How Influencers
Make Money

Creator economy glossary

This glossary defines the terms creators meet when getting paid. The four that matter most: CPM is what advertisers pay per 1,000 ad impressions, RPM is what you earn per 1,000 views after the platform's cut, revenue share is your percentage of the money, and usage rights set how long a brand can reuse your content.

By the How Influencers Make Money editorial team. Independent and unsponsored: no company paid for, reviewed, or approved this page. Every figure verified against official sources on .

On this page
  1. The numbers
  2. Ad revenue terms
  3. Bonus and creator fund terms
  4. Tips, gifts, and virtual currency
  5. Subscription and direct sales terms
  6. Brand deal terms
  7. Affiliate and shopping terms
  8. Disclosure terms
  9. Questions people ask
  10. Sources

Platforms, brands, and payment providers each use their own vocabulary, and a lot of it decides how much money reaches you. A creator who confuses CPM with RPM overestimates YouTube income. One who signs "perpetual usage" without pricing it gives away an ad campaign.

Terms are grouped by where you will meet them. Where a definition includes a rate or rule, it comes from the platform's own help center or terms as of October 2026.

The numbers

  • YouTube pays creators 55% of net ad revenue on long-form videos and 45% of their allocated Shorts revenue.
  • Twitch's standard subscription split is 50/50, rising to 70/30 at Level 2 of its Plus Program.
  • YouTube creators receive 70% of Super Chat revenue after sales tax and iOS App Store fees.
  • Amazon's affiliate cookie lasts 24 hours, or 89 days for products added to the cart.
  • AdSense pays YouTube earnings once a US dollar balance reaches $100.

Ad revenue terms

Ad revenue terms describe what advertisers pay and what part of it reaches you. The number to watch is RPM, because it is measured after the platform's cut. For how these work on YouTube, see how much YouTube pays.

  • CPM: Cost per mille, what advertisers pay for 1,000 ad impressions. YouTube's help center defines it as how much advertisers spend to show ads, so it is not what you earn.
  • Playback-based CPM: YouTube's measure of what an advertiser pays for 1,000 video playbacks where an ad is shown. It is measured before YouTube takes its share.
  • RPM: Revenue per mille, what you earn per 1,000 views. YouTube defines it as how much money you have earned per 1,000 video views, which makes it the right number for estimating income.
  • eCPM: Effective CPM, total earnings divided by total impressions, times 1,000. It lets you compare income across ad formats or networks that pay in different ways.
  • Revenue share: The percentage of revenue a platform passes to the creator. YouTube pays 55% of net revenue from ads on long-form videos and 45% of the Shorts revenue allocated to you.
  • YouTube Partner Program: YouTube's monetization program, often shortened to YPP. Membership is the gate for ad revenue, Super Chat, Creator Partnerships, and the Shopping affiliate program.
  • AdSense: Google's payment account for YouTube earnings. AdSense pays once a US dollar balance reaches $100.
  • MCN: Multi-channel network. YouTube defines MCNs as third-party service providers that affiliate with multiple channels to offer services such as audience development, rights management, monetization, and sales. Read the revenue split before you sign with one.

Bonus and creator fund terms

Bonus programs pay creators from money the platform sets aside, based on views or performance, rather than from a share of a specific ad. Their rules change often. Check the current terms before you plan income around one. See how much TikTok pays for the numbers.

  • Creator fund: A pool of money a platform splits among eligible creators. TikTok's Creator Fund was replaced by the Creativity Program in the US, UK, France, and Germany from December 16, 2023.
  • Creator Rewards Program: TikTok's current program for paying eligible creators on videos at least 1 minute long. Its US terms, updated July 20, 2026, require an age of 18 or over, 10,000 authentic followers, and 100,000 authentic views in the last 30 days.
  • Content Monetization: Facebook's program that, per Meta's October 2024 announcement, merged in-stream ads, Ads on Reels, and the Performance bonus into one program. Meta's March 18, 2026 announcement says it is invite-only, and creators can register interest in the Professional Dashboard.

Tips, gifts, and virtual currency

Tips and gifts are money fans send you directly, often through a platform currency that converts to cash at a rate the platform sets. Check whether the platform publishes the rate. TikTok does not.

  • Coins: TikTok's purchased currency, which viewers spend on Gifts. TikTok's virtual items policy says virtual items cannot be exchanged for cash.
  • LIVE Gifts: Virtual items viewers activate with Coins during a TikTok LIVE. TikTok's virtual items policy says it uses the Gifts sent in a LIVE to measure a creator's popularity in Diamonds.
  • Diamonds: TikTok's virtual item for measuring creator popularity, based partly on the LIVE Gifts a creator receives. TikTok publishes no fixed cash rate, and its Rewards Policy says it weighs a range of factors when deciding what reward payment is available.
  • Bits: Twitch's currency for Cheering in chat. Twitch's Partner help page says Partners receive 1 cent for every Bit used to Cheer for them.
  • Stars: Facebook's tipping currency. Meta's Stars terms, last updated in 2022, pay creators $0.01 for every Star they receive.
  • Instagram Gifts: Gifts that viewers send on Instagram using stars they buy. Instagram's help center says creators get $0.01 per star and need to be 18 or over with at least 500 followers.
  • Super Chat: Paid live chat messages on YouTube that stand out from the rest of the chat. YouTube says creators receive 70% of Supers revenue after sales tax and iOS App Store fees.

Subscription and direct sales terms

Subscription and sales terms decide what you keep from money fans pay you directly. Compare the platform fee, the payment processing fee on top of it, and when you can withdraw. For a full comparison, see the Creator Pay Index and how to sell to your fans.

  • Subscription split: How a subscription payment is divided between the platform and the creator. Twitch's standard split is 50/50.
  • Partner Plus: Twitch's higher revenue share tier, now called the Plus Program and open to Affiliates and Partners. Level 1 pays 60/40 after 100 Plus Points for 3 consecutive months, and Level 2 pays 70/30 after 300, counted only from recurring paid subs.
  • Platform fee: The cut a platform takes from what fans pay. Patreon's pricing page lists 10% of income earned on Patreon, and Gumroad's pricing page lists 10% plus $0.50 per sale.
  • Merchant of record: The legal entity that sells to the end customer and takes responsibility for the sale, including sales tax. Lemon Squeezy and Paddle act as merchant of record, and Gumroad's pricing page says it has handled creators' tax obligations on sales since January 1, 2025.
  • Payout threshold: The minimum balance a platform holds before it pays you. AdSense pays at $100, Amazon Associates at $10 by direct deposit, and ShopMy at $11.

Brand deal terms

Brand deal terms appear in pitches, briefs, and contracts, and most of them set how much a brand can do with your content after it pays you. Price each one separately. For the full process, see how to get brand deals.

  • Brand deal: A brand paying you, in money or product, to create or post content about it. Also called a sponsorship or paid partnership.
  • Creator marketplace: A platform tool where brands search for and hire creators, such as TikTok One, YouTube Creator Partnerships, or Meta's creator marketplace. TikTok One projects and Meta's marketplace both require 1,000 followers.
  • Media kit: A one- or two-page summary of your audience, performance, past partners, and packages that you send to brands.
  • Rate card: Your list of packages and prices, plus add-ons such as usage rights. See how much to charge for sponsored posts.
  • Deliverables: The exact content a brand is paying for: number of posts, format, length, platform, and posting dates.
  • Engagement rate: Likes, comments, shares, and saves divided by followers or by impressions, shown as a percentage. Always say which denominator you used, because the two give different numbers.
  • Usage rights: Permission for a brand to reuse your content outside your own post, for a set time and in set places, such as its website or paid ads.
  • Work made for hire: A legal term that makes the brand the author and copyright owner of what you create. The US Copyright Office says a commissioned work only qualifies under a written agreement signed by both sides.
  • Whitelisting: A brand running paid ads from your account or under your handle. Charge for it by the month, separately from the post.
  • Partnership ads: Meta's tool for whitelisting on Instagram and Facebook. You share an ad code, and Meta's help center says one code can be used by up to two partners at a time.
  • Spark Ads: TikTok's ad format built from organic posts. Brands run them with the creator's authorization code, and the advertiser can set how long the code lasts.
  • Exclusivity: A promise not to work with a brand's competitors for a set period. Price it by how wide the category is and how long it lasts.
  • Kill fee: What a brand pays you if it cancels a deal after you have started work.
  • Net 30: Payment terms that give the brand 30 days from your invoice to pay. Net 60 means 60 days.
  • UGC: User-generated content. In paid work, it means content you make for a brand to post on its own channels, usually without posting it on yours. See how UGC creators make money.

Affiliate and shopping terms

Affiliate terms describe how a sale gets credited to you and when you get paid for it. The attribution window matters as much as the commission rate. For program details, see affiliate marketing for influencers.

  • Affiliate link: A tracked link that credits you with a commission when someone buys through it.
  • Affiliate cookie window: How long after a click a purchase still counts for you. Amazon Associates allows 24 hours, or 89 days for products added to the cart during that visit.
  • Attribution window: The same idea on platforms that set it per product. On YouTube Shopping each brand sets its own window, and TikTok Shop links earn for up to 100 days.
  • Last-click attribution: The rule that the last affiliate link clicked before a purchase gets the credit. TikTok Shop uses it.
  • Pending commission: Earnings held until the return period ends. ShopMy says commissions typically stay pending for 30 to 120 days.
  • Storefront: A page of products you recommend, with your affiliate links built in. Amazon's sits at amazon.com/shop/ followed by your handle, and LTK and ShopMy offer their own.
  • Shoppable video: A video with tagged products viewers can buy without leaving the app, as on TikTok Shop and YouTube Shopping.

Disclosure terms

Disclosure terms come from the FTC and the platforms, and they decide when you have to label a post as an ad. For the full rules, see FTC disclosure rules for influencers.

  • Material connection: Any tie to a brand your audience would not expect and that could change how they weigh your recommendation. The FTC's Endorsement Guides include payment, free or discounted products, and business, family, or personal relationships.
  • Clear and conspicuous: The FTC's standard for a disclosure: difficult to miss and easily understandable by ordinary consumers, and unavoidable on social media.
  • Paid partnership label: A platform's built-in tag showing that a post is sponsored. Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, and Snapchat require creators to turn theirs on for branded content.
  • Fake indicators of social media influence: The FTC's term for bought or fake followers, views, likes, and similar metrics. Its 2024 consumer reviews rule bans buying or selling them to misrepresent influence for a commercial purpose.

Questions people ask

What is the difference between CPM and RPM?

CPM is what advertisers pay per 1,000 ad impressions. RPM is what you earn per 1,000 views, after the platform's share and counting views that showed no ad. RPM is the one to use when estimating income, because it already reflects the platform's cut.

What does whitelisting mean for influencers?

Whitelisting means a brand runs paid ads from your account or under your handle. On Instagram it works through partnership ads and ad codes, and on TikTok through Spark Ads. Charge for it separately from the post, by the month.

What does net 30 mean in a brand deal?

Net 30 means the brand has 30 days from the date of your invoice to pay. Net 60 and net 90 work the same way. Agree on the terms before you post, and send the invoice the day the content goes live.

What replaced the TikTok Creator Fund?

The Creativity Program replaced the Creator Fund in the US, UK, France, and Germany from December 16, 2023. TikTok took it out of beta as the Creator Rewards Program in March 2024. Its US terms require 10,000 followers and 100,000 views in the last 30 days.

What is a merchant of record?

The merchant of record is the legal seller in a transaction, responsible for the sale and for collecting sales tax. When a platform such as Lemon Squeezy, Paddle, or Gumroad acts as merchant of record, it handles sales tax for you.

Sources

Checked on .

Keep reading

  • How much does YouTube pay creators?YouTube pays 55% of long-form ad revenue, 45% on Shorts and 70% on memberships. Eligibility tiers, RPM estimates, the 2027 rule changes and payout dates.
  • How much does TikTok pay creators?What TikTok pays through Creator Rewards, LIVE gifts, Subscriptions, Series, Shop affiliate and TikTok One, plus eligibility and the US joint venture status.
  • How much do Twitch streamers make?Twitch pays 50% of subs by default, up to 70% through the Plus Program, 55% of ad revenue and 1 cent per Bit. Eligibility, payout rules and Kick's 95% split.
  • How to get brand deals as an influencerHow influencers land brand deals in 2026: pitching, media kits, TikTok One, YouTube and Meta marketplaces, Collabstr's fee, contract terms, and red flags.
  • The creator pay indexEvery platform program and the share the creator keeps.