Twitter Now Opens Ad Revenue Sharing Program to Global Creators Worldwide

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X’s New Program Aims to Reward Top Talent on the Platform

Earlier this month, Twitter — which has since rebranded as X — began sharing ad revenue with verified creators in an attempt to retain top talent on its platform. Today, the company announced that its ‘Ads Revenue Sharing’ program is now available for eligible creators globally.

The Program’s Goals and Eligibility Requirements

According to posts by X owner Elon Musk, the program aims to dole out $5 million in the first round of creator payments. This would be cumulative from the month of February onward, as noted. Several creators have already posted that they had received substantial payouts as a result, with some ranging in the five to six figures.

To be eligible, X users will need to subscribe to Blue (formerly Twitter Blue) or Verified Organizations and must have ‘at least 15M impressions on your cumulative posts within the last 3 months,’ according to the website on the creator program. In addition, users must have at least 500 followers.

How Ad Revenue is Calculated

X is monetizing the ads served in the replies to creators’ posts to determine payouts, not the ads served in the main X timeline. This incentivizes creators to post things that encourage a lot of conversation. While that could lead to controversial hot takes or opinions and other extreme content, X has put some guardrails on what’s permitted.

For example, sexual content, violence, criminal behaviors, gambling, drugs, alcohol, and ‘get-rich schemes’ are not allowed. Creators also can’t attempt to monetize copyrighted content they don’t own.

Global Availability of the Program

With today’s announcement, the program is now globally available to creators who meet the eligibility requirements. "We want X to be the best place on the internet to earn a living as a creator and this is our first step in rewarding you for your efforts," read a post by the official X account.

Adds X CEO Linda Yaccarino, "absolute game changer for our creators."

Absolute game changer for our creators.https://t.co/k7L1B4DvsG— Linda Yaccarino (@lindayaX)July 28, 2023

X’s Monthly Users Reach a New High

In addition to the global launch, Elon Musk also tweeted a chart indicating X’s monthly users reached a new high in 2023, even after the removal of bots, he claims. (Bot removal is an ongoing activity, of course, not a one-and-done scenario). The chart indicates Twitter, now X, at one point, reached 541.5 million monthly users, but it’s not labeled to show the months.

It’s also not clear how Musk determines what qualifies as ‘monthly usage,’ as compared with the industry standard MAU (monthly active user).

The chart differs from what others have shared using third-party measurement tools, including Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince, who recently pointed to tanking traffic to the Twitter domain. Similarweb also reported declines in Twitter traffic alongside the launch of Threads.

? monthly users reach new high in 2023pic.twitter.com/trqLGBEvvA— Elon Musk (@elonmusk)July 28, 2023

The Impact of X’s New Program

The introduction of X’s Ads Revenue Sharing program is expected to have a significant impact on the platform. By incentivizing creators to produce content that encourages conversation and engagement, X aims to create a more dynamic and interactive environment.

However, some critics argue that the program could lead to the proliferation of low-quality or sensationalized content in order to maximize ad revenue. It remains to be seen how the program will affect the overall user experience on X.