In a competitive market, Twitter's revenue share deal is designed to appeal to YouTube stars, does not require content exclusives
Kurt Wagner / Recode : Tweets: @pkafka . See also Mediagazer Tweets: Peter Kafka / @pkafka : A couple of years ago this would have really spooked YouTube. http://twitter.com/... See also Mediagazer
Context & Ripple Effects
This deal extends what Twitter started with publishers: last October it began automatically matching 6-second ads to videos, keeping 30% and passing 70% to partners. The new move opens that same split to individual US creators, and sources tell CNBC the terms beat both YouTube and Facebook — a comparison Recode had already mapped when it broke down how differently Facebook and YouTube pay video creators.
The strategic twist is the missing exclusivity clause. While reporting in the related coverage describes YouTube paying top creators millions for time-limited exclusives, Twitter is betting creators will multi-home if the take rate is attractive enough — turning revenue share itself into the recruiting pitch.
First-order effects
- Individual US video creators can now earn 70% of ad revenue on Twitter alongside their existing channels, with no contractual reason not to keep posting to YouTube.
Second-order effects
- YouTube and Facebook face pressure to defend their own splits against a rival whose pitch requires zero content commitment — competing on economics rather than lock-in.
- Multi-platform posting becomes cheaper for stars, which raises the value of whoever offers the best marginal dollar and erodes the leverage of exclusive-deal strategies.
Third-order effects
- The bet paid out at scale: by 2018 Twitter's video ads brought in $287M+ in Q1 alone and over half of total company revenue since late 2017, and the revenue-share model resurfaced in 2023 as payouts to Twitter Blue creators — evidence that creator splits became a durable line of business, not a one-off promo.
The trend: Video platforms are competing for creators on revenue-share terms rather than exclusivity contracts, making the take rate the main battleground for talent.