The live-streaming service has been used by many content creators, mainly gamers, in order to generate income by posting their gameplay. The new branded content guidelines push stricter rules on how streamers can advertise products on their channel. But, the platform faced backlash, forcing them to shut it down.
Twitch Takes Back Advertisement Changes
Just one day after the streaming platform introduced the new set of rules for advertising branded content, the company is rescinding the changes it made. Streamers were not happy since it will affect their main source of income through Twitch, which was advertising.
Impressively, the live-streaming platform acknowledged that the new guidelines were not at all helpful, stating that the new rules were "bad for you and bad for Twitch," resulting in them being removed immediately, as reported by Tech Crunch.
Yesterday, we released new Branded Content Guidelines that impacted your ability to work with sponsors to increase your income from streaming. These guidelines are bad for you and bad for Twitch, and we are removing them immediately.
— Twitch (@Twitch) June 7, 2023
Streamers still earn from simply streaming content, but the majority of their income comes from sponsorships. Twitch, being a good guy in this scenario, acknowledged this fact and said that they will not "prevent your ability to enter into direct relationships with sponsors."
Although, Twitch canceling the new guidelines might not be entirely out of the goodness of their hearts. Streamers have expressed that they are considering actions of protest like boycotting the platform and switching to alternatives.
Twitch also stated that they "missed the mark with the mark with the policy language and will rewrite the guidelines to be clearer." The company thanked the users for their concerns and feedback and will send a notification once the language has been updated.
What Were the Changes?
For one, on-stream logos were only allowed to take up 3% of the streamer's screen size. They were not allowed to burn in video ads, display ads, and audio ads as well. The streaming platform listed down the methods that are permitted.
Those practices include Channel Page Panel ads, products in the background of the stream, links in the Twitch chat, speaking about or unboxing sponsored products, and playing sponsored games. All, of course, is to be done through Twitch's Branded Content Disclosure tool.
The now-canceled policy also required streamers to make sure that the products or services they were promoting were permitted, as mentioned in the platform's help page, which may affect already established partnerships with certain brands they've had for years.
Some of the prohibited branded content categories were justified. For instance, streamers were not allowed to promote hateful products and services, as well as risky gambling products like online slots or roulette websites.
This also goes for spam, scams, and malicious conduct. That includes fraudulent activities like hacking, phishing, or malware services. Products such as weapons, adult-oriented products and services, as well as medical facilities and products, were not allowed.
The appropriate restrictions may not be the concern of streamers. The main concern lies with the format in which they can promote the products that are allowed to be advertised. The limitations may drive advertisers away, directly impacting the creator's source of income.
Related: Banned on Twitch? Here's How To Appeal It and Get Your Account Back
