Back in June, YouTube announced a new eligibility tier to the Partner Program with lower criteria. Initially available in select markets, it’s now rolling out to more countries in the MENA region.
If you’re familiar with the standard eligibility criteria for the YPP (YouTube Partner Program), you need to meet the following criteria to start earning with a revenue share from ads and YouTube Premium:
- 1,000+ subscribers
- 4,000+ public watch hours (in last 365 days) OR 10M public Shorts views (in the last 90 days)
Monetize with quicker eligibility
While the existing criteria set the bar high to meet the requirements, that option still remains as it keeps certain features exclusive (Shorts Feed Ads and Watch Page Ads). The new tier has a lower threshold on the criteria that include one of the following:
- 500+ subscribers with 3 valid public uploads in the last 90 days, and 3,000 valid public watch hours in the last 12 months, or
- 500+ subscribers with 3 valid public uploads in the last 90 days, and 3 million valid public Shorts views in the last 90 days
As for the monetized features, they would include access to the following feature set for earning revenue
- Super Chat: Highlight their message within live chat
- Super Stickers: Animated image that surfaces in live chat
- Super Thanks: Viewrs can buy a one-time animation on your published videos, allowing you to send a personalized, colourful comment to help them stand out in the comment section.
- Channel Memberships: Monthly payments for members-only perks
- YouTube Shopping: Discover products and shop by connecting your own store to share products
With the expanded rollout to the MENA region, this brings the total 99 regions worldwide for the new tier. Those who already meet the criteria should automatically receive an email to their account. Countriers in the MENA region where the new tier is available include the following.
| GCC | North Africa | Levant + Others |
|---|---|---|
| Saudi Arabia | Egypt | Jordan |
| UAE | Algeria | Lebanon |
| Qatar | Morocco | Turkey |
| Oman | India | |
| Kuwait | ||
| Bahrain | ||
Consider this as a starting step to earn from your YouTube channel. As you work towards the existing YPP criteria to unlock the revenue share option, you won’t have to go through the entire application process from the beginning. That would open up more sources including from YouTube Premium and the Shorts feed.