One year after YouTube introduced monetization for Shorts videos, more and more creators are making money from this format. Over a quarter of creators in the YouTube Partner Program are now earning money through YouTube Shorts. With over 3 million creators in this program, that's roughly 750,000 Shorts creators.
The company does not disclose how much it has paid Shorts creators. In the last 3 years, it has paid creators $70 billion, with the majority going to long-form content.
Short videos have been becoming increasingly popular lately. The number of short videos uploaded to YouTube has increased by 50% compared to the previous year. Currently, Shorts videos amount to an average of over 70 billion daily views from more than 2 billion creators per month. This feature was first launched in 2020 and has since become more integrated with the platform. Despite this growth, Shorts still do not have the same impact and user base as the competing platform TikTok.
While there hasn't been a massive migration from TikTok to YouTube, the monetization of Shorts seems to have motivated more YouTube users to experiment with new possibilities.
Todd Sherman, product lead for YouTube Shorts, believes that Shorts' connection to the broader YouTube ecosystem gives this feature an edge over competitors. Unlike TikTok, YouTube users can transition from watching a creator's short videos to watching their longer videos or subscribing to their channel - usually more lucrative opportunities for creators.
The requirements for monetization on YouTube are lower than TikTok's, theoretically giving creators more opportunities to earn money. However, some creators still find it difficult to generate income solely from short videos, probably because such videos receive much lower payments than long-form content on YouTube. Nevertheless, many creators see Shorts as a way to attract new subscribers to their main channel.
"Shorts is essentially advertising that gives me a few dollars instead of me paying anything at all," wrote one Reddit user on r/PartneredYouTube.
Currently, YouTube only gives Shorts creators 45% of the ad revenue, keeping 55% for itself. This is the opposite situation with long-form videos. According to the company, this is due to the need to pay for music licensing in Shorts.
It is noteworthy that the majority of YouTube Shorts creators are making money through other YouTube opportunities. Nearly 80% of creators who gained entry to the YouTube Partner Program through Shorts are earning income from long-form videos and fan funding.
Source: The Verge
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