Kick Users Report Ads Appearing on Non-Monetized Channels; Ethan Wright Responds

Khizar Mundia Published 08/09/2026

Kick recently rolled out ads, but it appears the livestreaming platform is having issues with adverts when a stream crashes. Kick Director Ethan Wright has responded to the issue, acknowledging it and also shedding light on why it happened.

Eddie Craven, known for founding both Stake and Kick, went on the record stating that ads were inevitable for the livestreaming platform, but promised they’d be unobtrusive for viewers. Ads went live on Kick in August 2026, with several streamers expressing outrage over them. But it’s apparent that ads are here to stay, and they have become a part of Kick, which makes sense from a business point of view. However, Kick ads still seem to be having teething issues, as users have recently reported that certain non-monetized channels are also showing advertisements.

Ethan Wright says ads on the non-monetized Kick channel were due to a network issue

An X user made a post claiming that Kick was showing ads on a non-monetized channel. They posted a clip of the stream and elaborated that the streamer appeared offline before and after the ads ran — viewers had to refresh for the stream to start playing. Ethan Wright was quick to respond, stating that it is not good enough and sharing that he would “jump on this ASAP”. The Kick director later commented on the issue, revealing that this happened due to the streamer crashing multiple times in a span of two hours.

Wright claimed that the streamer didn’t have disconnect protection enabled, so when the streamer restarted after the crashes, a post-roll play was played, which caused viewers to see the ads. He elaborated that this still affected the user experience, so they will work on the issue, and thanked the X user for reporting it. The Director also stated that’s “why we go slow on rollout”. It’s important to note that Kick’s own website states that ads are platform-wide, and creators can’t disable them. While Ethan responded to the issue of crashes leading to ads playing, Kick’s site indicates that ads are being run on other non-monetized channels as well. Ethan also hasn’t confirmed whether the issue has been fixed at the time of this writing.

Image credit: X

☑️ My view

Kick went without ads for more than three years, with many expecting these would eventually be shipped — which they were earlier this year. A key pledge was that they would be unobtrusive to viewers. However, this recent issue shows that Kick ads are still in their infancy and major problems, as we see here, could potentially drive away both viewers and advertisers.

Users were initially used to the ad-free experience and called for Kick to stop ads, though this is not plausible as they have potential to be a major boost to Kick’s revenue. Ultimately, it is clearly a matter of getting that balance right as Kick looks to move towards profitability. I believe that Kick will get it right eventually, and the open lines of communication from both Wright and Craven show that the company is willing to learn from mistakes.

Featured image credit: Kick

Khizar Mundia

About Khizar Mundia

Khizar Mundia has been playing video games for as long as he can recall. Things have come a long way since the many days he spent playing the original NES, though. He now covers a variety of competitive games and esports, as well as the world of streaming, ranging from Twitch to Kick. If it’s of interest to gamers, it’s of interest to Khizar.

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