YouTube introduces Super Thanks tip jar feature

Previously called Super Applause, the company has been testing the feature for some time, and has now expanded it to thousands of creators across 68 countries including African countries such as Senegal, South Africa and Uganda. The app is available on desktop as well as Android and iOS devices and will be rolled out to eligible creators of the YouTube Partner Programme by the end of 2021.

Creators can check if they have early access by following the instructions here.

Fans will be able to donate money to creators in four amounts depending on the market. In the US, the options include $2, $5, $10 and $50. Users who send cash via Super Thanks will see an animated GIF with their donation amount in the comments section, where recipients can respond to it.

YouTube will take a 30% fee from the revenue generated through Super Thanks, which is the same cut it takes from its other paid digital products including Super Chat and Super Stickers.

“Just like Super Chat and Super Stickers, Super Thanks does double duty for creators: keeping their connections with fans meaningful, while also giving them a new way to make money,” YouTube’s chief product officer, Neal Mohan, wrote in a blogpost.

The platform last week expanded its short-form video experience YouTube Shorts into 100 countries where YouTube is available, and it plans to launch more tools aimed at creators and artists.

YouTube boasts more than 2 billion logged-in users playing music on its service every month. The company says it paid the music industry more than $4 billion in the past 12 months.

According to a recent report by Midia Research, the company’s music streaming service, YouTube Music, is the world’s fastest-growing app, with a 60% subscription growth in 2020 and 8% market share in quarter one of 2021, reaching 39 million subscribers in total.