Photo: Bloomberg

What Snap Didn’t Say About Spotlight

Photo: Photo: Bloomberg

Snap’s second-quarter results left us with a lot of questions about how its TikTok competitor Spotlight is performing. 

The company’s splashy pledge last year to give away $1 million every day to people who make the most viewed short videos on Spotlight gave it an immediate boost. That program propelled the feature to 125 million monthly users in about six months, and at least eight creators are now millionaires as a result. 

But starting June 1, Snap said it would move away from a set daily amount, instead giving away “millions of dollars” per month. Even though the second quarter only reflects one month of the Spotlight change, spending on the program did fall. Spotlight added $76 million to its cost of revenue in the three months ended June 30, down 16% from the first quarter.

Did creators run for the exits as payouts declined? No, but it’s hard to tell if Spotlight kept up its past, fast growth.

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