Kick advertising features: what creators need to know

Kick has confirmed it's developing advertising tools. Translation: pre-rolls, mid-rolls, sponsor placements, and brand dashboards are headed for a platform that's been largely ad-light since launch.

If you stream on Kick (or plan to), this is a turning point. Ads reshape how viewers enter your stream, how often you break, and how you make money beyond subs and tips.

What happened

Kick says its ad stack is in development and will roll out with creator-facing controls. Expect the usual suspects first: pre-rolls when viewers join, mid-rolls you can trigger or schedule, and on-page inventory around the player. A revenue share for creators is planned, with analytics to track how much you earn and where it's coming from.

The company has signaled it's prioritizing brand safety and suitability features. That likely means category-level filtering (e.g., gambling or mature content), moderation signals feeding into ad eligibility, and some control over frequency and timing. A phased test with select creators and advertisers is the typical path before a broader launch.

Context: Kick's pitch has been aggressive creator monetization (notably a 95/5 sub split and full creator control over tips), plus deals with top streamers. Ads are the missing piece if the platform wants big-brand budgets and sustainable revenue. On competing platforms, ad share is a major income line for live creators - Twitch offers around a 55% split of ad revenue for eligible channels, and YouTube's live ad RPM fluctuates by category and region. Kick's challenge is to be competitive without wrecking the viewer experience that brought people in.

Why creators should care

Money first. Ads give you another income stream beyond subs and donos. Live ad RPMs vary wildly - watch time, geography, category, and quarter all matter - but even modest CPMs compound over long streams.

Distribution second. Pre-rolls can be a wall. Every platform that adds them sees a dip in cold starts unless creators run enough mid-rolls to suppress pre-rolls or use smart timing. Manual control matters: creators do better when they choose the moment, not the machine.

Brand safety matters more than you think. Advertisers pay higher CPMs on "suitable" inventory. If Kick ships credible safety controls and measurement, bigger brands will test the waters - and that can lift rates for streams that qualify.

Workflow will shift. You'll design your stream around breaks, tighten your opening hook to fight pre-roll exits, and watch new metrics like Ad RPM, fill rate, and retention during ad breaks.

Run your stream like a show, not a faucet. Ads are chapter breaks. If you don't write the beats, the platform will - and your chat will hate you for it.

The mentor take

Expect Kick's ad split to be less generous than its sub split but positioned to beat or match Twitch's average take, at least at launch. New platforms often over-incentivize early adopters to seed inventory. If you're already pulling steady concurrent viewership, early tests could be lucrative.

The bigger question is suitability. Kick's fastest path to ad dollars is giving brands certainty: strong content classification, real enforcement, and transparent controls for advertisers and creators. If they nail that, CPMs rise. If they don't, you'll see mostly low-CPM programmatic, and you'll rely on subs, tips, and direct sponsors for the heavy lifting.

Don't let ads cannibalize your best revenue. Use them to warm the funnel: mid-rolls fund the show; sponsors and subs fund the business.

What to do next

Map your ad beats. Choose 2-3 natural break points per hour (end of a match, before a boss pull, after a segment). Train your audience that breaks are part of the rhythm, not a surprise.
Harden your "first minute." Assume pre-rolls will exist. Open with a crisp hook and a visible countdown to content so late joiners don't bounce.
Get brand-safe optionality. Create at least one ad-suitable scene pack: no copyrighted music, clean overlays, moderated chat on screen. This gives you a higher-CPM mode without changing your entire identity.
Instrument your stream. Track retention around ad breaks, sub conversions after breaks, and average RPM. If Kick exposes pre-roll suppression rules (e.g., X minutes of mid-roll disables pre-roll), optimize against them.
Package your direct deals. While the platform spins up ads, pitch your own: 60-90 second mid-roll reads, lower-third overlays, pinned chat copy. Set makegoods (VOD inclusion, social clip) so sponsors see value beyond live.

Bottom line

Ads are coming to Kick because they have to. Play it right and you add a steady layer of income without torching your chat. Play it lazy and you'll bleed viewers between rounds. Write the show. Control the breaks. Keep the money.