Co-founder Ed Craven recently announced a series of updates aimed at maintaining a fair landscape for creators and safeguarding users from potential manipulations.
Kick Co-founder Acknowledges View Botting Issue and Unveils Protection Measures
Since its launch in late 2022, Kick has seen a remarkable surge in growth, but with this success came allegations of view botting, tarnishing the platform’s reputation. To combat this issue, Craven declared that Kick would roll out extra view count protection. This measure is expected to counter view count manipulation and address problems associated with chat and follow bots. He emphasized the platform’s commitment to creating a fair environment for content creators and reassured the community that they are continuously growing and evolving.
In a recent Twitter thread, Craven openly acknowledged the existence of view botting and the need to tackle this problem head-on. Such issues have been a point of contention among creators and viewers, leading to scepticism about the legitimacy of some streamers’ popularity. By implementing view count protection, Kick seeks to restore trust and confidence in its platform.
The co-founder also confirmed the platform’s connection to the gambling world, as Kick is co-owned by Stake, an online crypto-based gambling website. To address concerns about excessive gambling content, Craven disclosed that Kick would be removing “unnecessary exposure” to gambling-related content in their recommended formulas.
Kick Introduces Toggle Option for Gambling Streams
Furthermore, Kick has now given its users greater control over their viewing experience. The platform introduced a toggle option that allows users to choose whether they want to view gambling streams while browsing through the site’s channels. This move gives users the ability to remove gambling and hot tub streams from their recommended feed and search results, enhancing their overall viewing experience.
Kick‘s commitment to being streamer-friendly has attracted notable streamers, including Trainwreck and xQc, who made the switch from other platforms. The platform offers more generous revenue splits than its competitors, with a 95/5 revenue split for paid subscribers, in contrast to Twitch’s 50/50 and YouTube’s 70/30 splits. Additionally, Kick supports its streamers by providing hourly stipends based on various criteria, such as viewer count, hours streamed, and CPM.
Kick got banned in Greece due to its lax policies on gambling content leading to the platform being blacklisted by the Hellenic Gaming Commission. With the latest Kick update regarding gambling streams, the Commission may have to review its decision.