Meta is ending its Reels Play bonus program, which paid creators on Instagram and Facebook when they reached certain video-viewing benchmarks.
Meta is ending its Reels Play bonus program that rewarded content creators when they hit certain goals for views on their videos.
This change, first reported by Business Insider, will take effect immediately, and Meta won’t offer any new or renewed Reels Play bonus deals. However, it will honor existing commitments over the next 30 days.
The Reels bonus program had its ups and downs since Meta launched it in 2021 to try to compete with TikTok. Initially, creators saw huge payouts — sometimes tens of thousands of dollars. But over the course of 2022, some creators reported that payments had been shrinking, and it was becoming harder to make the same amount in bonuses.
Despite the end of the Reels bonus program, Paige Cohen, a Meta spokesperson, noted that creators can still earn money through subscriptions and brand partnerships. The Reels bonuses were part of Meta’s two-year, $1 billion pool of money that the company promised would go to creators through 2022. Similar incentives at other companies have also slowly been shrinking. For example, Snapchat paid $1 million a day for hit content on its TikTok-esque feature, Spotlight, but that amount was gradually cut over the course of 2022, and other monetization methods like ad revenue sharing were introduced.
Similarly, YouTube initially offered cash payouts to get creators to make content for its TikTok clone, Shorts, but announced it was moving to a revenue sharing model last fall. Other companies like TikTok are retooling creator funds and incentivizing new types of content. The short-form video app recently announced an updated fund that only rewards creators who make videos longer than one minute.
In conclusion, while Meta's decision to end the Reels Play bonus program may not be great news for some creators, it’s clear that social media companies are exploring new ways to monetize content and support creators.
We will keep an eye on any new developments and keep you updated!
