• by Colin Kirkland , June 13, 2023

Since integrating Shorts creators and Shorts ad-revenue sharing to its Partner Program (YPP), YouTube is further expanding creator access by lowering the eligibility criteria, while also allowing creators to join its Shopping affiliate program.

“Starting today, eligible creators will begin to be able to apply to YPP earlier,” YouTube stated in a blog post. “Once they’ve met a threshold of 500 subscribers, 3 public uploads in the last 90 days, and either 3000 watch hours in the past year or 3M Shorts views in the last 90 days.”

Previously, to join YPP, creators were required 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.

Once accepted, new partners will unlock fan funding features that the Google-owned company claims helped creator channels in the U.S. increase their revenue on average by 20% in December 2022 compared to the prior year.

Fan funding features include channel memberships, Super Chat, Super Stickers, Super Thanks, and the ability for creators to promote their own products via YouTube Shopping.

YouTube's expanded access to YPP is available in the U.S., the U.K., Canada, Taiwan, and South Korea.

The company plans to later roll out the new eligibility requirements to other countries where YPP is available.

“As these creators continue to grow their channel, they will automatically become eligible to earn revenue sharing from ads and even more benefits once they reach the existing YPP eligibility criteria, without having to go through the full YPP application process again,” YouTube said.

The company also stated that the existing eligibility requirements to unlock revenue sharing remain unchanged.

In addition, YouTube’s Shopping affiliate program -- a commission-based option for creators to tag products featured in their videos from popular brands and retailers -- is expanding to all eligible U.S.-based creators who are in YPP with over 20,000 subscribers. 

YouTube said it has already partnered with over 50 brands including Nordstrom, Sephora, Ulta Beauty, Wayfair to feature and tag their products on videos and Shorts.