Advertising shift may help content providers

Maybe the light at the end of the digital tunnel is real this time. For years, there has been talk about “empowerment”. For years, there has been hope that talent would be properly rewarded. And for years, most of the promises have failed to materialise. It has seemed that all technological advancement has done is empower “thieves” and reward those who don’t deserve it.

Is the mushrooming of video clips that pay the creators if watchers view attached advertisements a game-changer? YouTube has revived the businesses of some old-time content providers and given individual contributors hefty returns. Facebook, meanwhile, will soon be offering selected video makers — including the NBA, Fox Sports and Funny or Die — a cut of advertising revenue if people watch their content on the social network.

The revenue-sharing arrangement has enabled some content providers, including those in Thailand, to get back on their feet. Thailand’s entertainment giant Grammy has let its music videos viewed on YouTube and the returning stream of “passive income” has been impressive. Of course, many people “skip” advertising, but there are those who don’t, intentionally or unintentionally.

It’s not just big players like Grammy who are benefiting from sharing the commercial revenues with YouTube. Advertising income has been significant, leading to an increasingly large network of individual video creators, many making a very decent living from publishing videos on websites.

In the not-so-distant past, people were worried who would “steal” their published content. Now, they are anxious as to who can hit the jackpot next. A publisher, for example, just filmed his toddler doing some childish things, created a fan base from regular updates and was rewarded with a big piece of ad revenues. One young man started by doing voice-overs in computer games for fun, but he became popular, and the rest is history.

The real era of “content providers” may have arrived. “Empowerment” may stop being just a rhetoric, as hit videos don’t necessarily have to come from well-established makers. All you need is a camera, decent editing skills and some cool ideas. 

Facebook, trying to catch up on the advertising front, has promised users the ability to get their videos in front of large audiences. The company claims videos uploaded to Facebook are watched 4 billion times a day. Recommended videos on Facebook are being watched in astonishing numbers. When Facebook has more of its own uploads and fewer links to YouTube, video makers will have two big stages for their creations.

The competition between the two social media giants can only benefit content providers, who stand to be offered bigger slices of advertising revenues. Now, Facebook is offering a revenue split of 55 per cent to the video creator and 45 for itself, which is more or less the same as the terms on YouTube.

The shared income is growing, and giving content providers a new perspective on “stolen clips”. A Thai music com?pany executive, who asked not to be named, said he used to hate “thieves” unconditionally, but has come to realise that a stolen music video can tempt watchers to search for more and they can end up watching his content on YouTube. And the more people watch his content on YouTube, the happier he is.

Technology has taken away jobs and income from various companies and individuals, but hopefully that suffering becomes a part of the learning process. With advertising money pouring into the “small” screens, maybe we are seeing a new dawn. Old business formulas, when only executives got rich, may have to come to an end, however.