Twitch is adding a ‘brand safety score’ for streamers

Twitch is adding a replacement feature called a Brand Safety Score, which operates somewhat similarly to YouTube’s demonetization system, says an open-source developer performing on some Twitch projects. This new system could affect advertising opportunities for Twitch streamers, like bounties.

Opposing livestreaming service YouTube already features a system that affects a content creator’s ad revenue, though many YouTubers have spoken out against it, saying that it’s detrimental to a user’s income from the platform. YouTube videos can become demonetized fairly easily supported the content within the video, sometimes even for swearing during videos. Twitch supports the connection between the creator and therefore the audience a touch more with channel subscriptions, which YouTube later added, and buying bits for livestreamers. Now, Twitch is adopting an identical “demonetization” system that influences a creator’s ads and opportunities.

Who found that Twitch is adding Brand Safety Score ?

Cybersecurity researcher Daylam Tayari has found evidence in Twitch’s internal API that the website plans to implement something called a “brand safety score” for its streamers.

That score would depend upon variety of criteria:

• the streamer’s age
• a rating given by Twitch staff
• their ban history
• the connection the streamer has with Twitch
• their auto-moderation settings and their partnership status
• the ESRB rating of the sport being played, and
• whether the stream is about to mature.

Some of the items that Twitch could reportedly be tracking as a neighborhood of this rating include a streamer’s age, ban history, affiliate/partner status, and auto-moderation usage.

Twitch has not yet skilled an invitation for comment about the reported API changes or what exactly they could mean.

Twitch has added an automatic Brand Safety Score which grades how brand friendly every streamer is based on things like chat behavior, ban history, manual ratings by Twitch staff, games played, age, automod and more (See below).
1/5 pic.twitter.com/VBl4HjGv7t

— Daylam ‘tayari’ Tayari (@tayariCS) March 9, 2021

Twitch a couple days ago added to their GQL (internal) API endpoints (keyword to query the API) for a “brandSafetyScore” which is sent to advertisers for ads, sponsors and also probably for bounty purposes.
Check this tweet’s images for screenshots of the API changes.
2/5 pic.twitter.com/cHUzvnl50s

— Daylam ‘tayari’ Tayari (@tayariCS) March 9, 2021

The Twitter posts have quickly elicited responses from the streaming community, though. While it’s still uncertain exactly how a Brand Safety Score could be used, some have shown concern that this potential effort by Twitch might give certain streamers preferential treatment.

The API changes also drew comparisons to YouTube’s highly criticized P-Score measurements that affect the way channels surface on the platform.

This story are going to be updated with comments from Twitch officials as they become available.

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End Note

It’s not hard to imagine that if Twitch does actually implement a brand safety score for streamers that it might want to expand the bounty program; it looks like a useful thing for brands to be ready to compare streamers thereon specific axis, at least. But for streamers, it does mean the location is tracking you on one more metric which will or might not be available for you to ascertain.