Telegram Launching Ad Platform to Reward Channel Owners with Financial Incentives
Telegram, a popular social media platform, has revealed its plans to introduce an ad platform in March 2024. The purpose of this platform is to enable channel owners to receive financial rewards. Pavel Durov, the CEO and founder of Telegram, made this announcement through his Telegram channel. According to Durov, the company intends to distribute rewards using toncoin, a cryptocurrency on the TON blockchain.
Under this new system, channel owners will be entitled to 50% of the revenue generated by the company from ads displayed in their channels. Telegram channels serve as a means for users to broadcast messages to large audiences. Durov highlighted that while these broadcast channels accumulate one trillion views every month, only 10% of these views are monetized through Telegram Ads, the platform’s existing promotion tool.
Durov emphasized the forthcoming launch of the Telegram Ad Platform in nearly a hundred new countries. This will open opportunities for advertisers in these countries, and channel owners based there will start receiving 50% of the ad revenue generated by Telegram. To ensure swift and secure ad payments and withdrawals, the company will exclusively employ the TON blockchain. Similar to their approach with Telegram usernames on Fragment, Telegram will sell ads and share revenue with channel owners in Toncoin. This will establish a positive cycle, enabling content creators to either convert their Toncoins into cash or reinvest them to enhance and promote their channels.
This move places Telegram in the company of YouTube and X (formerly Twitter), both of which offer revenue sharing with their users. YouTube provides creators in the YouTube Partner Program with a 55% share of ad revenue, while X commenced revenue sharing with users in July 2023. Additionally, Meta (formerly Facebook) has been testing a new payout model for its Ads on Reels monetization program.
Telegram boasts more than 800 million monthly active users worldwide.