One
year
after
YouTube
turned
on
revenue
sharing
for
its
shortform
video
feature,
a
growing
chunk
of
creators
are
getting
paid
for
it.
More
than
1
in
4
creators
in
YouTube’s
Partner
Program
are
now
earning
money
with
YouTube
Shorts,
the
company
announced
on
Thursday.
Given
there
are
over
3
million
creators
in
YouTube’s
ad
sharing
program,
that
amounts
to
roughly
750,000
Shorts
creators
in
total.
The
company
doesn’t
break
out
how
much
it
has
paid
Shorts
creators
specifically.
It
has
paid
$70
billion
to
creators
in
total
over
the
last
three
years,
with
the
bulk
of
that
going
to
longform
content.
By
all
measures,
Shorts
are
getting
more
popular.
The
number
of
Shorts
uploaded
on
YouTube
has
grown
by
50
percent
year
over
year,
and
the
feature
now
averages
over
70
billion
daily
views
from
over
2
billion
creators
per
month,
YouTube’s
spokesperson
for
Shorts,
Kimberly
Taylor,
tells
The
Verge.
The
feature
first
launched
in
2020
and
has
become
more
integrated
with
the
platform
in
the
years
since.
Even
with
that
growth,
Shorts
still
lacks
the
influence
and
passionate
user
base
of
TikTok,
the
platform
it’s
imitating.
The
rival
platform
is
popular
enough
that
its
users
flooded
congressional
phone
lines
earlier
this
month
when
prompted
to
by
the
app.
At
the
moment,
TikTok’s
future
in
the
United
States
remains
uncertain,
as
a
bill
to
ban
the
platform
or
force
a
sale
lingers
in
the
Senate.
While
there
hasn’t
been
a
mass
exodus
from
TikTok,
monetizing
Shorts
does
seem
to
have
incentivized
more
native
YouTubers
to
experiment
with
the
feature.
Many
of
YouTube’s
most
subscribed-to
longform
creators,
including
MrBeast,
Like
Nastya,
Markiplier,
and
others
are
now
posting
to
Shorts.
Todd
Sherman,
the
product
lead
of
YouTube
Shorts,
believes
Shorts’
connection
to
the
wider
YouTube
ecosystem
gives
it
an
edge
on
competitors.
Unlike
with
TikTok,
users
on
YouTube
can
hop
from
watching
a
creator’s
Shorts
to
watching
their
full-length
videos
or
subscribing
to
their
channel
— typically
more
lucrative
opportunities
for
creators.
“When
I
think
about
how
Shorts
is
a
part
of
YouTube,
of
course
it’s
its
own
thing.
It’s
in
a
feed,
but
as
you
swipe
through
that
feed,
there’s
often
an
ability
to
go
deeper
and
connect
more
deeply
with
a
creator
or
go
find
that
full
song
or
watch
the
music
video,”
said
Sherman.
“Shorts
are
basically
an
ad
that
gives
me
a
few
bucks
instead
of
me
paying
anything
at
all.”
YouTube’s
eligibility
requirements
for
monetization
are
lower
than
that
of
TikTok,
which
in
theory
gives
more
creators
opportunities
to
earn
money.
But
some
creators
still
struggle
to
earn
revenue
from
Shorts
alone,
perhaps
due
to
what
some
report
is
a
far
lower
payout
than
longform
YouTube
content.
Instead,
many
see
Shorts
as
a
way
to
bring
new
subscribers
to
their
main
channel. “Shorts
are
basically
an
ad
that
gives
me
a
few
bucks
instead
of
me
paying
anything
at
all,”
wrote
one
Reddit
user
on
r/PartneredYouTube.
YouTube
retains
55
percent
of
revenue
from
ads
for
Shorts,
while
creators
receive
the
other
45
percent.
That’s
the
reverse
of
what
YouTube
offers
its
longform
creators,
which
the
company
says
is
necessary
due
to
music
licensing
fees
for
Shorts.
The
revenue
split
for
Shorts
isn’t
likely
to
change
soon.
“I
think
as
of
right
now,
we’re
very
happy
with
the
program,”
Thomas
Kim,
YouTube’s
Partner
Program
product
director,
told
The
Verge.
Tellingly,
most
YouTube
Shorts
creators
earn
money
through
other
parts
of
YouTube.
Nearly
80
percent
of
creators
who
became
eligible
for
YouTube’s
Partner
Program
through
Shorts
are
earning
revenue
through
other
parts
of
the
platform,
including
longform
videos
and
fan
funding,
says
Taylor. While
this
is
a
win
for
YouTube,
it
also
suggests
that
the
revenue
opportunity
for
shortform
video
— and
only
shortform
video
—
may
still
be
limited.
Original author: Amrita Khalid
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