Snapchat rolls out mid-story ads that give creators a cut of the cash

Ah yes, just what we wanted: more ads!

“In the coming months we’ll be introducing a new opportunity to support creators: mid-roll advertisements in Snap Star Stories” reads a press release from Snap posted on Monday.

Snapchat, which is already polluted with non-skippable ads in between different users’ stories and in Spotlight and Discover, is introducing yet another place to put advertising content in front of your eyeballs. The mid-roll ads will appear in the stories of a small group of U.S. creators who have reached Snap Star status, indicated by the gold star verification on their account.

Good, compensation for creators — This is the first time creators are getting a cut of the ad revenue made on their own content. Overall, the increase in creator compensation signals that Snapchat is continuing its efforts to take on TikTok.

Platforms are incentivizing creators with cash: YouTube established a $100 million creator fund for Shorts, Instagram pays select accounts to post Reels, and Snapchat offers Spotlight challenges. But not all payment models are the same. YouTuber and TikToker Hank Green pointed out in a recent video essay that TikTok’s Creator Fund pays far less than YouTube’s model. While TikTok gives creators compensation based on an opaque calculation, YouTube’s revenue-sharing model pays creators a hefty percentage of the ad revenue from their videos.

Snapchat reported a $3 million loss in revenue after Apple’s restrictions for advertisers.