YouTube Shorts Monetization With a Shorts option on the main menu and a prominent Shorts section on the watch page, YouTube has been putting a lot of emphasis on short-form video content, much like all the other social media platforms. It therefore comes as no surprise that, as of July 2023, YouTube Shorts had two billion monthly active subscribers.
This tutorial focuses on monetizing YouTube shorts, often known as how to monetize your YouTube shorts. Visit our blog post on creating YouTube shorts for a more comprehensive introduction to this format.
Can you monetize YouTube shorts?
Regular, long-form YouTube videos have been monetizable for more than 15 years now. Over $50 billion has been made by media firms, artists, and producers from their YouTube material throughout that period.
However, as they are a much more recent format, shorts were not initially a part of the YouTube Partner Program (YPP). For those who were wondering when YouTube Shorts will be monetized, it is a relief to know that the platform introduced YouTube Shorts monetization opportunities in late 2022. Creators that concentrate on YouTube’s short video format have been able to make money since then.
How does YouTube Shorts monetization work?
YouTube Shorts monetization is, well, a little complicated. The sources of monetization are:
- YouTube Shorts ad revenue sharing
- YouTube Premium subscription revenue sharing for Shorts
- YouTube Shopping
- YouTube fan funding
In 2021, YouTube first introduced shorts monetization via the YouTube Shorts Fund. The goal of the $100 million fund was to promote the use of the new format by paying the most compelling shorts producers. It was always intended to serve as a band-aid while YouTube worked on a long-term monetization strategy for shorts. When the Shorts ad revenue sharing model debuted in February 2023, this fund was shut down.
YouTube Shorts ad revenue sharing.
- YouTube adds together all the revenue from ads shown between videos in the Shorts feed.
- YouTube calculates how much of the revenue associated with Shorts is needed to cover music licensing for tracks used in Shorts. That money is paid directly to music partners. The rest of the ad revenue goes into the Creator Pool
- YouTube allocates a percentage of the total Creator Pool to each monetizing creator based on their share of total views in each country.
- YouTube applies the revenue share formula: They take 55% of the allocated revenue, and you get 45%.
YouTube shopping features
You may monetize your YouTube shorts by utilizing YouTube Shopping to advertise your items, in addition to income sharing from advertisements and premium subscriptions.
You can tag goods in your short during the upload process if they include any. Following that, a product overlay will appear on your clip, allowing viewers to explore and buy your items without leaving YouTube and while still viewing your short.
YouTube Fan Funding
Once you turn on YouTube monetization, you’re eligible for all YouTube fan funding options, including:
- Super Thanks
- Super Chat
- Super Stickers, and
- Channel Memberships
The most relevant to creators focused on YouTube shorts are Super Thanks and channel memberships.
Who is eligible for YouTube Shorts monetization?
Can you make money off of YouTube shorts before you reach these levels? Yes, but just a little. In order to help newer creators and those with lower audiences earn through YouTube shopping and fan financing, YouTube expanded its program in June 2023.
However, neither the YouTube Premium subscription income sharing nor the Shorts ad revenue sharing will be available to you.
You need 500 subscribers in order to apply for this enhanced program. Additionally, you must have three recent legitimate public uploads and three million recent legitimate public short views. (Or 3,000 hours of legitimate public long-form video viewing in the previous year.)
For both programs, you must also:
- Understand and comply with the YouTube Channel Monetization policies.
- Live in a region where the program is available. (The expanded program is for now only available in these countries.)
- Ensure your channel doesn’t have any active Community Guidelines Strikes.
- Turn on 2-step verification for your Google account.
- Have access to advanced features on YouTube based on your channel history or by verifying your identity (not applicable for the expanded program).
- Have an active AdSense account.
You can log into YouTube Studio at any time to see how close you are to eligibility and request notification when you’re eligible.
How to start monetizing YouTube Shorts
Here’s how to become part of the YouTube Partner Program and start monetizing your YouTube shorts.
- Sign in to YouTube.
- Click your profile picture in the top right corner, and then click YouTube Studio.
- Click Earn in the left menu.
- If you’re eligible, you’ll see an Apply button. Go ahead and click on it. If you’re not yet eligible, click the Get Notified button to come back and finish the process once you meet the requirements.
- Click Start to review and accept the base terms.
- Link your existing AdSense account, or click Start to set up a new one if you need to.
- Wait for YouTube to review your application. (This usually takes about a month, so be patient.)
- Once you are approved, go back to the Earn section of YouTube Studio and accept the Shorts Monetization Module.
How much can you earn through YouTube Shorts monetization?
Unfortunately, the earnings from YouTube Shorts are, at least so far, not spectacular. The consensus among YouTube Shorts creators is that revenue per thousand views (RPM) is coming in around $0.05 to $0.07. That’s about $50 to $70 for a million views.
For those of you curious about YouTube Shorts monetization updates, here is Feb2-Feb 8th earnings from approx 35 Million views. pic.twitter.com/kMyjW6KB0b
— Zach King (@zachking) February 10, 2023
The amount of money you make through YouTube shopping will totally depend on how effectively you market your items and how much you charge for them. To find out how much money you’re making from your YouTube Shopping tags in Shorts, keep a watch on Revenue in your YouTube Analytics.
Super Thanks will also depend on how much your followers appreciate your work and how close of a relationship you have with them. Super Thanks is essentially a virtual tip.
Then, are YouTube shorts commercialized? Yes. However, they won’t be able to fully compensate a creative for the money they would normally get from long-form YouTube videos.
However, as you’ll see below, there are other ways to monetize your short-form material on YouTube using the YouTube Shorts features.
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