The online ad model was never designed with creators in mind. It was designed for publishers with massive scale - news sites, portals, aggregators running millions of pageviews a month. When it got bolted onto video platforms, creators were handed the same deal: show ads, share revenue, accept whatever CPM the market offers.
That deal is getting worse.
Ad rates have been in long-term decline for years as supply has massively outgrown demand. Ad-blockers now affect over 40% of internet users in some demographics. And the algorithmic gatekeeping platforms use to maximise ad inventory means a single policy change can cut a channel's income overnight - no warning, no recourse.
The bigger problem is structural. Advertising revenue is owned by the platform, not the creator. You have no relationship with the advertiser, no contract, no negotiating power. You are just inventory. When the advertiser pulls spend - because of a brand safety concern, a market downturn, or a new targeting algorithm - the creator takes the hit.
What is replacing it
Not one thing. A shift toward direct monetisation: paid subscriptions, pay-per-view, memberships, licensing, merchandise. These models share one thing in common - the creator owns the relationship with their audience.
That is the shift worth building for. Not chasing ad CPMs, but building a revenue line that does not run through a platform as a middleman.
Platforms built on advertising need scale to survive. They need content to be plentiful, cheap to host, and easy to replace. That creates a structural tension with creators who want their work to last and their audience relationship to be direct. The two goals do not align.
The Long Play angle
We built this platform with no platform ads. We do not inject ads into creators' content and never take a cut of advertising revenue. Creators can choose to add their own pre or post-roll ads to videos over three minutes - that is their call, not ours. What we do not do is build a business model that depends on maximising ad impressions, because that creates the same pressure it always does: algorithmic gatekeeping, short-form bias, and decisions that work against the people making serious long-form work.
Creators on Long Play charge directly for access. They keep most of the revenue. They build an audience they actually own. The shift away from ad-dependent models is still early, but it is happening. Creators who build direct revenue relationships now are in a stronger position as platform conditions get harder.
The audiences are there. They are used to paying for streaming, for newsletters, for memberships. Direct monetisation is no longer a niche ask.
If you are a creator thinking about how to build direct support from your audience beyond subscriptions, our guide to fundraiser and charity links covers how Long Play lets you link a cause or support page directly from your videos and profile.