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YouTube targets TikTok with a better deal for creators

The creator economy has boomed, with an estimated 50 million people in 2020 identifying as online creators

September 20, 2022 at 6:51 p.m. EDT
(Lucy Nicholson/Reuters)
6 min

LOS ANGELES — YouTube on Tuesday rolled out new revenue-sharing tools for content creators on its YouTube Shorts video product in its latest effort to counter TikTok’s unequaled growth.

Until TikTok’s surge — more than 100 million downloads in the United States alone this year — YouTube had been the most sustainable source of income for content creators, who received a share of revenue from the ads that appeared with their videos. With the partner program unveiled a decade ago, thousands had made YouTube their full-time job.