year

Required Watch Time for Ad Revenue Doubled

"Should I just quit my job and become a YouTuber?"

This is a refrain commonly heard among office workers. As more people are earning annual incomes in the hundreds of millions of won through YouTube activities, many dream of becoming YouTubers as an attractive side hustle.

However, with Google significantly tightening YouTube's creator monetization criteria, the barrier to monetization will become much higher for new YouTubers.

Image generated by artificial intelligence (AI) to aid understanding of the article. Gemini

On August 10 (local time), YouTube announced on its official blog that it will strengthen the revenue sharing requirements for the YouTube Partner Program (YPP) starting from February next year.

This is the first overhaul of YouTube’s revenue sharing and related policies in about eight years since 2018. Most notably, the Shorts revenue sharing requirement will be doubled. Previously, creators needed either 4,000 hours of watch time or 10 million Shorts views over 90 days to qualify for revenue sharing. Under the new rules, creators must achieve either 8,000 hours of public watch time for regular videos or 20 million Shorts views within the past year.

Existing YouTubers who are already monetizing their channels will also face stricter requirements. If their Shorts views fall below 10 million in the last 90 days, their share of Shorts advertising and subscription revenue will be suspended, although they will still maintain YPP eligibility and can keep earning from long-form videos. If their Shorts views rise above 10 million again, revenue sharing will automatically resume.

YouTube’s intention appears to be raising the monetization bar while diversifying creator compensation systems by expanding alternative revenue sources, thereby reducing reliance on advertising. As a result, creators who do not meet the required Shorts views will still be able to generate income through options such as YouTube Shopping bonuses or brand collaboration incentives.

The subscriber requirement will remain unchanged at 1,000 subscribers. Accounts already enrolled in the YPP will not be affected if they do not meet the new standards.

YouTube logo. Official YouTube website

In addition, YouTube will expand its more affordable version of the paid "YouTube Premium" subscription—excluding certain features such as YouTube Music—to all countries where YouTube Premium is available. YouTube announced, "Premium Lite will be expanded to every country where YouTube Premium is offered." YouTube allocates 30% of the net subscription revenue from "Premium" and 60% from "Premium Lite" to the creator revenue sharing pool.

Some point out that the structure for earning hundreds of millions of won as a YouTuber is limited to only a small number of top channels. According to statistics from Forbes Korea, the combined estimated annual income for the top 100 power YouTubers in 2026 will reach 261.8 billion won, but the top 10 channels account for 48.6% of that total.

The industry believes that these policy changes will make monetization even more difficult for new creators. In particular, creators focusing on Shorts rather than longer videos may face a higher barrier to entry, as they will need to achieve over 20 million views within a short period.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.