Twitch streamers not impressed by higher revenue split to run more ads
Twitch is rolling out their higher ad revenue splits to more streamers as of mid-August, with lots of affiliate-level streamers able to earn as much as 55% of ad revenue as long as they run more.
Discussion and debate about revenue splits for content creators, from subscriptions to ads, has been ongoing, particularly in comparison to YouTube streaming, as some Twitch streamers have argued the split is less favorable for them.
On August 18, a number of affiliate streamers on Twitch were sent a notification that they can earn an increased split from ads, but the downside is running much more ads per hour.
This increased split incentive has actually been available to some streamers earlier in the year, announced in June, but rolling it out to affiliates means both big and small creators can take advantage of it – although many don’t want to.
Twitch streamers don’t want to run more ads
The response on social media from streamers has generally indicated that they would rather not run more ads for their viewers to endure, especially as a growing channel, and miss out on the increased revenue split.
“Beginning today, we increased the ad revenue split to 55% for qualifying Affiliates,” Twitch said in an email. “To opt in, just set Ads Manager to at least three minutes per hour and leave it. That’s it. You’re in.”
Twitch streamer SgtChubb, a small but growing channel with just under 200 followers, said “I feel like all that time would be better spent interacting with my viewers to interest them in subscribing, surely? More subs = more money, more fun sub slots & less annoying ads for viewers.”
Fellow streamer Cookieninja213 said “that’s a lot of freaking ads and kinda seems spammy taking up 5% of the hour.”
“Annoy all my viewers and make them leave my streams for 50 cents extra a month? WHAT A DEAL!” joked another streamer, Vtuber kiyomihoshi.
Obviously, streamers would prefer a higher split from subscriptions as opposed to ads, as many streamers dislike running ads which can cause viewers to drop out of the channel.
For smaller streamers especially, every individual viewer is precious to growth and sustainability, so running more ads, even for increased revenue, might not be the smart play long term.