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Heroes of Might and Magic 3Shorts Monetization
YouTube has shared Shorts ad revenue with creators since Feb 1, 2023: ads between Shorts fill a monthly Creator Pool, shared by engaged views, and creators keep 45% of their part. From Feb 1, 2027 a channel needs 10 million qualified Shorts views in 90 days to earn it.
YouTube pays creators for Shorts from a monthly pool: the ads shown between Shorts in the Shorts feed are added up, part covers music licensing, the rest is divided among monetizing creators by their share of engaged views, and each creator keeps 45% of the revenue allocated to them. To take part a channel must be in the YouTube Partner Program and accept the Shorts Monetization Module in YouTube Studio; revenue sharing began on Feb 1, 2023. From Feb 1, 2027, a channel also needs 10 million qualified Shorts views in the last 90 days to earn from the pool that month.
Quick facts
| Started | Feb 1, 2023 (replaced the Shorts Fund) |
| Needed | YPP membership and the Shorts Monetization Module accepted |
| Creator share | 45% of allocated ad revenue, and 45% of allocated Premium revenue |
| Counted | Engaged views only |
| Music | No music: all to the pool; one track: half; two tracks: a third |
| From Feb 1, 2027 | 10 million qualified Shorts views in the last 90 days, checked monthly |
| Paid | Through AdSense for YouTube, on its usual schedule |
Source: YouTube Shorts monetization policies, YouTube Help.
How does YouTube Shorts revenue sharing work?
- The pool. Each month, YouTube adds up the revenue from ads shown between Shorts in the Shorts feed, country by country.
- Music. Part of that pays for the music in Shorts. For each Short, if it has no music all its share goes to the Creator Pool; with one track half goes to the pool and half to music partners; with two tracks a third goes to the pool.
- Your share. The Creator Pool is divided among monetizing creators by their share of engaged views in each country.
- The 45%. Each creator keeps 45% of the revenue allocated to them, whether or not they used music.
Source: YouTube Help. YouTube Premium members' Shorts viewing is paid the same way: 45% of the net Premium revenue allocated to the creator (YouTube Premium).
How much do YouTube Shorts pay?
YouTube publishes no rate per view, because the pool changes every month and by country. Its own worked example: a creator with 1 million engaged views out of 100 million in a country, from a pool of $90,000, is allocated 1% ($900) and keeps 45% of it, $405. The example's figures are illustrative, not real pool sizes.
George Vanous, who runs the Freedom! network, found in 2023 that Shorts earn about ten times less per thousand views than long videos, because of the cuts for music and the pool and the creator's 45% share against 55% for long-form ads, so a Short needs about ten times the views to earn the same; he made that the headline of "YouTube Shorts earn 10X less revenue!", with a second video, "How much $$$ money you earn from YouTube Shorts", on what Shorts paid; the figures in them are his channels' experience at the time they were made, not a YouTube rate. See YouTube Studio Analytics for the RPM report, which shows what a channel actually earns per 1,000 views.
Which Shorts views count?
Only engaged views count, and three kinds earn nothing (YouTube Help):
- Non-original Shorts: unedited clips of films or TV, reuploads of other creators' videos, and compilations with nothing original added (Inauthentic and Reused Content).
- Artificial views: bots and other fake traffic.
- Shorts that are not advertiser-friendly under the Advertiser-Friendly Guidelines.
A Short over one minute long with any active copyright claim is blocked worldwide and cannot be monetized at all (YouTube Help).
How do I turn on Shorts monetization?
A channel in the YouTube Partner Program accepts the Shorts Monetization Module in YouTube Studio under Earn. It is not switched on automatically: views before the module is accepted do not count, and Help now says earnings start on the date a creator accepts it (YouTube Help). George's Freedom! video at the launch, "YouTube Shorts monetization starts Feb 1, 2023 - You must manually enable it", made the same point for creators who expected it to start on its own. To leave Shorts monetization, a creator contacts Creator Support.
Who qualifies?
Joining the YouTube Partner Program is the first step: as of Nov 6, 2026, full membership takes 1,000 subscribers and either 4,000 qualified watch hours in the last 12 months or 10 million qualified Shorts views in the last 90 days, and Shorts feed watch time does not count toward the 4,000 hours.
What changes on Feb 1, 2027?
YouTube announced on Aug 10, 2026 that from Feb 1, 2027 a channel must have 10 million qualified Shorts views in the last 90 days, measured over the 90 days ending on the 15th of the month before, to share in that month's Shorts Creator Pool and Shorts Premium revenue. A channel below it stays in the YPP and keeps its long-form earnings. From the same date, Shorts ads targeted at five or fewer channels pay the creator 45% of their net revenue directly (YouTube Help). New applicants also face higher YPP thresholds then; see Partner Program Changes in 2027.
Before 2023: the Shorts Fund
Until 2023, Shorts carried no ads. From 2021 to early 2023 YouTube paid selected Shorts creators monthly bonuses from the Shorts Fund, based on how their Shorts performed; revenue sharing replaced it on Feb 1, 2023 (Retired YouTube Features).
What creators say
Before revenue sharing began on Feb 1, 2023, George Vanous walked through its layers in "How much $$$ money you earn from YouTube Shorts": the pool per country, half of a Short's share going to music labels when it uses music, and the creator keeping 45% of what is allocated. His advice was "don't get your hopes up": a welcome new revenue stream, but one that would pay far less than ads around long videos.
In a Dec 4, 2024 video, vidIQ showed what happened to one of its own long vertical videos when YouTube moved three-minute Shorts into the Shorts feed in November 2024. Views stayed about the same, but the video's daily ad revenue fell from $2 to $4 a day on the watch page to 2 to 4 cents a day from Shorts feed ads, a drop of about 99%. It is one video's result, not a rate, and vidIQ drew from it that a vertical video under three minutes is not always best published as a Short.
In an Oct 2024 video, vidIQ pointed out that the extra watch time of a longer Short does nothing for monetization: only Shorts views count toward the Partner Program, not the hours. Its own arithmetic: if a three-minute Short averaged 90 seconds watched and that time counted, 160,000 views would reach 4,000 hours, rather than the 10 million Shorts views needed, which it expected to be "a deal breaker" for many creators.
Frequently asked questions
How much does YouTube pay for Shorts? YouTube publishes no fixed rate. Creators keep 45% of the Shorts ad revenue allocated to them by their share of engaged views in each country's monthly pool, so earnings per view vary by month and country.
When did YouTube Shorts monetization start? YouTube began sharing Shorts ad revenue with creators on Feb 1, 2023, replacing the Shorts Fund bonuses.
Do I need to turn on YouTube Shorts monetization? Yes. A YouTube Partner Program member must accept the Shorts Monetization Module in YouTube Studio; Shorts views before that do not earn.
Does music in a YouTube Short lower my earnings? Music lowers the part of a Short's revenue that goes into the Creator Pool: half with one track and a third with two. The creator's own share stays 45% of what is allocated to them.
What is the 10 million views rule for YouTube Shorts? From Feb 1, 2027, a YouTube channel needs 10 million qualified Shorts views in the last 90 days to earn from the Shorts Creator Pool that month; below it, long-form earnings continue.
Why are my YouTube Shorts not earning? Common reasons are a Shorts Monetization Module not accepted, views that are not engaged views, Shorts that reuse others' content, Shorts that are not advertiser-friendly, or a Short over one minute with a copyright claim.
Sources
- YouTube Shorts monetization policies, YouTube Help, read Nov 6, 2026
- Upload YouTube Shorts up to three minutes, YouTube Help, read Nov 6, 2026
- YouTube Partner Program overview and eligibility, YouTube Help, read Nov 6, 2026
- Upcoming changes to the YouTube Partner Program, YouTube Help, read Nov 6, 2026
- YouTube Partner Program updates for 2027, YouTube Official Blog, Aug 10, 2026
- Shorts in the YouTube Partner Program: Eligibility, YouTube Creators, Feb 1, 2023 (video)
- The 3 Minute YouTube Shorts Monetization Update, vidIQ, Dec 4, 2024 (video)
- YouTube Update, Shorts are Now 3 Minutes Long, vidIQ, Oct 3, 2024 (video)
- YouTube Shorts earn 10X less revenue!, Freedom!, Feb 14, 2023 (video)
- How much $$$ money you earn from YouTube Shorts, Freedom!, Jan 14, 2023 (video)
- YouTube Shorts monetization starts Feb 1, 2023 - You must manually enable it, Freedom!, Jan 12, 2023 (video)
Moments
Shorts in the YouTube Partner Program: Eligibility, Ad Revenue Sharing & Analytics
YouTube Creators
YouTube Shorts earn 10X less revenue!
Freedom!
How much $$$ money you earn from YouTube Shorts
Freedom!
The 3 Minute YouTube Shorts Monetization Update You Need To Know
vidIQ
YouTube Update - Shorts are Now 3 Minutes Long
vidIQ
Related
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Shorts RemixYouTube's Remix turns part of another video into your own Short, as Sound, Green Screen, Cut (1 to 5 seconds), Collab, a template or an AI remix. On a Short tap Remix; on a long video tap Share > Remix. Creators control it per video in YouTube Studio under "Shorts remixing".
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YouTube ShortsYouTube Shorts are vertical or square videos of up to three minutes, watched by swiping in the Shorts feed. Since Oct 15, 2024 any square or vertical upload of three minutes or less becomes a Short; before that the limit was 60 seconds.
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2-Step VerificationYouTube requires 2-Step Verification on the Google Account of every channel in the YouTube Partner Program (to use YouTube Studio since Nov 1, 2021) and of every channel applying for the verification badge; YouTube recommends a passkey as the second step because it resists phishing best.
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Hacked Channel RecoveryTo recover a hacked YouTube channel, first recover the Google Account that owns it (password reset and Google's account recovery), then undo the hacker's changes with YouTube Studio's cleanup tool, then secure the account with 2-Step Verification; YouTube's hacked channel assistant helps in English, Spanish and Portuguese.
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YouTube SupportOnly eligible creators, such as channels in the YouTube Partner Program, can chat with or email YouTube Creator Support, from the Chat button in YouTube Studio or the Help Center; everyone else gets the Help Center, the YouTube Help Community and @TeamYouTube on X.
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Content IDContent ID is YouTube's automatic copyright system, which scans every upload against reference files from rights holders and places a claim on a match that blocks, monetizes or tracks the video. A claim is not a strike, and only owners of exclusive rights to a large body of often-uploaded material qualify to use it.
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Copyright StrikesA YouTube copyright strike comes when a video is removed after a legal takedown request. It expires after 90 days once you complete Copyright School, and three active strikes put the channel up for termination.
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Counter NotificationsA YouTube counter notification is the legal request to restore a video removed for copyright by mistake or misidentification. The claimant gets 10 US business days to show they have sued; if not, YouTube puts the video back.
See also
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YouTube Partner ProgramThe YouTube Partner Program (YPP) is how creators earn from YouTube. Ads need 1,000 subscribers plus 4,000 public watch hours in 12 months or 10 million Shorts views in 90 days; fan funding and Shopping open earlier, at 500 subscribers. New applicants need 8,000 hours or 20 million Shorts views from Feb 1, 2027.
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AdSense for YouTubeAdSense for YouTube is the Google account that pays YouTube creators. Earnings are credited between the 7th and 12th of each month and paid between the 21st and 26th once the balance reaches the $100 payment threshold, after the address is verified with a mailed PIN at $10.
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YouTube PremiumYouTube Premium is YouTube's paid plan: videos without ads, background play, downloads, YouTube Music Premium, an enhanced-bitrate 1080p, Jump ahead and more. In the US it costs $15.99 a month for one person and $26.99 for a family as of Nov 6, 2026; Premium Lite is a cheaper, mostly ad-free plan without music.
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YouTube Studio AnalyticsYouTube Analytics lives in YouTube Studio under Analytics, with tabs for Overview, Content, Audience, Revenue and Trends, and per video Reach and Engagement, where the audience retention graph shows which moments held viewers. Since Aug 24, 2026, YouTube counts a view the moment a video starts playing.
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Inauthentic and Reused ContentYouTube does not pay for mass-produced, templated or repetitive videos (inauthentic content, called repetitious content before Jul 15, 2025) or for other people's material reposted without meaningful changes (reused content). Both are judged across the whole channel, even with the owner's permission.
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Advertiser-Friendly GuidelinesYouTube's advertiser-friendly guidelines decide whether a monetized video can earn full ads (green dollar icon), limited ads (yellow) or none. They cover 14 topics, from language and violence to controversial issues, and partners rate their own videos through self-certification and can ask for a human review.