From Content to Payment : The Rise And Implications Of Social Media Ad Revenue Sharing

More than 50 million people worldwide generate revenue from their social media activity. A quickly growing share of that revenue comes via participation in ad revenue share programs. This report charts the evolution of social media monetization and the rise of ad revenue share programs. It offers an overview of how these programs came about, how they work, and the challenges they pose for advertisers, publishers and society at large.

The social media ad revenue share model is booming, with programs more than doubling and Facebook programs’ membership growing tenfold between 2022 and mid 2024.

Social platforms redistributed an estimated US$ 20 billion dollars to 5 million accounts in 2023.

Transparency and oversight are lagging, resulting in ad revenue share programs subsidizing disinformation and fueling reputational risk and financial losses to advertisers, creators and independent media.