As TikTok faces a potential ban in the U.S., YouTube is highlighting the success of its own short-form video platform, YouTube Shorts. The company announced that Shorts now garners over 70 billion daily views, with over a quarter of YouTube Partner Program channels monetizing their content through Shorts.
This news comes shortly after TikTok revealed a significant increase in its creator fund revenue of over 250% in the last six months. TikTok’s new creator fund, which replaced the previous $1 billion fund, is now out of beta testing.
YouTube rolled out monetization options for Shorts creators in September 2022, aiming to expand the YouTube Partner Program (YPP). Previously, creators making long-form videos needed 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 watch hours to qualify for revenue-sharing. With the new Shorts criteria introduced early this year, creators need 1,000 subscribers and 10 million Shorts views within 90 days to earn 45% of ad revenue from their short videos.
The program has been in operation for a year, and YouTube points out that Shorts creators often make money through various other channels besides Shorts. More than 80% of YPP creators who earn from Shorts also profit from long-form ads, fan contributions, YouTube Premium, BrandConnects, Shopping, and other sources. This demonstrates that Shorts creation is often part of a broader revenue strategy for many creators.
YouTube’s YPP now includes over 3 million creators globally, having paid out $70 billion to creators, artists, and media companies in the last three years. YouTube proudly claims this makes it the largest creator monetization platform, a direct challenge to TikTok.
