#KetchupRewind: A year-end look at the biggest monetization changes across social media platforms

Before the year wraps, here’s your snapshot of all the monetisation updates and rule changes major social media platforms introduced this year.

This year has been one of the most decisive yet for creator monetisation, with every major platform reworking its rules in an attempt to stay competitive, transparent, and creator-friendly. From unified earning systems to revamped eligibility rules and the return of long-awaited initiatives, 2025 saw social platforms redraw the roadmap for how creators can actually make money online. As creators continue to figure out the shifting algorithms and growing expectations, these updates offer a clearer picture of where the industry is headed. It also shows what anyone building a career in the digital space needs to know moving forward.

Also Read: A year-end look at the YouTube trends that helped define India’s common language

Take a look: 

Snapchat rolls out a unified monetization program for creators

Snapchat made one of its biggest creator-focused shifts earlier this year when, back in February, it rolled out a unified Monetization Program that finally brought Stories and longer Spotlight videos under one earning system. The move came just as Spotlight viewership had climbed 25% year-over-year, and Snap clearly saw the momentum and so from February 1, 2025, onward, creators posting Spotlight videos longer than a minute became eligible to monetise them the same way they do with Stories. The criteria to get in are still selective but far more transparent now: creators need at least 50,000 followers, around 25 posts a month to either Saved Stories or Spotlight, and some level of consistency by posting on at least 10 of the last 28 days. They also have to hit one engagement milestone in that same window, either 10 million Snap views, 1 million Spotlight views, or 12,000 hours of total watch time.

YouTube refines the partner program to make monetization clearer 

YouTube’s big creator-focused push this year really showed how it tightened and refined the YouTube Partner Program, which remains the main doorway for anyone hoping to actually earn from the platform. Instead of feeling like a maze of rules, YouTube spent the year making the path more transparent, laying out clear expectations around monetization policies, making 2-Step Verification mandatory, and ensuring every creator links an AdSense account right from YouTube Studio so payouts don’t get stuck in the pipeline. What stood out, though, was how the platform split eligibility into two clear tracks: long-form creators could work toward the classic milestone of 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 public watch hours in a year, while Shorts creators finally got their own lane with the 1,000-subscribers-plus-10-million-views-in-90-days threshold. And once a creator crosses either of those, YouTube now nudges them straight into the application process, where their channel is reviewed for policy compliance, not just once, but continuously, to make sure they’re still operating within YouTube’s guidelines. Looking back, the whole approach felt less like YouTube gatekeeping and more like YouTube trying to set a clear, stable foundation for people who actually want to build something on the platform. 

X updates its revenue sharing rules with a focus on premium engagement

X has had one of the more dramatic journeys in creator monetization, and looking back at the last couple of years, the platform has rewritten its own rules almost as often as creators have tried to decode them. Ever since Elon Musk introduced revenue sharing in 2023, the program has been a point of tension. By 2025, the system has been changed yet again, this time putting premium user engagement at the center of the payout equation. Add to that stricter brand-safety guidelines and a reporting system that only shows earnings once a cycle is complete, and creators have had to adjust their expectations quickly.

But the biggest shift this year has been in who actually qualifies. X lowered its threshold to just 500 active followers, a sharp drop from the earlier 5,000 requirement, signalling its intention to open the gates to smaller voices. At the same time, the platform tightened the performance bar: creators now need 5 million organic impressions in 90 days. And while the mandatory X Premium subscription remains controversial (many creators argue it shouldn’t cost money to earn money) the company continues to defend it as a safeguard against fraud. All payouts still run through Stripe, meaning creators must be based in a Stripe-supported country to actually receive their earnings.

Overall, the program in 2025 feels like X trying to strike a balance between access and accountability. It’s more open than before, but also more demanding about the kind of engagement that counts. 

Pinterest brings back its inclusion fund with a wider global reach

Pinterest took a more community-driven approach this year, leaning into its identity as a platform built on ideas, inspiration and long-tail discovery. One of the biggest moves in that direction has been the return of the Pinterest Inclusion Fund, which became one of the platform’s most meaningful creator initiatives over the past five years. In 2025, Pinterest expanded the program into a broader, more globally connected incubator, one designed to actively link small merchants and niche content producers in beauty, fashion and lifestyle to the people already searching for their ideas on the platform. And unlike earlier editions, this year’s cohort stretches across almost every major Pinterest market: from the US and Canada to India, Japan, Indonesia, Germany and more, making it the fund’s widest reach to date.

Which of these updates do you think will impact creators the most in the coming year? Share with us in the comments below! 

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