YouTubers Can Sell Their Services To Corporations Easier With New Google Acquisition

YouTube stars just got another golden opportunity to cozy up with giant corporations willing to pay them top dollar to feature their products. Google confirmed that it has acquired the networking startup called FameBit, which basically acts as a middleman between YouTube personalities and companies.

Google declined to provide information on how much the deal cost, Business Insider reports, but it is confirmed that the startup will continue to function independently for the meantime. As for what exactly YouTubers and FameBit can achieve, the publication cited a video showcasing exactly the kind of partnership that the new acquisition could make more common.​

In its announcement post, YouTube made it clear that the move was meant to ensure that its content creators would be able to find paid work more easily. This is done via sponsorship or paid promotional content.

“Today, we’re excited to announce that Google has acquired FameBit -- a technology platform company that helps creators and brands find and work with each other through sponsorships and paid promotion,” the post reads. “We believe that Google’s relationship with brands and 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.”

As The Verge points out, the fact that content creators have been getting money via ad revenue has been an open secret within the community for years. The higher the number of views and subscribers, the more money they got.

Some YouTube personalities turned to other forms of generation money instead of relying on just the ad revenue such as donation sites like Patreon. Others went the more direct route and got paid by corporations directly. By adding FameBit to its rosters of recently acquired companies, Google basically just ensured that the latter will become more prevalent.

Now, this also means that any content creator that becomes part of the program will need to declare that they are in the pocket of one business entity or another, thus rendering them unable to claim impartiality. Then again, the program is voluntary and it’s more than likely that some YouTube personalities will remain independent.