TikTok Now, Forbes Top Creators List & Ads in YouTube Shorts

1. TikTok Now

Photo Credits: TikTok

TikTok recently came out with a new feature called "TikTok Now", very similar to the latest popular social media, BeReal. BeReal has rapidly gained success and other competitors such as Instagram and Snapchat have already launched copy-cat features on their social apps.

"TikTok Now is the newest way to be entertained and connect with others on TikTok - a daily photo and video experience to share your most authentic moments with the people who matter the most. TikTok Now brings the authenticity of TikTok to a whole new creative experience that connects you with those closest to you." says the company in their blog post .?

Just as on BeReal, users get a notification and are invited to capture the moment they are in with their front and back cameras simultaneously.?

TikTok Now is accessible from inside the TikTok app in the US. Outside the US it is available as a standalone app, called TikTok Now.

BeReal has now more than 15 million users and doesn't have a monetization model yet. As reported by Financial Times, however the app is looking toward paid features or subscriptions.

2. Forbes Top Creators List

Photo Credits: Forbes on Instagram

Forbes recently announced a list of top creators, highlighting the most successful creators by taking into account three categories. The first being earnings, based on the 2021 calendar. Secondly, clout which is based on engagement and not only follower count. Lastly, entrepreneurship, where creators got a rank of between 1 and 3, considering companies founded, investment shops, or other deals in creative and lucrative ways.

On top of the list with $54M in earnings is Mr.Beast. The creator recently launched his first physical burger store, which resulted in more than 10,000 people waiting in line in the first 10 minutes, breaking the world record for selling the most burgers in a single day.?

At number 2 is 18-year-old Charli D'amelio, a massive TikTok star that earned $17.5M from her clothing brand, Social Tourist, a joint venture with Hollister and her sister Dixie D'amelio, who is at number 21 on the Forbes list.?

Number 3: Alexandra Cooper, host of the No.1 female-focused podcast globally, “Call Her Daddy”, acquired by Spotify for $60 million in 2020.

Number 4: Elliot Tebele, the face behind the FuckJerry meme account. He diversified into different businesses like games, with the card game called "What Do You Meme" and tequila, JAJA, marketed as a memefied Casamigos, sold at restaurants and liquor stores around the US.

Number 5: Emma Chamberlain, YouTube star, founder of Chamberlain Coffee, and brand ambassador of Louis Vuitton and Cartier among many other big companies she partners with.?

You can see the full list and read more in the Forbes post .

3. YouTube Announces New Way To Support Creators

Photo Credits: Google Blog

Yesterday YouTube announced major news regarding their YouTube Partner Program and much more:?

1. YouTube Partner Program Updates?

YouTube is already offering more than 10 ways for creators to make money on the platform, and now they're expanding the program even more.

Starting from 2023, creators can apply to the YouTube Partner Program, to be eligible they need to have 1,000 subscribers, and 10M Shorts views over 90 days.

YouTube announced that they are also supporting new creators on the platform with a new level of YPP with lower requirements, allowing them to access the Fan Funding and its features. YouTube will share more detailers shortly.

2. Revenue Share on Shorts Ads

YouTube announced the new Shorts business model:?

• Beginning in early 2023, current and future YPP creators will be eligible for revenue sharing on Shorts.
• In Shorts, ads run between videos in the Shorts Feed. So, every month, revenue from these ads will be added together and used to reward Shorts creators and help cover costs of music licensing.
• From the overall amount allocated to creators, they will keep 45% of the revenue, distributed based on their share of total Shorts views. The revenue share remains the same, no matter if they use music or not.

As reported by The Information "YouTube is ending its $100 million creator fund that pays Shorts creators once ad revenue sharing starts early next year. Tara Walpert Levy, vice president of Americas at YouTube said that the fund was “always temporary.”

“At the end of the day, funds have limitations – like literally, they're capped.”?

3. Creator Music

YouTube is recognizing the opportunity to build a bridge between the music industry and creators. That's why they're introducing Creator Music, a new destination that gives creators easy access to an ever-growing catalog of music to be used in their long-form videos.

"Creators can now buy music licenses that offer them the full monetizing potential—they will keep the same revenue share they’d usually make on videos without any music.

And for creators who don’t want to buy a license up front, they’ll be able to use songs and share revenue with the track’s artist and associated rights holders."

Creator Music is currently being tested in beta in the US and expanding to more countries in 2023.?

Speaking of ads, YouTube recently announced in a blog post new tools to create Shorts ads.

A reformatting solution that allows advertisers to get the most out of their creative, a machine learning technology reformats landscape video ads into square or vertical formats based on how someone is watching YouTube. The company announced easy templates, with images and text that advertisers can easily customize.

The company shared an interesting insight provided by MercadoLibre. "In August 2022, their vertical video assets drove 125 higher click-through rates and 95 higher view-through rates on mobile phones compared to landscape video ads in the same campaign."