That viewers complain about ads on platforms like Twitch and YouTube is nothing new. However, streamers are not pleased either and sharply criticize Twitch’s incentive program – led by the probably biggest MMORPG streamer Zack “Asmongold”.
What kind of program is this? The “Ad Incentive” program for Twitch partners has the somewhat cumbersome name “Incentive Program for Ads” in German and aims to provide streamers with incentives to run more ads.
The program started in June 2022 and was introduced in September as a compensation for losses due to a lower share in subscription revenues.
How does the program work? Streamers receive monthly personalized offers (“incentives”) from Twitch. There are 3 factors:
- How many minutes of ads per hour should be played
- How many hours per month should be streamed
- How much money is paid for this
Streamers can then choose between 3 offers, with significantly more money promised for running more ads. The amount of the offers is said to depend on viewer numbers, location, and streaming hours.
For ads that are run beyond the agreed duration, streamers receive Twitch’s usual share.
Ads make up only part of streamers’ revenues, another important factor is paid subscriptions (“subs”).
Streamers are dissatisfied with October offers
What is causing criticism now? On October 15, some streamers shared the offers they had received for this month – and how they compared to previous months. The problem: Twitch suddenly seems to demand significantly more ads and pays hardly more or even less for it.
Streamer Sweet Anita compared her offer with her usual ad revenues and found: “Twitch is offering me less than usual for MORE ads.” That doesn’t make sense, Anita said.
The Souls speedrunner Distortion2, with over half a million followers on Twitch, compared the offers for the current month. He had the choice between 1 and 3 minutes of ads per hour. But for the option with much more ads, Twitch was only willing to pay 10 US dollars more – for the whole month.
Others criticize not the amount of rewards, but the amount of advertising requested. The offers from Minecraft streamer Dylan “BoomerNA” started with a minimum of 5 minutes of ads per hour – that used to be the maximum.
Boomer did censor the offered rewards but added that Twitch had also offered him less money than in previous months. Now he would prefer to run no ads at all.
Asmongold predicts a dark future for Twitch
What consequences could this have? Very negative ones, fears Twitch star Asmongold. Because while some streamers complain about low rewards, Twitch on the other side sometimes lures with high sums that not every streamer can easily refuse.
Asmongold speaks of “life-changing sums” for almost everyone and of dire consequences for the platform. By creating incentives for 8 minutes or more of ads per hour, Twitch would pay streamers to destroy their channels – and ultimately the site itself.
The streamer predicts that this amount of advertising could soon become the new norm due to the incentive program.
And indeed, streamers report in the comments of offers that would secure their everyday purchases for the month – for smaller streamers it is hard to refuse.
The Vtuber Mooni “meowmoonified” also talks about how hard it is for her to refuse the higher offers. Many of her viewers encouraged her to accept the incentives.
So there are 2 factions: The streamers who feel they are offered too little money for ads and those who are tempted with incentives. But no one seems truly happy with the incentive program.
What do you think about this? Would you encourage your favorite streamers to run more ads to support them? Do you think Twitch is ruining itself with the advertising program? Feel free to leave a comment with your opinion.
Asmongold himself streams after a personal crisis in July only on his secondary account “zackrawrr”. There he is no longer a Twitch partner, but his viewership numbers are similar. He estimates that this costs the platform $150,000 a month.
