YouTube adds more ways for creators to earn money

For a long time, advertising contracts were the main source of revenue for YouTube and the creators of the platform. However, it seems that the video sharing platform is trying to rely less on its advertising revenues by offering more ways for creators to make money on YouTube.

To achieve this, YouTube offers direct monetization features, such as more merchandising partners, subscription options, and a way to return creators to live broadcasts. According to YouTube product manager Neal Mohan, these features have already begun to help "Thousands and Thousands of Channels", making money on the platform.

For starters, the merchandising option unveiled by YouTube last year is already being used by a number of content creators on the platform. The company has now expanded its list of merchandising partners. According to a report from The Verge, YouTubers who have partnered with Crowdmade, DFTBA, Fanjoy, Represent and Rooster Teeth will now be able to integrate these products under their videos.

Apart from that, YouTube is proposing a new Super Sticker feature to chat. Viewers will be able to purchase Super Stickers for live and premieres to support their favorite creators. The chat is a growing source of revenue for YouTube since the announcement of its return in 2017, Mohan stating that "Super Chat is now the primary way to generate revenue for more than 20,000 channels on YouTube." Using stickers in the mix seems like a great idea when you think about it.

That's not all, YouTube is also improving the membership feature introduced. Creators will now be able to offer up to 5 different subscription levels at different prices, each with its own benefits.

Neal Mohan mentioned that YouTube is always exploring more ways to generate independent revenue from advertisers. These new additions are feature extensions that have already proven to be successful. It will be interesting to see what other modes of revenue generation YouTube will offer in the future, but for now, creators can gain even more independence from advertisers on YouTube.