Meta is suspending its bonus program for Achievements and milestones. The 2021 program encouraged short video content makers. The shutdown will affect content makers on Facebook and Instagram (only U.S.-based).
Business Insider stated that platforms might stop compensating creators depending on short video popularity. The report says Meta will honor bonuses for 30 days.
Meta informed the outlet that it might “target” reinstate the program if Reels reach a new market. This seems odd since the short video product is offered in over 150 countries.
As NextNews noted, this initiative gave artists generous bonuses. Some creators received $35,000 a month in rewards. But, these producers had to get millions of Reels views, and Meta was glad to give them money to promote the format.
In addition to in-stream commercials, it tested overlay ads with creators in over 50 countries last year. The company pays creators 55% for both ad forms.
Reels earned $1 billion last year, according to Mark Zuckerberg. While investing in the metaverse, the corporation hopes the format will generate more revenue.
Zuckerberg said Reels isn’t producing enough on Meta’s Q4 2022 investor call.
“Improving monetization efficiency—the revenue generated per minute of Reels watched—is our next obstacle to growing Reels. Feed outperforms Reels in monetization. When Reels increase, he said it takes time away from Feed and costs us money.
Meta’s platforms need incentives to attract producers from TikTok and YouTube Shorts. Facebook will give Reels producers greater monetization possibilities.
“This year, we’re adapting and improving these [monetization] techniques for short-form video. “We’ll continue expanding our ads on Facebook Reels testing to enable more creators to earn ad money for their Reels and promote virtual giving via Stars on Reels,” Facebook chief Tom Alison stated in a blog post earlier this week.
Meta is not alone in limiting short video creator benefits. Snapchat and YouTube Shorts share ad money instead of funding creators.