The Telegram Ad network will open to advertisers in March, founder Pavel Durov said in a broadcast on his official channel.

• Telegram to share ad revenue with users starting March, founder Pavel Durov said on his official broadcast channel.
• Channel owners will receive 50% of ad revenue, with payments settled on TON blockchain.

Privacy-focused messaging giant Telegram will start sharing advertisement revenue with channel owners starting in March, founder Pavel Durov said in a broadcast message on his official channel, viewed by CoinDesk, on Wednesday.

The network’s native TON token rocketed nearly 40% to over $2.92 after the announcement came out. Meanwhile, the broader CoinDesk 20 index (CD20) jumped 2.5%.

“Broadcast channels on Telegram generate 1 trillion views monthly. Currently, only 10% of these views are monetized with Telegram Ads — a promotion tool designed with privacy in mind,” Durov wrote on his channel.

“In March, the Telegram Ad Platform will officially open to all advertisers in nearly a hundred new countries. Channel owners in these countries will start receiving 50% of any revenue that Telegram makes from displaying ads in their channels.”

Telegram did not respond to CoinDesk's request for comment on its official media channel. Telegram had previously said it had plans to share revenue with certain channel owners, its website shows.

All payments and withdrawals will be settled on the TON blockchain, a network created by the same company that built Telegram. The company reported having 800 million monthly users in July 2023.

https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2024/02/28/telegram-to-share-ad-revenue-via-ton-blockchain-ton-soars-18/