In a significant move, Twitter is finally ready to split ad revenue with content creators. Many other social media platforms have been doing this for a long time but it will be a first for the microblogging platform. The announcement was made by Twitter’s owner Elon Musk, just a week after his newly appointed CEO Linda Yaccarino assumed office. One of her major responsibilities will be to increase the ad sales revenue for the company.
Twitter to Share Ad Revenue with Verified Content Creators: How It Will Work?
Elon Musk made the announcement through his official Twitter account as he has done many times in the past. The tweet said Twitter will start paying verified content creators for ads shown in their replies in a few weeks. However, only ads shown to verified users will count toward the revenue split. The first block of payment will be a total of USD 5 million.
This is merely an announcement as many crucial details are still behind the curtains. First of all, we have no clue what “verified content creator” means here. Does it include all Twitter Blue subscribers or someone with a certain followers count/engagement level, or only accounts of legitimate celebrities/social media influencers? The actual split is also unknown which means we do not know what share will be shared with eligible creators. Similarly, it is unknown if it will be a global release or will be limited to certain regions initially.
Musk has suggested revenue sharing will begin in a few weeks and we should get all the missing details sooner than later. Twitter’s new CEO Linda Yaccarino also expressed her excitement as she replied “Here we go” with a fire emoji to the announcement tweet.
Here we go……🔥 https://t.co/NgfUVxrdGw
— Linda Yaccarino (@lindayacc) June 10, 2023
The announcement has been made at a time when Twitter is struggling with ad revenue since Musk’s acquisition. A recent New York Times report revealed Twitter’s U.S. ad sales revenue was USD 88 million during the five-week period from April 1st to May’s first week. This is a huge 59% drop when compared to the previous year. It failed to meet weekly U.S. sales projections on a regular basis and it fell behind by as much as 30% at times.
Yaccarino has an experience of over a decade in the advertising space. She is said to have generated more than USD 100 million in ad sales revenue for his previous employer NBCUniversal. This is the reason Twitter and Musk must be hoping to see a revival in their own ad revenue with the goal of making the platform a profitable business.
