Twitch tightens policy on paid or sponsored content

Twitch has promised to tighten up its approach to paid-for and sponsored content in response to concerns over transparency.

The streaming platform has vowed to better label videos which were created as part of a partnership between the content maker and another party - although only when it is involved.

Sponsored content that has been "driven" by Twitch itself will now be marked with a tag identifying it as such. Tweets that point to the content will also include a warning.

But there are no new rules for Twitch users who make their own deals with third-parties. Twitch has said that it hopes all of its users will be as transparent as possible, but will not enforce individuals to declare external sponsorships.

"While we have always encouraged our broadcasters to acknowledge if they are playing games as part of a promotional campaign, we are now establishing a much more transparent approach to all paid programs on our platform and hope that it sets a precedent for the broader industry," Twitch wrote on its official blog.

"Simply put: We want complete transparency and unwavering authenticity with all content and promotions that have a sponsor relationship."

There were several reasons for the policy change, Twitch concluded, to protect both viewers and the "influencers" (content creators) themselves.

"Because of a lack of clear best practices and shifting regulatory guidelines, coupled with a sometimes less-than-transparent sponsor relationship, these kinds of campaigns have become a bit of a dark corner in the industry, and that's bad for everyone.

"For these reasons, gamers can tend to look skeptically on the ecosystem because they don't know what is paid-for content and what is not. It also opens influencers to potential criticism."

Twitch was recently snapped up by Amazon in a deal worth more around $1bn. Google had previously been interested in a tie-up with YouTube, but is thought to have backed off due to anti-competition fears.