Tech companies that develop social networks and media platforms are spending more and more money on payments to content creators every year. Google-owned video service YouTube recalled today that it spends more on it. Over the past three years, the service has paid content creators over $ 30 billion, and the number of participants in the affiliate program has exceeded 2 million users and companies creating original content for the platform.

YouTube began using a portion of its advertising revenue to pay content creators in 2007. As a result, a branched affiliate program was formed, which allows monetizing videos published by users in different ways. This was a timely decision as advertisers boycotted the service at the time due to the large number of inappropriate videos. In 2018, the company significantly reduced the number of channels with activated monetization, tightening the rules; but now the number of participants in the affiliate program is growing again.

YouTube’s main competitors like Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram have tried to lure content creators away with lavish pay-outs, but so far none of them have succeeded. YouTube remains the most popular platform.

YouTube also pays out rewards to traditional media that post videos to the platform. We know what part of the total amount of payments goes to companies; but, according to experts, a huge part of the payments goes to independent content authors who have chosen YouTube to monetize their videos.