Twitch has made numerous changes to the way it handles advertising in the past two years, but the streaming platform is apparently failing to meet internal revenue goals, according to a report by The Information.
In 2018, Twitch reportedly posted ad revenue of $230 million. And while revenue for 2019 was projected to be $300 million, the figures fell short of the company’s $500 to 600 million goal.
This news comes in the same year that Twitch announced multiple changes to its ad revenue strategy that gave content creators more control over advertisements on their stream, as well as giving those with “affiliate” status a share of ad revenue.
Prior to this year, any time someone joined a stream, they were exposed to an advertisement before they could begin viewing the channel. But at TwitchCon this year, the company announced that influencers now had the option to disable this feature.
Additionally, the platform incentivized streamers to run ads by including the “picture-by-picture” feature. Whenever streamers run an ad break, they can now make it so that their viewers can still see what’s happening on their screen. While the content creator’s stream is muted, they’re still visible on the screen while an advertisement plays.
Advertising is only one of Twitch’s revenue sources, though. Viewers can subscribe to a streamer on a monthly basis for as low as $4.99. The Information’s report cites sources saying that the company is shooting to generate $1 billion from a combination of advertising and commerce.
Twitch has not yet responded to a request for comment by Dot Esports and the company doesn’t publicly reveal revenue numbers. This story will be updated with more information from Twitch if it becomes available.
Published: Jan 9, 2020 12:25 pm