Telegram CEO and founder Pavel Durov made a groundbreaking announcement today, revealing that the company will launch its ad platform next month. This move will enable channel owners to earn financial rewards, with payments facilitated through toncoin on the TON blockchain. Under this new system, channel owners will receive 50% of all revenue generated from ads displayed in their channels.
Telegram channels serve as a platform for users to broadcast public messages to expansive audiences. Despite amassing an impressive one trillion views monthly, only a fraction of these views, approximately 10%, are monetized using Telegram Ads, the platform’s promotion tool. The forthcoming launch of the Telegram Ad Platform in March will extend revenue-sharing opportunities to channel owners in nearly one hundred countries, marking a significant stride towards content monetization.
While the company has yet to disclose specific criteria for revenue sharing, Durov emphasized the use of the TON blockchain to facilitate swift and secure ad payments and withdrawals. Drawing parallels to Telegram usernames on Fragment, the platform will transact ad sales and revenue sharing exclusively in Toncoin. This ecosystem aims to foster a symbiotic relationship wherein content creators can either cash out their Toncoins or reinvest them to enhance and promote their channels.
Following the announcement, the TON token surged by almost 40%, reaching over $2.92, and currently stands at $2.65 at the time of writing.
This development places Telegram in the league of platforms such as YouTube and X (formerly Twitter), both of which offer ad revenue sharing to users. YouTube allocates 55% of ad revenue to creators in its YouTube Partner Program, while X initiated revenue sharing with users in July 2023. Meta has also been experimenting with new payout models for its Ads on Reels monetization program.
With over 800 million monthly active users worldwide, Telegram’s latest initiative promises to reshape the landscape of content monetization and user engagement on the platform.