Twitter Embraces a YouTube-Like Video Monetization Model For 'All Publishers and Creators' Twitter will give creators a 70 percent cut of ad revenues, as opposed to the 55 percent offered by YouTube and Facebook.
By Geoff Weiss
Opinions expressed by BIZ Experiences contributors are their own.
Another day, another seismic change hatched at Twitter.
Just days after reappointing ousted founder Jack Dorsey as CEO, and unveiling Moments, an attempt to streamline the platform for beginning users via content curation, the company has revamped its video advertising model.
Twitter has announced a major expansion of its chief video ad product, Twitter Amplify, which launched in May 2013 and initially enabled 150 publishers, including Conde Nast, VEVO and Vice, to monetize their videos with 6-second pre-rolls -- but only if they had an existing relationship with advertisers.
"Now, all publishers and creators will have the option to monetize their great video content on Twitter," said the company's senior product director of media, TV and video, Baljeet Singh, at an event yesterday in New York. "Twitter video is now open for business."
Related: Twitter's Head of Video Hints at Monetization Plans for 'All' Creators
Content creators simply check a box to activate monetization -- without having an existing relationship in place -- whereupon Twitter pairs ads with videos based on category relevance. Now in beta, the new Amplify product is being piloted by traditional media stalwarts like MTV and Sports Illustrated, as well as digital players such as Maker and Fullscreen.
While video advertising has become a crucial revenue generator for social networks like YouTube and Facebook, Twitter's revenue-sharing model will be far more generous than predecessors. Twitter will take just 30 percent of ad dollars paid to creators, whereas YouTube and Facebook nab a 45 percent cut.
"Twitter can show everything that's happening in the world 10 to 15 minutes faster than any other service," Jack Dorsey said yesterday at the event, dubbed #VideoNow, which also marked his first public appearance as CEO.
Additionally, the company revealed a slew of stats, including that viewers now watch 40 years' worth of video every day on Periscope, and that 90 percent of video views on Twitter are happening on mobile devices. All told, videos are six times more likely to be retweeted than photos.
Related: Twitter Unveils Easy-to-Use 'Moments' Feature That Curates Trending Topics
