Shorts CPMs run $4–$6 against $7–$8 for Reels and TikTok… revenue per watch-hour matches long-form, but Shorts holds about 10% of social budgets

YouTube will require new Partner Program (YPP) applicants to reach 8,000 qualified watch hours over the previous 365 days or 20 million qualified Shorts views over 90 days starting Feb. 1, 2027 — double the current 4,000 hours and 10 million views. Agency executives told Digiday the change does not reflect a shrinking pool of ad dollars aimed at Shorts. The buyers it spoke to said spending on Shorts inventory is going up.

유튜브 숏츠, 수익배분 기준 2배 상향… 광고 집행은 증가, 예산 배분은 인스트림 우위
유튜브, 2027년 2월 1일부터 파트너 프로그램 신규 가입 기준을 시청시간 8000시간 또는 90일 쇼츠 조회 2000만 회로 확대. 광고 대행사들 숏츠 광고 집행액이 늘고 있다고 말하지만, 유튜브 인벤토리를 묶어 사는 번들 구매에서 물량이 많은 인스트림으로 노출이 몰리고 소셜 동영상 예산은 메타 릴스와 틱톡이 선점.
K엔터테크허브 (K-EnterTech Hub)Jung Han

Even so, Shorts accounts for roughly 10% of social video budgets. Most advertisers do not buy Shorts on its own; they buy a bundle of YouTube inventory that includes traditional in-stream, and the sheer volume of in-stream supply absorbs the delivery. The team that owns YouTube buying is frequently the programmatic or search group rather than the social group, and Meta (메타) Reels and TikTok already hold the social video allocations. What lets YouTube raise the bar on the creator side is not ad demand but the economics of revenue per watch-hour.