Snapchat Spotlight tries paying users to steal TikTok influencers

It looks like Snapchat is finally rolling out its answer to TikTok. Today, Snapchat rolled out a new feature called Spotlight, which will be a dedicated space centered around highlighting the most entertaining snaps created by the Snapchat community. In order to get people using Spotlight, Snapchat is even putting up some cold hard cash that can be claimed by those who produce the most viral snaps.

Specifically, Snapchat says that it will be offering users a share of $1 million each day throughout the remainder of 2020, with their payout seemingly determined by how popular their snaps are. Snapchat is encouraging all users to submit their video snaps to Spotlight, whether those users are so-called "Snap Stars" with a bunch of followers or private accounts that aren't normally accessible by just anyone.

You'll see the option to submit your snap to Spotlight on the publishing page after it's been recorded. Snapchat says that Spotlight will rely on content algorithms to surface video snaps based on personal preference, while ranking algorithms will track things like how long other users spend watching a snap, and whether or not it nets a lot of shares and favorites.

As for that $1 million payout, Snapchat says that it will determine earnings using a "proprietary formula which rewards Snapchatters primarily based on the total number of unique video views a Snap gets in a given day (calculated using Pacific Time) as compared to the performance of other Snaps that day." The company goes on to say that "many" users will earn some kind of money each day, and that it'll be closely monitoring for signs of fraud to make sure that only authentic engagement is gauged in determining popularity and payouts.

Of course, if you want to try for some of that money, there are certain rules you need to follow – most importantly, you need to be 16 or older, and the snaps that you submit have to follow Snapchat's terms and conditions and content guidelines. For now, Snapchat Spotlight is rolling out in the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the UK, Ireland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, and France, with Snapchat saying that more countries will come online soon.

Given the dominance of TikTok, it isn't really surprising to see Snapchat roll out a feature like Spotlight, but it obviously needs some kind of edge if it wants creators to focus their efforts on its app instead of the competition. That's where the daily payout comes in, with Snapchat saying it could potentially keep doing the $1 million daily distribution into 2021. We'll see what happens from here, so stay tuned for more.