Twitch Gives Streamers New Potential Source Of Revenue Via Extensions

On top of getting money via ad revenue, streamers over at Twitch can now have another source of earnings. The platform is introducing Twitch Extensions, which is a suite of new tools to help streamers customize their pages. Aside from simply allowing content creators to do things like have poll overlays or virtual pets, the extensions could also involve getting a cut from Amazon sales.

In the blog post explaining what the new feature is all about, Twitch highlights the freedom of choice by the streamers to make their channels into anything they want it to be. More to the point, content creators can make their pages as messy as they wish.

“Using the Extensions platform, you’ll have access to a suite of tools that make it nearly effortless for you to build interactive integrations directly on Twitch. Extensions enable the standards-based creation of custom sandboxed iframes that can be installed on channel pages,” the post reads.

Of course, this is far from the most interesting aspects of the extensions. One of these extensions is something called “Gear on Amazon,” which is basically a form of affiliate marketing system. Using the feature, streamers can show off their favorite products to use for gaming. Every time viewers click on the banner and buy the product, the content creator gets a cut, TechCrunch reports.

This is the second platform that Amazon has offered content creators to monetize links to the retail site since the merchant giant did the same thing for YouTubers via a program called “Influencers”. This particular offer allows YouTube creators to curate their own listings of their favorite products on Amazon, which would lead to a unique URL.

According to Affiliate Marketing VP at Amazon, Piers Heaton-Armstrong, this Twitch extension is important because it makes recommendations by creators easy to see. “Gear on Amazon” simplifies a lot of the steps to buying products for cheap, as well.