Want to make money from your YouTube videos? Envious of YouTube partners like Michael Buckley, who makes $100,000 per month off his YouTube channel? Well, even if you’re not a revenue-sharing member of the YouTube partner program, your cat’s funny video could still net you some dough — if YouTube considers it “viral” enough.

Turns out YouTube has been quietly selecting one-hit wonders for ad revenue sharing: from Otters Holding Hands to David After Dentist. Now, if your video goes viral and complies with YouTube’s Terms of Service, your video could become eligible too. A button would appear in your video owner options: “Enable Video Sharing”.

You’d need a Google AdSense account to receive the money. A lot of independent Web publishers already have one, but if you don’t, YouTube will give you a chance to create one. This individual video partnership program is currently only available in the US — but just like the main YouTube partner program, it’ll be rolled out to other countries over time.

Note that the program would apply only to the most popular videos, and only to those of YouTube’s choosing. It will be a while before YouTube works out true do-it-yourself Long Tail video content monetization, but this is certainly a step in the right direction. In the meantime, fire up that camera and put your dog on a skateboard.

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