TikTok to Start Sharing Ad Revenue With Creators

TikTok is exploring its first ad-revenue sharing program, which would offer 50% of the revenue generated from some ads to top creators and publishers whose posts run alongside those ads. At present, only those TikTok ads that have a minimum of 100000 followers are eligible for the program.

The revenue-sharing program is directly linked to a new advertising model on TikTok Pulse, which would enable advertisers to place their branded posts right next to the top 4% of TikTok videos every day. The program will give marketers the option to place their ads next to the most attention-grabbing and viral content. And it would also initiate a 50/50 split for TikTok and the content creators to share the revenue generated from Pulse advertising playing alongside those top posts.

The announcement by TikTok was part of the NewsFronts, a weeklong display of pitches by digital media companies to gather advertiser interest. The revenue-sharing program by TikTok mirrors the standard practice followed by YouTube and opens up a wide range of possibilities for creators to make money off their popularity. In fact, YouTube’s standard revenue share is around 55/45, with the creators keeping the lion’s share, though it varies.

With TikTok Pulse, brands would now be able to buy ad placement next to the ‘top 4% of the most culturally relevant content on TikTok’ in 12 subject categories like music, fashion, autos, beauty, sports, and movies. The company also claims that the posts that fall in that top 4% would be daily updated and would be determined by multiple factors including the number of video views, and how much the viewers are engaging with the post.

Last December, TikTok started an online ‘Create Next’ portal where it organized all the tools that creators can utilize to make money on its application in one place. Here, creators can learn about how they can accept virtual gifts and payments from fans who view their videos and live content.

Now, TikTok is able to add advertising revenue share to that list of creator monetization opportunities. TikTok Pulse will launch in the US in June, and later expand to other markets in the fall.