X Shuts Down Creator Revenue Sharing and Launches Original Content Rewards

The New Program: Original Content Rewards

X launched the Original Content Rewards Program on August 8, 2026 as the replacement . It pays eligible creators for qualified impressions on their original content, shifting away from the old ad-revenue-share model .

Eligibility Criteria

To qualify, a creator must:

• Subscribe to X Premium, Premium+, or Premium Business
• Be at least 18 years old
• Be located in a supported region and have good account standing
• Have at least 500 verified followers
• Have at least 500,000 verified Home Timeline impressions in the last 90 days (excluding replies)
• Post original content — X reviews originality history before approving

Notably, the impression threshold dropped from 5 million in the old program to 500,000, but the originality review is new and stricter .

Qualified Impression Rules

• Only unique views from X Premium subscribers count as qualified impressions
• An impression qualifies when more than 50% of the post is visible on the Home Timeline feed
• Duplicate, paid, artificial, or fraudulent impressions are excluded
• Replies and impressions from non-Premium accounts do not count

Banned Practices

The following disqualify content or can lead to program removal:

• Bots and artificial engagement — any use of bots, paid views, or fake traffic
• False or misleading statements — content containing deliberate falsehoods
• Community Note-flagged content — posts that receive a Community Note correction are ineligible for monetization
• Stolen or reposted content — X uses Grok AI to detect repurposed or lightly edited content from other creators ; adding watermarks, intros, or edits meant to disguise stolen content also results in disqualification . According to X, over $1 million in payouts have already been redirected to original creators through these detection efforts .

Transition Process Through Creator Studio

Existing Revenue Sharing members do not automatically transfer. Starting September 8, 2026, X will roll out access for existing members to apply for the Original Content Rewards Program through Creator Studio → Original Content Rewards . Creators can check their eligibility status at any time via that path .

Why X Made the Change: Allegra Jacchia's Explanation

X's head of creator monetization, Allegra Jacchia, explained that the old Revenue Sharing program had misaligned incentives that effectively rewarded content theft over original creation . The old model paid based on engagement volume regardless of content source, which encouraged creators to repost or lightly repackage others' work to farm ad revenue . Jacchia stated on X that the company could have "kept adding more rules and exceptions, but ultimately the better decision was to start fresh" . The new program is designed to redirect payouts toward creators who produce genuinely original content .

Nikita Bier's Departure

Nikita Bier stepped down as X's head of product on August 5, 2026, after just over 13 months in the role . He announced the move in an X post, saying it was "time to pass the torch and demote myself to my natural state: a poster" . Bier will remain with the company as an advisor . During his tenure he oversaw roughly 30 product launches, including the timeline overhaul and Android app rewrite, as well as the initial crackdown on engagement bait and content theft that led to this monetization overhaul .