A new test is coming to YouTube that will allow fans to donate money to their favourite creators as a way of expanding on YouTube’s Super Chat streamer donation system, which rolled out in 2017.
“Applause” is the new option that would enable fans to buy an applause animation which they would be able to allocate towards approved YouTube videos.
When a viewer taps on the “Applause” button, they would be donating $2 to the creator – 70% of the total goes directly to the content creator and 30% of the cut goes to YouTube.
“You may be able to buy Viewer applause on participating creators’ videos and show your support for YouTube channels,” YouTube explained. “When you buy Viewer applause, you’re purchasing a one-time “clapping” animation that will only be shown to you over the top of the video.”
YouTube was inspired to expand the program because Super Chat had gained significant momentum over the last year.
“More than 100,000 channels have received Super Chat,” YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki shared. “And some streams are earning more than $400 per minute as fans reach out to creators to say hello, send congratulations, or just to connect.”
YouTube notes that Applause will not be designed to be streamer-specific like Super Chat, instead it will be applicable to any video posted on YouTube thus providing an additional revenue generator opportunity for all YouTube creators. Applause is in very limited beta right now, is only available on desktop, and only to selected users in Australia, Brazil, India, Japan, Korea, Mexico, New Zealand, and USA, according to The Verge.
Content creators on YouTube are looking at another option of monetization on the platform and if Applause was to be released it would be an interesting feature added on YouTube.
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