Across four platforms, algorithmic discovery widened the earnings gap even where the total payout pool grew.
This note examines what happened to earnings distribution on four creator platforms after each introduced algorithmic recommendation as the primary discovery mechanism. The question is narrow: did the change widen or narrow the gap between top earners and the median creator?
Public payout disclosures and platform transparency reports were compared across a two year window on either side of each platform's transition. Where disclosures were incomplete, the platform was excluded rather than estimated.
In all four cases the gap widened. The median creator's share of total payouts declined even where total payouts grew. Growth in the pool did not reach the middle of the distribution.
Four platforms is a small sample and the transitions were not simultaneous, so broader market conditions are not controlled for. The direction is consistent, but the magnitude should not be treated as precise.
Creator level data rather than aggregate payout disclosure. No platform currently publishes at that resolution, which is itself part of the finding.