Google is the giant of the web, and in the modern days of social media, its presence isn't whole without YouTube.
With increasingly reliable internet and the number of smart mobile devices around the world, YouTube's role as Google's source of income has heightened to new heights. But to ensure longevity of the business, YouTube must pamper its content creators.
It's only through this approach, that content creators would be happy, and will continue creating videos for their viewers to see.
It's these viewers that would translate to ad income.
But not all videos on the platform are equal, and not all content creators have the same.
This is why YouTube has a threshold content creators must reach and surpassed, before they're eligible to join the YouTube Partner Program (YPP), which unlocks access to the all-important monetization features.
Previously, the eligibility for the program required a YouTube creator to have at least 1,000 subscribers, as well as 4,000 public watch hours in the last 12 months or 10 million public Shorts views in the last 90 days.
YouTube doesn't allow Shorts views to count towards public watch hours, so the two can't be combined to reach the eligibility total.
But this time, YouTube is lowering its entry requirements for joining YPP.
Under the revised requirements, Google in a dedicated support page said that only 500 subscribers are needed, as well as 3,000 public watch hours or 3 million public Short views in the last 90 days.
Most importantly, content creators should have at least three public video uploads in the last 90 days, which ensures a YouTube channel is active and posting new content regularly.
Those who reached the threshold should become eligible for YPP, and gain access to monetization features including Super Chat, Super Stickers, and Super Thanks.
By joining YPP, it's also possible for them to promote their own merchandise through YouTube Shopping and take advantage of paid-for channel memberships.
Initially, the lowered requirements for YPP are being made available to YouTuber creators in the U.S., UK, Canada, Taiwan, and South Korea.
This should be a good news, since the previous threshold should be hard to some of those hard-working YouTuber who work in creating specific niche content that has lower number of audience.
Another good news, is for those YouTube creators already reaching the old threshold, in which YouTube said that they're eligible for revenue sharing from YouTube Premium users.
And in another good news, those with content creators with more than 20,000 subscribers who are already enrolled in the YPP, is allowed to take advantage of YouTube's Shopping affiliate pilot and tag eligible products in videos (and Shorts) to earn a commission.
At this time, this feature is limited to the U.S..
Of course, in order to earn money on YouTube you first need to create a popular channel. Good editing helps, but thankfully it's possible to edit your videos for free. And if you want to focus on game streaming, we've got the ultimate guide to help get you started.