Twitter Finally Initiates Ad Revenue Sharing Programme With Content Creators

Twitter finally initiates ad revenue sharing programme with content creators

Twitter has begun its highly anticipated ad revenue sharing initiative for the platform’s most influential content creators. This move has seen some creators already claiming more than $100,000 in payments. As these payouts start to flow, the competition between Twitter and Meta’s rival app, Threads, controlled by Mark Zuckerberg, is intensifying.

To be eligible for ad revenue sharing, users must be subscribed to Twitter Blue, have a Stripe account to facilitate payment, and have generated over five million tweet impressions each month for the previous three months. Musk disclosed in June that the first payment cycle to creators would total $5 million, and these initial payouts will be cumulative, dating back to the inception of the programme in February.

Embed: https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1667314848856948736

One of the platform’s most-followed meme pages, the Internet Hall of Fame, revealed its payout this Thursday, reporting a staggering sum of $107,274. On the same day, Twitter also sent out emails to a select group of users, notifying eligible creators that they would receive their share of ad revenue within three days.

Embed: https://twitter.com/TitterDaily/status/1679587033696595970?s=20

Yet, the way Twitter calculates its payouts to creators and how it divides the revenue among eligible users remain unknown. Conservative commentator and YouTuber Benny Johnson, who received a payment close to $10,000, gave us a glimpse into the process by sharing his Twitter analytics from the previous 28 days. His impressions stood at a striking 433 million, surpassing the eligibility threshold for the revenue sharing scheme.

This landmark in Twitter’s history comes amidst a challenging period for the platform. The recently introduced Threads app, owned by Meta, is being touted by many as a potential “Twitter killer.” Threads accrued its first 100 million users earlier last week, marking a record as the fastest growing app in history. This rapid growth has been facilitated by its streamlined sign-up process, which allows users to log in via their Instagram account.

In response to this emerging competition, Twitter’s legal team have labelled Threads as a “copycat” of the Musk-owned platform. They have threatened legal action against Meta for alleged misuse of Twitter’s “trade secrets and other intellectual property.” However, Twitter has had its share of struggles in the advertising sector, with its U.S. advertising sales plummeting to $88 million in April—a 59% decrease from April 2022.

Whether Twitter’s new ad revenue sharing initiative will bolster its position in the competitive social media landscape remains to be seen. However, it clearly signals a fresh effort by Twitter to reward its top creators and potentially attract new ones, even as rivals like Threads loom on the horizon.