YouTube's Help page titled Learn about the Shorts bonus program says the offer is invite-only, and there is no application. The minimum number of public Shorts, and the months they must be posted, are written on the invitation. A second payment, based on valid engaged Shorts views, is not guaranteed.
What does the Help page open?
The page is Learn about the Shorts bonus program. The opening line says YouTube is introducing a new bonus program for select creators in specific regions, meant to give creators more ways to earn as they grow their channels. If a creator is invited and decides to join, the page says they can earn additional payouts based on monthly Shorts uploads and performance.
Specific regions is the whole geography on that page. It does not name a country. It does not name Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, or Vietnam, and it does not print a list. A screenshot of a payout, or a count of uploads from a video, is not a sentence this Help page prints.
This page is also not the 10 million views rule already published in YouTube pauses Shorts revenue sharing under 10 million views. From 1 February 2027, Shorts ad and subscription sharing needs 10 million qualified Shorts views in 90 days. This Help page does not say the bonus replaces that bar, and it does not say the bonus is only for channels under 10 million views.
How does an invitation arrive, and what is the 15th?
The eligibility section says the program is invite-only and there is no application process. If a channel is eligible, YouTube says it will notify through two places. An official invitation goes to the primary contact email. A notification also appears in YouTube Studio, in the dashboard or the inbox.
To take part, the creator must accept the invitation in YouTube Studio and agree to the specific program terms by the deadline on that invite. The next sentences are a calendar rule, not a suggestion. Accept by the 15th of the month and that month's Shorts activity can count. Accept after the 15th and the Shorts activity counts in the following month.
A creator only needs to opt in once for a given bonus. The FAQ calls this a limited, automated, invite-only pilot. An eligible channel gets an Active bonuses card in YouTube Studio under the Earn tab. Creator Support cannot manually invite a channel or accept an application. If a channel was not invited in this pilot, the page says there will be more chances as YouTube scales in 2027.
What are the two payments, and where is the number?
Once participation is confirmed, the creator must meet the requirements in the invitation before the relevant calendar month ends. Extra bonus earnings use that month's total valid engaged Shorts views, based on typical earnings in the creator's country. The channel also has to still be monetizing at the end of that month.
The terms then name two payments, and they do not publish the figure for either one. The minimum payment is the Promotional Offer Payment. To be eligible for it, the creator must upload a minimum number of public Shorts specified in the program invitation, in each calendar month, during the period the invitation specifies. The page calls that window the Promotion Period. It does not print the number of Shorts. It does not print the first day or the last day.
The second payment is the Promotional Bonus. The terms say a creator may also be eligible for one promotional payment each month of the Promotion Period, based on valid, engaged Shorts views as determined by Google. The same paragraph says the creator is not guaranteed receipt of a Promotional Bonus. One payment is tied to the upload count on the invite. The other is tied to views Google accepts, and that one can be zero.
Google says it validates each channel's engagement metrics before they are displayed. That validation may take several days, and the final number may differ from what YouTube Analytics shows.
Google pays an earned Promotional Offer Payment, and any Promotional Bonus, in the monthly cycle with other YouTube earnings, under the Partner Program terms, including the revenue threshold. The FAQ puts that money in AdSense for YouTube, typically between the 21st and the 26th of the following month.
The bonus is not the same each month. It depends on uploading at least the number of public Shorts in the invitation before the month ends, and on engaged Shorts views in that period. More valid engaged Shorts views can mean more pay.
Google may withhold payments if the offer, or general use of YouTube, breaks the agreement. It may change, cancel, or suspend the promotion immediately for a legal, regulatory, or security reason, or to prevent abuse or harm, and otherwise with 30 days' notice.
Which views count?
Valid engaged Shorts views are organic engaged views only. Views generated or sourced from advertisements do not count. YouTube Analytics shows Engaged views on the Engagement tab, and that figure is not the validated number, which can differ after several days.
What does the other Help page say?
A second YouTube Help page is live under a different address, Learn about the Shorts upload bonus. It is not a redirect of the first page. The title is different, and the numbers are different.
That page says YouTube is expanding a temporary bonus for select creators in specific regions. It requires at least 10 public Shorts before a calendar month ends, and the channel must still be monetizing then. The terms set that count at ten public Shorts each month from 1 September 2026 to 30 November 2026, and they call that window the Promotion Period. They name one Promotional Bonus a month, based on valid Shorts views as determined by Google, and they say it is not guaranteed. They do not name a Promotional Offer Payment, they do not put the count on the invitation, and they do not print the 15th. Views there are organic engagement views, so advertisement-sourced views do not count. Pay is typically the 21st to the 26th of the following month.
This article does not fold those two pages into one rule. The page that leaves the count and the period on the invitation is Learn about the Shorts bonus program. The page that prints 10 public Shorts, and 1 September through 30 November 2026, is Learn about the Shorts upload bonus. If the email and the card in Studio disagree with either page, the text to accept is the one in Studio.
What should a Jakarta channel check?
Three checks decide whether this bonus belongs on the brief.
There is no application. Accept in YouTube Studio by the 15th, or that month's Shorts activity counts the next month. Creator Support cannot send the invite, and it cannot accept a request to be added.
The public Shorts count and the Promotion Period sit on the invitation. This page does not publish a rate card, a dollar figure, or a rupiah figure, and it does not name Indonesia. The two places it does name are the primary contact email and the Active bonuses card under Earn. A missing card is not a support ticket that creates an invite.
The Promotional Bonus is not guaranteed. Views from advertisements do not count. The channel must still be monetizing at the end of the month. If money is paid, it sits in the normal AdSense cycle, typically the 21st to the 26th of the next month, and it still has to clear the revenue threshold.
For a newsroom that covers SI (Super Intelligence) tools and the platforms creators already publish on, the useful sentence is the one printed on the invitation. A public Help page that leaves the number blank is the rule, until an invite arrives and prints it.