Snapchat has announced a unified Monetization Program that expands revenue opportunities for creators through advertising placement in both Stories and Spotlight videos, set to launch on February 1, 2025.

The program introduces monetization for Spotlight videos that last more than one minute. “With Spotlight viewership up 25% year-over-year, there is a unique and growing opportunity for creators to monetize this format in the same way they do with Stories,” Snapchat wrote in a blog post.

Image Credit: Snapchat

To qualify for the program, creators must maintain at least 50,000 followers and post at least 25 times monthly to Saved Stories or Spotlight. Additional requirements include posting to Spotlight or Public Stories for at least 10 days within a 28-day period.

Creators must also meet one of three performance thresholds within the 28-day window: accumulate 10 million Snap views, achieve 1 million Spotlight views, or generate 12,000 hours of view time.

The platform reports a significant increase in creator engagement, with the number of creators posting public content more than tripling over the past year. The unified program represents part of Snapchat’s broader creator support system, which includes the Snap Star Collab Studio and other reward mechanisms. Detailed eligibility criteria and country-specific information for the new program will be available through Snapchat’s Creator Hub.

Snapchat is gearing up to compete with other major platforms like TikTok and YouTube. In 2023, TikTok rolled out its Creativity Program to empower creators to generate higher earnings potential on the platform, encroaching on YouTube’s territory. 

The short-video platform experimented with a horizontal format that resembled the YouTube player, and its video scrubbing thumbnails helped viewers navigate timestamps within longer uploads. Likewise, YouTube rolled out ad revenue sharing for Shorts creators to compete better with TikTok.