Social media provider Twitter is reportedly planning to open up its Amplify Publisher program to individual creators, a move that would give creators about a 70 percent share of ad revenues from views of advertising on their videos.
According to CNBC, once creators are approved by Twitter after submitting an application, they simply check a box to have pre-roll ads run ahead of their videos.
Twitter’s move should make its stable of “Vine stars” happy, according to Recode. This stable of individual creators who have a devoted social following haven’t been happy with the fact that they made no money posting their videos on Facebook while premium publishers like the NFL received a 70 percent split. They reportedly have been in discussions with Twitter for several months, and some have abandoned the service for greener pastures like YouTube, where a 55/45 split is standard.
The move isn’t surprising, considering Twitter’s ongoing struggle to compete with Facebook, Snapchat and Instagram with video, which is also the key component to monetizing its social media platform. User growth on Twitter is stagnating, a factor that impacted its stock after its latest quarterly earnings report.
To draw users back in, Twitter has added on to its video services over the past several months, folding in live streaming mobile app Periscope and video snippet app Vine, and landing a historic deal with the National Football League to stream 10 of its Thursday Night Football games this fall.
Adding a revenue sharing option could attract individual video creators who have benefited from similar programs over at YouTube, on Facebook, and on smaller services like Vimeo.
The real question is whether Twitter’s move is enough to turn its fortunes around. Viewers who are already deeply engaged with Facebook or YouTube video would need some kind of incentive to shift their attention to Twitter – a service built on the concept of short, skimmable posts rather than content that requires a longer attention span.
For more:
- see this CNBC article
- see this Recode article
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