YouTube Expands Monetization Program, Allowing Content Creators with 500 Subscribers to Earn Income

Lowered watch hour criteria and revised eligibility view count also introduced

YouTube, the popular video-sharing and social media platform, has announced a significant update to its monetization program. Content creators with 500 subscribers are now eligible to earn money, a substantial reduction from the previous requirement of 1000 subscribers.

This adjustment in eligibility requirements and monetization policy aims to support and empower smaller creators on the platform, as reported by India Today. Furthermore, YouTube has lowered the watch hour criteria from 4000 hours to 3000 hours.

For creators primarily focusing on shorts, there is more good news. The eligibility view count has been significantly decreased from 10 million to 3 million. This change greatly enhances the earning opportunities for smaller content creators.

Initially, the new eligibility criteria will be implemented in the United States, the United Kingdom, Taiwan, and South Korea, followed by other regions.

While the eligibility criteria have been revised, the process of earning through ad revenue remains unchanged. Creators still need to ensure that their content reaches a wide audience to generate income from ad revenue.

Similar to YouTube, other social media platforms like TikTok have also introduced monetary incentives to incentivize content creation.

TikTok recently announced that its paywalled feature called Series would be accessible to creators with over 10,000 followers. Additionally, they listed additional requirements that would allow access to the feature for those with 1,000 followers as well. The Series feature on TikTok enables content creators to offer exclusive content behind a paywall, which fans can pay to access.

 Source: businesstoday.in