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Ads coming to Kick are inevitable, CEO Eddie Craven explains why
One of the unique value propositions behind live streaming platform Kick is that it offers an ad-free viewing experience, but CEO Eddie Craven has revealed that this is about to change.
Kick offers streamers and viewers something better than its main competitors, as there is the potential for bigger payouts for content creators and there are no ads on the platform to bother viewers. This may be one of the reasons why Kick has overtaken Twitch among the Spanish-speaking audience, as viewers prefer to consume the content they want without any interruptions, and Kick meets this requirement.
But it may not last very long. Kick CEO Eddie Craven recently discussed the importance of ads and revealed the big changes planned for Kick in the future.
CEO Eddie Craven says Kick will have ads ‘at some point’
Eddie Craven revealed in a stream that Kick had avoided adding ads since the platform’s inception, but that viewers would eventually see typical digital ads on the streaming platform.
Kick’s CEO said the platform knows that one of the main reasons some viewers use it is that there are no ads, making the viewing experience better compared to some other competitors. He said the platform has “lost money” due to not showing ads and that viewers should enjoy the ad-free experience while it lasts.
Eddie then confirmed that Kick would run ads, but wanted them to be unobtrusive so viewers could still enjoy the streams relatively distraction-free. He said Kick “won’t add 1,000 ads” and still expects viewers to stick around. Craven explained that this is a challenge for Kick, because the platform needs to recoup some of this lost revenue, but knows it will lose viewers if it bombards them with ads.
Image credit: Kick
This isn’t the first time Eddie Craven has talked about introducing ads to Kick; he previously called advertising the “backbone” of the platform’s long-term revenue strategy. Craven explained that Kick would not add pre-roll or mid-roll ads and would instead focus on specific ads from sponsors and creators. This lines up with what Eddie revealed in his recent stream, and it might not affect viewers as badly as many would assume with the new addition of ads.
Rival platform Twitch launched its own type of muted picture-in-picture ad to improve the viewer experience, and the response was generally favorable. It’s possible that this played a direct role in Kick’s growing eagerness to serve ads to its users.
Streamers could benefit significantly if ads were added to Kick, as ads make up a massive portion of the total payout in Twitch, and the same could be true for the Stake-backed platform. It remains to be seen how viewers are affected by the ads, as Eddie says the platform wants to maintain the same viewing experience despite the addition of ads.
The favorable revenue model on Kick should continue to attract streamers to the platform. But it remains to be seen whether the introduction of ads will impact Kick’s ability to attract viewers who actually support these streamers.
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Khizar Mundia
Khizar Mundia has been playing video games for as long as he can remember. Things have come a long way, however, since the many days he spent playing the original NES. It now covers a variety of competitive gaming and esports, as well as the world of streaming, ranging from Twitch to Kick. If it interests the players, it interests Khizar.
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