Navigating the Creator Economy: An Analysis of Content Promotion and View Allocation Policies on Digital Content Platforms.

This article presents a game-theoretic analysis of content promotion, view allocation, and revenue strategies on digital content platforms, focusing on the tradeoff between allocating limited viewer attention to content quality versus creators' promotional efforts. The model shows that a more promotion-centric view allocation does not necessarily increase creators' promotion spending and can lead to either higher or lower equilibrium content quality. Platforms optimally offer content promotion only when content production is cost-effective for creators and the number of creators is moderate, and they should avoid combining revenue sharing with content promotion. Additionally, interplatform competition can incentivize platforms to favor promotion over quality, potentially lowering content quality compared to monopolies. When creators differ significantly (creator asymmetry), allowing content promotion can induce differentiated strategies that improve overall content quality and view demand, enhancing platform revenue from both advertising and promotion.