YouTube, back in 2018, had introduced channel memberships as a way for creators to gain a revenue sources other than the traditional advertising. Now, almost four years later, the company is adding a functionality to this service that will enable users to gift paid channel memberships to their friends. Also Read - Chromebooks get new features: Support for handwritten notes, wrong USB-C cable detection and more
YouTube has announced that it has started testing a feature called Channel Memberships Gifting with a small group of creators in the beta version of the app. The company said that at the moment this feature is available for users accessing the platform via a desktop browser window. However, it will expand it to mobile devices in the coming months. YouTube also said that it will also make the feature available to more creators soon. Also Read - Google in talks to join India's open e-commerce network
What is Membership gifting and how does it work
In a Google support page, the company says that with Memberships Gifting, channel members of a creator will be able to buy a set number of channel memberships (either 5, 10 or 20) in a single purchase, which YouTube will “gift” out to other viewers in their live stream. “Viewers who receive a gift membership, get 1 month of access to your channel membership perks like loyalty badges, custom emoji and more. Viewers who receive gift memberships do not pay any charges and as the creator, you receive your usual revenue share from each transaction,” the company wrote on the page. Also Read - Google plans to track your coughs, snores using your Android phone
Also, viewers to who a channel membership is gifted will have to opt-in by clicking ‘Allow Gifts’ on a gift membership announcement that shows in the live chat when someone has purchased gift memberships.
“Gift memberships are non-recurring and viewers who receive gift memberships don’t have to pay anything to get access to the benefits,” the company added.
How to enable channel membership gifting feature on Youtube
As mentioned before, Membership Gifting feature is available in select channels as of now. Creators can fill in the Google Form here to express their interest.
YouTube has also set an eligibility criteria for a channel to be eligible for this feature. The list includes — the channel having more than 1,000 subscribers, the channel being a part of the YouTube Partner Program, the creator to be over 18 years old, the channel having a Community tab, the channel is not set as made for kids, and the channel not having a significant number of ineligible videos among others.
