Reaching the 4,000 hours of watch time threshold to get monetized on YouTube is a daunting task for many new creators. In fact, only about 3% of the estimated 114 million YouTube channels ever accumulate enough subscribers and watch time to qualify for monetization.
But what if there was a simple, proven strategy that could fast-track your watch time growth? You may sense where we’re going with this…
Enter the YouTube Shorts flood method, a powerful tactic inspired by former YouTube insider Jon Youshaei and used by top creators like MrBeast. This method leverages the massive viewership potential of Shorts to funnel traffic to your long-form videos—the only type of watch time that counts toward monetization.
Table of Contents
- Why reaching 4,000 watch hours is so challenging for new creators
- The billboard method: using Shorts as ads for long form videos
- The flood method: a game-changing strategy to boost watch time
- Why top creators like MrBeast use the flood method
- How to implement the flood method on your channel
- Real results from using the flood method
- Conclusion: turn your Shorts into a watch time powerhouse
Why reaching 4,000 watch hours is so challenging for new creators
Getting monetized on YouTube requires not just subscribers but also a minimum of 4,000 hours of public watch time on your long-form videos. Shorts, while great for views, do not contribute to this watch time requirement. This disconnect means creators can rack up millions of Shorts views but still fall short of monetization because the time those views represent aren’t counted toward watch hours.
Fortunately, YouTube introduced a feature in late 2023 that allows creators to link Shorts directly to other videos on their channel. This opens up a strategic opportunity to convert Shorts viewers into long-form video watchers and boost your monetization metrics.

The billboard method: using Shorts as ads for long form videos
The first wave of creators to adopt Shorts linking used what’s now called the billboard method. They clipped popular moments from their long-form videos and posted them as standalone Shorts. Then, they linked those Shorts back to the original long-form video, essentially using the Short as an advertisement.
Analysis showed this method consistently increased views on the linked long-form videos, which helped channels grow watch time. However, the billboard method links Shorts only to videos related by topic, limiting its full potential.

The flood method: a game-changing strategy to boost watch time
Jon Youshaei took this concept further with a bold, simple twist — the flood method. Instead of linking each Short to a related video, he linked every Short on his channel to his newest long-form upload, regardless of the topic. But the real genius was that he didn’t just update new Shorts; he went back and updated the links on every Short he had ever published.
This created a powerful funnel where his entire Shorts catalog drove viewers to his latest long-form video, flooding it with views and watch time almost instantly. This method works because it leverages the full power of your Shorts library, not just a few clips, to boost your newest content.

How the flood method boosts your watch time in numbers

Consider this example: if your Shorts get 200,000 views per month and your long-form video averages three minutes of watch time per viewer, even a 5% click-through rate from Shorts to the long video means 10,000 new viewers. Multiply that by three minutes each, and you gain 30,000 minutes — or 500 extra hours — of watch time practically overnight.
Why top creators like MrBeast use the flood method
MrBeast, one of YouTube’s biggest creators, also uses this flood method extensively. If you examine his Shorts, you’ll see that every Short links to his newest long-form upload, regardless of the content’s theme. His team updates these links every time he uploads a new video, ensuring a continuous flood of traffic to his latest content.

How to implement the flood method on your channel
The flood method requires you to be an active creator publishing both Shorts and long-form videos. Here are two ways to update your Shorts links efficiently:
Free manual method
- Go to YouTube Studio and navigate to Analytics > Content > Shorts.
- Click See more in the top Shorts section to view your top five or 15 Shorts.
- Open each top-performing Short in a new tab and manually update the related video link to your newest long-form video.


Focusing on your top Shorts ensures you prioritize the traffic-driving clips without spending hours updating every Short on your channel.
Bulk update method with TubeBuddy
If you have hundreds of Shorts and want to update them all quickly, use a tool like TubeBuddy’s Related Video Manager. This paid feature lets you select a target long-form video and bulk update all your Shorts with just a few clicks. You can also exclude specific Shorts if needed.
This tool saves massive time — what would take hours manually can be done in seconds. It’s perfect for creators who frequently upload new videos and want to keep their Shorts catalog driving traffic to the latest content.

Real results from using the flood method
Testing the flood method on a channel showed dramatic results. The linked long-form video became one of the channel’s most successful uploads, with traffic sources showing “related videos” as a top driver. This confirms the flood method’s effectiveness in boosting watch time and accelerating monetization.

Conclusion: turn your Shorts into a watch time powerhouse
The YouTube Shorts flood method is a simple yet powerful strategy to turn your Shorts views into long-form watch time — the crucial metric for monetization. By linking all your Shorts to your newest long-form videos, you create a consistent traffic flood that can quickly push your channel past the 4,000 watch hour threshold.
Whether you update your top Shorts manually or use TubeBuddy to bulk update your entire Shorts library, this method leverages the power of Shorts while overcoming their limitation of not counting toward monetization watch time.
Ready to try the flood method? For more tips on how to optimize your Shorts strategy and drive channel growth, check out this guide on growing your long-form videos with Shorts. And if you want to dive deeper into managing your Shorts links, visit TubeBuddy’s Shorts related video manager strategy.
Take control of your Shorts traffic and watch your channel grow faster than ever!