Twitch Takes Away Biggest Hot Tub Streamer’s Ability To Make Money Off Ads

Image: Kaitlyn “Amouranth” Siragusa / Twitch

Kaitlyn “Amouranth” Siragusa is one of the most popular female streamers on Twitch. From now on, she can no longer make any money from the ads on her channel.

Siragusa, already one of the most recognizable names on Twitch, has benefited enormously from the so-called “spa meta”, in which swimsuit-clad streamers talk to their cats, play games, and perform other activities in spas. It turned out to be controversial despite Twitch noting Kotaku and others that this is not against platform rules. Now Twitch has taken a different, arguably more damaging sort of action against the bigger streamer to participate in the meta.

“Yesterday I learned that Twitch has suspended advertising on my channel indefinitely”, Siragusa wrote on Twitter today. “Twitch hasn’t contacted in any way. I must have struck up a conversation after noticing, without warning, that all ad revenue had disappeared from my channel’s analysis. “

She went on to describe the sudden and unreported slip of a tool from her lucrative tool belt as “alarming”. Twitch has theoretically always had the power to demonetize streamers as they see fit –just like YouTube before. Earlier this year, a cybersecurity researcher discovered that Twitch is experimenting with the ‘brand safety score’ feature this would, as Twitch later explained, “ensure that ads are correctly matched to the right communities on Twitch.” But Twitch has never wielded its power in this way before. Siragusa noted that there are “no communicated guidelines” for any of this in the Twitch rules.

“A lot of people complain about [Twitch’s terms of service] be ‘unclear’, but at least there is something to say, ”she wrote. “There is no known policy as to what results in a streamer being placed on this blacklist. With characteristic opacity, the only thing Twitch has clarified is that it’s unclear whether or when my account can be restored. “

Kotaku reached out to Twitch and Siragusa for more information, but as of this post, none have responded.

During a flow Shortly after making the announcement, Siragusa – never one to miss an opportunity for a sneaky punchline – sat in her hot tub while watching and reading the reaction of others to her being kicked from the ad pool of Twitch. She continued to delve into the reasons why she finds it all so disturbing.

“The problem isn’t that Twitch is removing the ads. They are the ones doing it without any clarification on their guidelines, ”she said. “We saw it coming. Everyone expected it. No one expected it without communication, however. Just, like, a stealth delete. “

She also tried to manually run an ad from her Twitch dashboard on an experimental basis, but when she clicked the button, nothing happened.

Siragusa expressed her gratitude and relief for diversifying her revenue streams beyond Twitch over the years as ads make up a “significant” portion of the money she earns from the Amazon-owned platform. . At this point, Siragusa is also making money from Instagram, OnlyFans, YouTube, and brand sponsors among others, but she said some other streamers weren’t so lucky.

“I’m lucky to be diverse, but for people who aren’t, it’s a big part [of their income] they might be losing.

All of this fuels an understandable concern: who’s next?

“It affects more than the spa banners,” she said. “It goes beyond ‘Yeah, do something to thots!’ For example, if they keep doing this to people who aren’t ‘advertiser-friendly’, it could affect a lot of people. “

For example, many high profile streamers have touched in the game live. It’s not a big step to imagine that advertisers might not like it either. “If there’s anything advertisers hate next to porn, it’s gambling,” Siragusa said, also noting that Twitch regularly posts condom ads, suggesting so-called “adult” subjects pose. less of a problem when advertisers do.

All of this sets a disturbing precedent. At the moment, Siragusa does not know exactly what she is going to do or if she is going to “fight”. His goal today was simply to get the word out, “This is something Twitch can and will do.”

“The main issue that we’re currently concerned about as partners on Twitch is that Twitch is doing anything to our monetization without warning,” she said. “Just poof.”