For 9 years, YouTube has assisted creators in generating advertising revenue through its Partner Program. As YouTube has grown over the years, so have the possibilities for brands and creators alike to work together on branded content opportunities like product placements, promotions and sponsorships. In the last year, the top 100 advertisers have increased their spending on YouTube video ads by 50 percent.
Building on this, YouTube recently announced Google’s acquisition of FameBit — a technology platform company that facilitates sponsorships and paid promotion between creators and brands. In the announcement, Ariel Bardin, Vice President of Product Management had high hopes for the new acquisition stating that “YouTube’s partnerships with creators, combined with FameBit’s technology and expertise, will help increase the number of branded content opportunities available, bringing even more revenue into the online video community.”
So far, in the nearly 3 years it has been operating, FameBit has enable creators and brands to create 25,000 branded videos, generating over 2 billion minutes of watch time. How and to what extent the platform will be incorporated into Google and YouTube’s existing Partner Program is still in the air. For the time being, FameBit stated in its announcement of the acquisition that the platform will remain a standalone operation. YouTube has assured that “creators will always have the choice in how they work with brands.”
To learn more about FameBit, check out their blog or Help page, complete with FAQs for both creators and brands.
