SponsorBar FAQ

One reviewed sponsor creative: a logo, company name, short line, and background color in a compact Mac menu-bar item. Clicking the item opens SponsorBar’s popover, where you can visit the sponsor or use the app controls.

One impression is one full, uninterrupted eligible minute. At the start of that minute, your Mac must be awake and unlocked, used within the past five minutes, connected, and showing SponsorBar in a valid, visible menu-bar position. Visibility and session checks must remain valid for the full minute; a partial or interrupted minute does not count.

The current launch rate is $4 per 1,000 completed one-minute impressions, with a $15 minimum media-credit purchase. Clicks are reported, but advertisers pay for valid impressions rather than clicks or conversions.

The current base split gives you 70% of the media price for each valid impression and allocates 30% to SponsorBar. SponsorBar funds earning boosts, referral rewards, payment costs, operating costs, and profit from its share. The price and split are recorded with each impression.

During launch, every eligible user gets an extra 10% of their base earnings, funded from SponsorBar’s share. For each $1.00 of base earnings, that adds $0.10. If your 5% referred-user boost is also active, the boosts stack to 15% of base earnings, adding $0.15 in total.

No. Earnings depend on eligible Mac use, the availability of approved campaigns, campaign pacing and targeting, the current rate, and SponsorBar’s visibility and fraud checks.

A valid earning normally remains pending for five days. It then becomes available for payout unless it is held, adjusted, or reversed during a review.

Eligible payouts are reviewed in weekly Monday batches after your available balance reaches $10 and Stripe onboarding is complete. $10 is a minimum, not a fee. Reviews, bank processing, holidays, or a higher Stripe minimum can delay delivery.

No. You can install, sign in, and earn first. Once your total balance reaches $5, paid ads pause until you finish Stripe payout setup. Everything already recorded stays in your balance.

Paid earning and Stripe Express payouts are available in 34 countries: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and United States. This is the largest self-serve set Stripe supports for our current U.S. Connect payout flow. Stripe applies country-specific identity, bank, currency, and minimum-payout requirements during onboarding.

Yes. Snooze SponsorBar for 30 minutes, 2 hours, 6 hours, or the rest of the day, or hide it until you turn it back on. Paused or hidden time does not count toward earnings.

It checks whether the display is awake, the session is unlocked, the Mac was used within the past five minutes, and the menu-bar item is rendered in a valid, visible position. It does not collect screenshots, app names, window titles, browsing history, or keystrokes.

No. One SponsorBar account can have one connected Mac at a time. Unlink it in Settings before connecting a replacement.

Yes. An approved campaign is not excluded just because you also use SponsorBar on your Mac. Its impressions still have to pass the same eligibility checks.

A referral link has a 14-day, last-valid-click attribution window. The referrer receives 5% of the new user’s base eligible earnings, and the new user receives a 5% boost for the first 30 days after their first valid impression. That referred-user boost stacks with the 10% launch boost for a total 15% boost on base earnings while both are active. SponsorBar funds every boost and referral reward from its share.