Twitch Wants to Expand Where YouTube is Failing: Monetization
posted Saturday Apr 22, 2017 by Scott Ertz
Currently, if you want to make money on Twitch from Twitch, you have to be part of a very select group of partnered streamers. Those streamers are few and far between, leaving most streamers to figure out their own ways to monetize their time. That is all about to change, however, as Amazon is about to add a new tier to their streaming service, allowing more streamers to generate revenue off of their streams.
In addition to the existing Partner tier, a new Affiliate tier will be coming, giving a subset of revenue options to a new collection of streamers. Not everyone will be eligible, but those who are will be able to receive money from Cheers, game sales and ads, while Affiliates will not get other benefits of Partners, such as priority support, extended storage, quicker payouts, etc.
This addition follows a new trend from Amazon, a renewed focus on advertising and revenue sharing. As Google has struggled with advertising lately, Amazon has stepped in to help those affected. Major advertisiers have pulled out of AdSense, and Amazon extended the commission for websites using Amazon advertising on their websites to encourage sites to switch. If you have seen an influx of Amazon ads online in the past month, that is why.
For a streamer to be considered for Affiliate status, they must meet a few criteria. In a 30 day period, the streamer must have 500 streaming minutes across at least 7 distinct sessions. You will also need at least 50 followers and an average of at least 3 streamers at all times during those 500+ minutes. This requirement is going to ensure that Twitch does not dedicate too much time or resources to streamers who are not driving engagement on the platform, which is what the platform is all about.
If you are interested in becoming a Twitch Affiliate, make sure that your account meets those criteria and look for an email from Twitch in the near future.
