YouTube tests a monthly Shorts bonus for creators who post steadily
YouTube has started a pilot that pays some creators extra for keeping a regular Shorts schedule. The Shorts bonus program was shown in a Creator Insider video hosted by Rene Ritchie, YouTube's Creator Liaison. "What if you could get paid a bonus just for keeping your Shorts schedule consistent?" he asked.
Creators cannot choose to join. The extra earnings go to a selected group of Partner Program members in six regions: the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Brazil, Japan and South Korea. YouTube tells them by email and in a YouTube Studio notification, and an Active bonuses card appears under the Earn tab.
Two parts to the payout
The minimum payment depends on uploads. Each invitation names a number of public Shorts that must go up in every calendar month of the promotion period.
A separate monthly bonus is based on valid engaged Shorts views, as determined by Google. YouTube counts only organic engaged views, and views sourced from advertisements do not count. Validation can take several days, and the final figures may differ from what YouTube Analytics shows. The bonus is not guaranteed and is calculated on typical earnings in the creator's country.
Accepting and getting paid
An invited creator accepts in YouTube Studio and agrees to the program terms by the stated deadline. Accepting by the 15th of a month makes that month's Shorts activity count; accepting later moves it to the following month. A creator opts in once for a given bonus.
To receive a payout, the channel must still be monetizing at the end of the month. The money arrives with the regular YouTube earnings, typically between the 21st and the 26th of the next month.
Customer support cannot invite channels or take applications. YouTube says more creators will get chances to take part as the program scales in 2027.
Google can change or suspend the promotion at once for legal, regulatory or security reasons, or to prevent abuse, and can otherwise change or end it with 30 days' notice.
The pilot comes as YouTube prepares to raise the entry threshold for its Partner Program.
Source: YouTube Help