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YouTube monetization

Hey everyone, I’m a bit confused about YouTube monetization. I know we need 4,000 watch hours, but do Shorts views count towards that? Or is it only long-form videos? Just want to be sure before I go all in on Shorts.

YouTube monetization
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Bryan Williams

Hey! That’s a really good question - YouTube’s rules can be confusing at first.

So here’s the deal: Shorts views do NOT count toward the 4,000 public watch hours needed for monetization. Those hours must come from regular long-form videos.

However, if you get 10 million Shorts views in the last 90 days, that’s a separate path to monetization (but it’s way harder for beginners).

My advice? Use a mix: Shorts for discoverability, and long-form videos to rack up watch time. That combo works best for most new channels! 👍