YouTube

YouTube adds ‘Super Thanks’ tipping option for your favorite channels

Damien Wilde | Jul 21 2021 - 4:15 am PT

YouTube is adding another way to tip your favorite creators and channels with a feature called “Super Thanks.”

Similar in nature to the Super Chat option that is available when you’re watching YouTube live streams, “Super Thanks” allows you to tip a creator when watching a standard pre-recorded/uploaded video. You may recognize this feature as “Viewer applause,” which was only available in a very limited capacity as part of a beta test on the platform.

In the official announcement post, YouTube clarifies that Super Thanks will allow viewers to tip at four price points between $2 and $50 or a local currency equivalent. Doing so will highlight your comment, giving it greater prominence in the (usually toxic) YouTube comments section underneath a video on desktop and mobile devices. The person who has tipped will get a fairly underwhelming one-time ballon animation to signify support too:

Similar to the way Super Chat and Super Stickers are used to support live streamers, your viewers can now purchase Super Thanks while watching YouTube videos (VODs). With Super Thanks, your fans will see an animated GIF and, as an added bonus, get a distinct, colorful comment to highlight their purchase, which you can respond to. This one-time animation will be shown only to the purchaser overlaid on top of your channel’s video. Super Thanks is currently available at four price points between $2 and $50 (or local currency equivalent).

Creators will receive 70% of the revenue generated from Super Thanks comments from Apple devices, but the revenue split will remain the same across desktop and Android. Like the Viewer applause feature, Super Thanks is coming to eligible YouTube channels in beta in 68 countries across the globe. You can check if you are able to access the option by heading to Creator Studio > Monetization > Supers.