Twitch CEO addresses adpocalypse & explains why streamers are making less

Twitch CEO Daniel Clancy finally responded to streamers’ concerns regarding ad revenue on their channels, explaining some behind-the-scenes info about the so-called adpocalypse.

Clancy spoke out on the subject during a December 4 Patch Notes broadcast in response to a viewer who reported seeing lower ad revenue for channels they moderate during the holidays.

In November, Twitch introduced new labels specifically for political content and streams with “sensitive social issues,” which Clancy touched on in his answer.

“There’s been a lot of confusion around this recently… a big thing that we need to do with advertisements is make sure we’re running ads against content that the advertisers want their content run against,” Clancy said.

“For a period of time, there were a number [of advertisers] that were expressing concerns around being shown up near sensitive subjects in politics, and so we had reduced the ads there. Some people that were doing stuff around politics and sensitive social issues may have seen a reduction, because some advertisers weren’t running ads there.”

This isn’t necessarily a new revelation; in November 2024, streamers like PirateSoftware explained that broadcasters who’d labeled their content as sexual or political were likely seeing a drop in ad revenue, which several spoke out about there being an adpocalypse during that time.

Dan Clancy opens up on Twitch ad revenue “confusion”

Clancy even referenced PirateSoftware in his answer during the Patch Notes stream, going on to explain that some streamers might not realize their ad revenue is delayed by two days — something PirateSoftware also mentioned in his discussion of the topic last month.

“I think there’s a lot of confusion. It’s absolutely the case that certain content does affect your ads. Our advertisers, at times, adjust their controls in terms of the content that they want to see. But in general, we have not seen this big shift,” he continued, likely referencing fears of an impending adpocalypse on the platform.

Unsplash.com: Sean Do

Twitch streamers have been reporting supposed decreases in their ad revenue since November 2024, blaming the issue on their broadcasts’ content labels.

Co-host and Direct of Community Marketing, ‘merrykish,’ went on to decry “misinformation” being spread on platforms like X, saying there’s “nothing really guaranteed” and that “we’ve seen a lot of creators not experience anything.”

Clancy’s comments come on the heels of numerous complaints from streamers who reported a decrease in ad revenue due to certain content labels on their streams. For instance, FaZe Kaysan, an Iranian streamer, claimed that he’d been ‘demonetized’ due to labeling his stream ‘Iran,’ while another said the same due to labeling their stream ‘Venezuela.’

Meanwhile, on December 4, Bloomberg reported that three major companies had pulled their ads from the platform amid a series of allegations against the streaming site.