With the announcement that it will offer more direct monetization options for Shorts creators, YouTube is launching its biggest attack on TikTok yet as part of its overall effort to dominate the short-form video trend. This move may encourage more creative talent to use YouTube as their platform of choice.
According to YouTube:
Because pre- and mid-roll advertisements cannot be included in clips that are less than 30 seconds long, monetizing short-form videos is difficult.
According to YouTube:
Shorts-focused creators will be able to apply to the YouTube Partner Program by reaching a minimum of 1,000 subscribers and 10 million Shorts views over 90 days beginning in early 2023. These new partners will benefit from all that our program has to offer, including the various revenue streams like long-form adverts and fan funding.
Because pre- and mid-roll advertisements cannot be included in clips that are less than 30 seconds long, monetizing short-form videos is difficult.
Since there is essentially no correlation between individual video and ad success, YouTube has developed a new process that it believes would allow for a fair income split.
"In the Shorts Feed, advertisements appear in between the videos. Therefore, every month, the money made from these advertisements will be totaled together and utilized to pay the authors of the Shorts and defray the expense of music licensing.
They will retain 45% of the total money given to creators, which will be split according to their proportion of all Shorts views. Whether they use music or not, the revenue portion is the same.
Therefore, it's not quite a direct monetization, but rather a combined pool of income that will be divided according to the number of views on the videos.
"In the Shorts Feed, advertisements appear in between the videos. Therefore, every month, the money made from these advertisements will be totaled together and utilized to pay the authors of the Shorts and defray the expense of music licensing.
They will retain 45% of the total money given to creators, which will be split according to their proportion of all Shorts views. Whether they use music or not, the revenue portion is the same.
Therefore, it's not quite a direct monetization, but rather a combined pool of income that will be divided according to the number of views on the videos.
This ultimately amounts to the same thing, but with an additional complexity brought on by the need for YouTube to step in and regulate payouts.
Additional issues might arise as a result, which YouTube will have to address over time.
The 45% revenue split also differs from the typical YPP rev share, which gives authors a 55% part of overall ad revenue.
According to, the vice president of creator products at YouTube:
The majority of those who work in the short form today make their money through fixed funds, which don't guarantee the artist a certain amount.
Additional issues might arise as a result, which YouTube will have to address over time.
The 45% revenue split also differs from the typical YPP rev share, which gives authors a 55% part of overall ad revenue.
So why is this amount lower for Shorts?
According to, the vice president of creator products at YouTube:
The majority of those who work in the short form today make their money through fixed funds, which don't guarantee the artist a certain amount.
The platform decides how they're going to divide that up every month. In a nutshell, we're going to share with every creature that subscribes to the feed.
This includes dispersing it across all the creators, whether it was three films before the ad or three videos thereafter. We devote a lot of product and technical attention to shorts,
where we focus on trust and safety as well as things like creation tools. Knowing the investment we must make is therefore a portion of that revenue sharing.
With 75% of YouTube's active user base now watching Shorts, YouTube is therefore taking a bigger cut due to the increased costs, particularly in development and music licensing, even though 45% is still a sizeable portion. This will likely lead to even greater profitability in the future.
As YouTube prioritizes short-form content more, more advertisers will pay attention. There will undoubtedly be plenty of ad dollars available as YouTube expands its inventory of very short video advertising,
With 75% of YouTube's active user base now watching Shorts, YouTube is therefore taking a bigger cut due to the increased costs, particularly in development and music licensing, even though 45% is still a sizeable portion. This will likely lead to even greater profitability in the future.
As YouTube prioritizes short-form content more, more advertisers will pay attention. There will undoubtedly be plenty of ad dollars available as YouTube expands its inventory of very short video advertising,
and this might make YouTube the platform of choice for young creative talent eager to make real money from their films.
that they are unable to do on TikTok. They can, of course, but the payments from TikTok's Creator Fund have been progressively falling, and the experimental "Pulse" ad scheme, which allows creators with more than 100,000 followers to monetize their clips, is currently somewhat limited.
The new funding for Shorts on YouTube will contribute to sweetening the total revenue share pie, which has already paid out more than $50 billion to creators over the past three years.
that they are unable to do on TikTok. They can, of course, but the payments from TikTok's Creator Fund have been progressively falling, and the experimental "Pulse" ad scheme, which allows creators with more than 100,000 followers to monetize their clips, is currently somewhat limited.
The new funding for Shorts on YouTube will contribute to sweetening the total revenue share pie, which has already paid out more than $50 billion to creators over the past three years.
When you combine this funding with the longer clips' revenue possibilities, it is evident that YouTube provides the finest overall package. Again, with view counts increasing, YouTube may supplant TikTok as the preferred medium for many important, up-and-coming celebrities.
Naturally, TikTok and Meta will take inspiration from this new program and aim to introduce comparable monetization mechanisms to strengthen their offers.
Naturally, TikTok and Meta will take inspiration from this new program and aim to introduce comparable monetization mechanisms to strengthen their offers.
But eventually, people will go where the money is, and for now and for some time, YouTube is the place to be for this.
The most likely result, though, is that creators will try to increase their income by posting on all platforms, with the wider distribution of the audience helping to increase their overall intake.
The most likely result, though, is that creators will try to increase their income by posting on all platforms, with the wider distribution of the audience helping to increase their overall intake.
And if there is a move toward exclusive contracts, that will complicate and further divide the creator landscape. That still seems to be a problem that the platforms need to solve if they are to prevail.
In terms of creative appeal, though, YouTube once more appears to be in the driver's seat, at least for the time being, with TikTok trying to maximize its ties with its talent and Instagram itself noting that it isn't meeting creator needs.
In addition to providing funding specifically for Shorts, YouTube is also lowering the requirements for monetization via YPP, making fan funding options like Super Thanks and Super Stickers more accessible to more people (including creators of Shorts). YouTube is also creating new funding options for live-streamers.
Together, the new announcements strengthen YouTube's monetization options and will soon establish new standards for the wider industry about short-form video monetization.
What will that mean for creators looking to maximize their earnings? Can other platforms perform as well as YouTube, and provide the same level of expanded funding?
It significantly raises the stakes, and it will be interesting to see how the other platforms react.
In terms of creative appeal, though, YouTube once more appears to be in the driver's seat, at least for the time being, with TikTok trying to maximize its ties with its talent and Instagram itself noting that it isn't meeting creator needs.
In addition to providing funding specifically for Shorts, YouTube is also lowering the requirements for monetization via YPP, making fan funding options like Super Thanks and Super Stickers more accessible to more people (including creators of Shorts). YouTube is also creating new funding options for live-streamers.
Together, the new announcements strengthen YouTube's monetization options and will soon establish new standards for the wider industry about short-form video monetization.
What will that mean for creators looking to maximize their earnings? Can other platforms perform as well as YouTube, and provide the same level of expanded funding?
It significantly raises the stakes, and it will be interesting to see how the other platforms react.
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