Kick boss Eddie Craven has revealed that the streaming site is getting a new update that will remove “unnecessary” exposure to gambling streams.
At the beginning of 2022, many of the internet’s biggest creators spoke out against gambling on Twitch, prompting the platform to issue a ban on gambling streams.
Trainwreck unveiled rival site platform Kick towards the end of the year, which is co-owned and operated by popular crypto gambling platform Stake. Their involvement with the budding site has prompted creators like Pokimane to speak up about how prevalent gambling is on Kick.
On June 30, 2023, Stake and Kick boss Eddie Craven revealed that they’re pushing a new update to the platform that removes unnecessary exposure to gambling streams.
Kick removes exposure to gambling, fixes view count
In a rather detailed post on his Twitter page, Craven revealed changes to how the site will handle tabbed streams, as well as the new update to gambling streams being shown on the platform.
“We’re rolling out some extra view count protection on Kick. This should help combat view count manipulation. It will also help solve some issues surrounding follow/chatbots,” he said.
“Rest assured, the community is still growing and we’re staying committed to ensuring we maintain a fair landscape for creators. The main problem being solved here is in relation to ‘Tabbing’ and the abuse that came with that. Some further protections have also been included.”
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This means that streamers can no longer open their stream on multiple browser tabs to artificially inflate their views. Instead, viewers will have to maintain a level of activity in each channel for tabs to count as a view.
We're rolling out some extra view count protection on @KickStreaming. This should help combat view count manipulation. It will also help solve some issues surrounding follow/chat bots.Rest assured the community is still growing & we're staying committed to ensuring we…
— Eddie (@StakeEddie) June 30, 2023
In the second part of his tweet, Eddie revealed that Kick will be removing “unnecessary” exposure to gambling-related content through their recommended formulas like the front page. He revealed that they will also be adding an option to disable gambling streams from view entirely.
“Alongside this update, we’ve also removed some unnecessary exposure to gambling-related content throughout our recommended formulas,” Eddie said.
“We’ll also be adding the ability to toggle off all gambling-related streams, amongst other certain categories viewers wish to not be exposed to. Viewer experience is equally as important to us as creators.”
This is a major step for those against the gambling aspect of the platform, giving people the ability to browse Kick without having to see that side of the site.
For more Kick coverage, head over to check out our interview with the director of acquisitions.