YouTube and Facebook look beyond ads for new revenue
YouTube is pushing paid chat, subscriptions and merchandise as a way for content creators to make money beyond ads – and carve out its own new revenue line. Meanwhile Facebook is gearing up to take a cut in fan subscription revenues and broaden its tipping service (USA Today).
Key points
- YouTube chief product officer Neal Mohan told VidCon conference that 90,000 channels have made use of the ‘Super Chat’ service, where fans pay to ask questions of YouTubers and get a quick response
- Some are earning more than $400/minute, and the service now makes some YouTubers more money than ads, he claimed
- YouTube launched new services partially in response to Patreon’s fan-funding model and takes a 30 per cent cut
- Facebook has also confirmed it plans to take up to 30 per cent of fan subscription revenues from next year and expand its tipping service beyond gaming.
As subscription models threaten traditional ad-funded media, so the platforms recognise another potentially lucrative long-term revenue stream. Alphabet’s most recent quarterlies showed slowing ad growth for the first time, prompting speculation that it may be running out of screen real estate. Google responded by announcing a slew of new ad formats. Its cut of fan-to-creator revenues is likely dwarfed by ad revenues, but as Mohan told The Verge “these new products are not some small little experiments.”
Meanwhile, giving creators more ways to make money beyond ads creates stickiness for its services – at a time when creators are looking to other platforms for less volatile revenues.
But The Verge also notes that allowing people to pay to have comments prioritised – per its Super Chat service – could also cause YouTube more headaches in terms of policing hate speech.
