Will NFTs shake up ad-driven platforms?

YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki announced that the video platform is looking into NFT features for its creators. The Google-owned company joins Twitter and Instagram in exploring services related to the crypto-based financial system.

Why should we care?
Whether an overhyped bubble or a legitimate economic reconfiguration, NFTs are clearly being taken seriously by tech platforms as a way to attract and retain users—particularly deep-pocketed ones. Even if enthusiasm for NFTs wanes over time, the relatively early adoption of NFT-based systems permits platforms like YouTube, Twitter, and Instagram to help shape the NFT landscape on their terms. If they become indispensable nodes within NFT networks, then they are more likely to get away with excising fees from creators who rely on content-creation platforms as a crucial marketplace. In other words: They might hope to treat NFT-based creators the same way they do those who rely on ad revenue. In this sense, NFTs don’t represent a threat to these tech giants’ centralized, ad-driven incomes as much as a new opportunity to diversify their portfolios. What remains to be seen is whether these giants can build out their NFT features convincingly enough to encourage crypto-enthusiasts to rely on their platforms, rather than remain on marketplaces like OpenSea.