Twitch halts paid channel boosts after people pay to get porn on the front page

pcgamer.com:

In October 2021, Twitch began testing a new feature that enabled viewers to pay money to boost a streamer's channel to the site's front page in order to give it greater exposure. That experiment has now come to an end, at least for the time being, as troublemakers were taking advantage of the system to push porn to the top of the heap.

Boosting originally debuted in December 2020 using free channel points, pooled by viewers during Community Challenges. «When a boost challenge is successfully completed, we'll promote your stream into highly visible parts of Twitch like 'Live channels we think you'll like',» the Boost This Stream FAQ explains. «Promoting your stream helps improve your visibility and reach new audiences.»

Paid boosts, first announced in September 2021, work in the same way, except that real money is involved. Unlike channel points, which are earned by following and watching channels, the only limiting factor with paid boosts is how much a person is willing to spend. Streamers themselves can also pay for the boost, effectively enabling them to buy their way onto the front page (or at least contribute to the effort).

The plan was not universally well received: Many people expressed concern that the system favored channels that are already popular, as they'd be in a better position to pay their way to the top. And unlike cheering or channel subscriptions, streamers made no money from the paid boosts: All of the money went to Twitch.

Absolutely terrible. Please do not do this feature @Twitch. It's hard for me to think of positives here. Smaller streamers are struggling to be discovered which makes it challenging to grow and make enough money. Boosts feel like a new penalty for already struggling streamers