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TikTok will start to share ad revenue with creators

TikTok will start to share ad revenue with creators

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But not everyone is eligible to get paid

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Tessellated TikTok logos against a dark background.
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

TikTok is opening up a new way for creators to make money. The company plans to start sharing a cut of revenue with top creators when their videos run alongside certain ads. The program mirrors how YouTube pays out creators, and it could lead to more significant payouts from the platform, which has yet to offer a substantial way for creators to make money.

The new program, called TikTok Pulse, allows ads to be specifically run alongside “the top 4% of all videos on TikTok,” the company wrote in a blog post today. Creators and publishers with at least 100,000 followers are eligible to receive a cut of revenue when their videos are included.

TikTok will share 50 percent of ad revenue from Pulse with approved creators, Sandie Hawkins, TikTok’s GM of North America global business solutions, told The Verge. That’s close to what YouTube offers creators, giving them a reported 55 percent cut from ads. Hawkins says that TikTok’s Pulse will launch in June in the US, with additional markets coming sometime this fall.

Until now, TikTok’s main way of compensating creators has been through its “Creator Fund,” which pays out select users based on the popularity of their videos. But creators have said the payouts from this program can be small and inconsistent, which means it hasn’t offered creators a sustainable revenue stream the way that YouTube’s ad program has for some video makers.

Update May 4th, 5:30PM ET: TikTok shared that Pulse will include a 50-50 revenue split with creators.