13 ms·

Google acquires FameBit to connect YouTube creators with marketers

87 points by venturefizz 10y ago

elsewhen 10y ago
this is a very interesting acquisition for Google. i wonder if they are concerned about adblockers and see native advertising as a solution. or, perhaps their data shows that native ads perform much better than traditional advertising.
- tzakrajs 10y ago
  I doubt it is the adblockers. The adblocker arms race is won by those who own the browser since the browser is the last place you can enforce DRM and the incumbants (Google, Apple, and Mozilla to a lesser extent) have the capacity to stage a power play that enforce trusted computing policies for ad-laden web applications. Ad blockers will lose their in-browser hooks and will need to instrument the browser from outside its process space using computer vision and memory exploits to detect and remove ads in the future. This cat and mouse game will relegate ad blockers to the <10% market share thus staving off a lost market for ad revenue and reducing any dependence on native advertising or product tie ins.
goeric 10y ago
A significant amount of revenue is being made through YouTube as a platform in a grey area that Google doesn't really currently touch (integrated content through creators). Creators and MCN's benefit the most from this. By starting to control the medium brands and creators connect with, they at least get a piece of the action.
- brazzledazzle 10y ago
  Serious question: when you say integrated content it has the same meaning as product placement right?
  - wastedhours 10y ago
    I would guess partly - product placement is a type of integrated content, whereas the broader spectrum can cover those passive placements, more traditional ad slots, sponsored event coverage etc...
manachar 10y ago
One thing that is impressive about YouTube versus other social media platforms has been YouTube's willingness to help content creators to make money. There's a path for people with a minimum of marketing savvy to start making revenue off of their videos. Compare this to Facebook/Instagram which requires individuals to find other ways of getting paid while those platforms profit directly off of your content. Makes me wish for a "cooperative" Facebook where all content creators (posts, pictures, etc) get a slice of the ad revenue much like YouTube.
- e2e8 10y ago
  One thing that I have noticed recently is that some youtube creators from the gaming genre are moving to twitch because twitch stream subscribers are an even more direct way to make money.
  - infinitesoup 10y ago
    YouTube has an equivalent of that too: https://support.google.com/youtubegaming/answer/6304294?hl=en https://support.google.com/youtubegaming/answer/6304294?hl=e...
    - scrollaway 10y ago
      Twitch, unlike YouTube, has a ton of experience dealing with gamers. They have direct contact with their streamers, organize events (TwitchCon, esports events etc). The Amazon acquisition has been incredible to twitch so far, too. The Amazon Prime/Twitch Prime promotion has gotten streamers a ton of income and has been overwhelmingly welcomed by the twitch community. YouTube, in the mean time, has a broken DMCA/content-id/copyright claim system - a constant source of complaints with no support channel to actually help. I find it fascinating how, in YouTube competition, where Vimeo and DailyMotion are failing, Twitch is succeeding because they are simply focused on their strength and advantage, rather than try to just provide the same service with a nonexistant community. And now with Amazon behind them, they have the money to double down on it.
clay_to_n 10y ago
This is pretty cool. I'd guess that most people making any money off YouTube are making a lot more from FameBit (and similar platforms) than from YouTube itself. Makes sense that Google would want a slice of that.
jbenz 10y ago
Hey, I hired YouTubers via FameBit quite a bit ago to help make videos like this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=1&v=Ko586_GPuR8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=1&v=Ko586_GPuR8 I have to say, it was a great experience. Famebit encouraged both sides to be open and transparent. They wanted to their YouTubers to include a note like "sponsored by so and so". We wanted that too. As an advertiser, I'm not trying to sneak into the native content of unsuspecting viewers. I want everyone to know the scenario. The fewer surprises, the better. And this type of thing works great on YouTube. Users aren't totally scornful of sponsored content. I wish more platforms were like this. Can you imagine how angry most reddit users would be if someone posted original content (even if it was great) and said "This is a paid posting by..." Sadly, it didn't work out for long with FameBit. We were getting a lot of new storefront owners... but they seemed very young, and they had no concept of copyright issues. That's a story for another day.
thedangler 10y ago
Interesting. I've been working on a similar project in my limited spare time. I wonder if I should continue or throw in the towel. I searched for others like mine before I started and didn't find much. I guess I'll have to up my googling skills.
- yabatopia 10y ago
  Youtube is a big, ever expanding ocean. Plenty of space for smaller fish. Important is to find your niche and target audience, and grow from there.
- Disruptive_Dave 10y ago
  Famebit has been around for at least a couple years (I used them often about 15 months ago). Grapevine, Revfluence, Instabrand, Exposely....
blahi 10y ago
I've always wondered why youtube and twitch don't just make a platform for content creators to sign direct deals and get a cut. Seems like a no-brainer IMO.

87 points by venturefizz 10y ago

this is a very interesting acquisition for Google. i wonder if they are concerned about adblockers and see native advertising as a solution. or, perhaps their data shows that native ads perform much better than traditional advertising.

tzakrajs 10y ago
I doubt it is the adblockers. The adblocker arms race is won by those who own the browser since the browser is the last place you can enforce DRM and the incumbants (Google, Apple, and Mozilla to a lesser extent) have the capacity to stage a power play that enforce trusted computing policies for ad-laden web applications. Ad blockers will lose their in-browser hooks and will need to instrument the browser from outside its process space using computer vision and memory exploits to detect and remove ads in the future. This cat and mouse game will relegate ad blockers to the <10% market share thus staving off a lost market for ad revenue and reducing any dependence on native advertising or product tie ins.

goeric 10y ago

A significant amount of revenue is being made through YouTube as a platform in a grey area that Google doesn't really currently touch (integrated content through creators). Creators and MCN's benefit the most from this. By starting to control the medium brands and creators connect with, they at least get a piece of the action.

brazzledazzle 10y ago
Serious question: when you say integrated content it has the same meaning as product placement right?
- wastedhours 10y ago
  I would guess partly - product placement is a type of integrated content, whereas the broader spectrum can cover those passive placements, more traditional ad slots, sponsored event coverage etc...

manachar 10y ago

One thing that is impressive about YouTube versus other social media platforms has been YouTube's willingness to help content creators to make money. There's a path for people with a minimum of marketing savvy to start making revenue off of their videos. Compare this to Facebook/Instagram which requires individuals to find other ways of getting paid while those platforms profit directly off of your content. Makes me wish for a "cooperative" Facebook where all content creators (posts, pictures, etc) get a slice of the ad revenue much like YouTube.

e2e8 10y ago
One thing that I have noticed recently is that some youtube creators from the gaming genre are moving to twitch because twitch stream subscribers are an even more direct way to make money.
- infinitesoup 10y ago
  YouTube has an equivalent of that too: https://support.google.com/youtubegaming/answer/6304294?hl=en https://support.google.com/youtubegaming/answer/6304294?hl=e...
  - scrollaway 10y ago
    Twitch, unlike YouTube, has a ton of experience dealing with gamers. They have direct contact with their streamers, organize events (TwitchCon, esports events etc). The Amazon acquisition has been incredible to twitch so far, too. The Amazon Prime/Twitch Prime promotion has gotten streamers a ton of income and has been overwhelmingly welcomed by the twitch community. YouTube, in the mean time, has a broken DMCA/content-id/copyright claim system - a constant source of complaints with no support channel to actually help. I find it fascinating how, in YouTube competition, where Vimeo and DailyMotion are failing, Twitch is succeeding because they are simply focused on their strength and advantage, rather than try to just provide the same service with a nonexistant community. And now with Amazon behind them, they have the money to double down on it.

clay_to_n 10y ago

This is pretty cool. I'd guess that most people making any money off YouTube are making a lot more from FameBit (and similar platforms) than from YouTube itself. Makes sense that Google would want a slice of that.

jbenz 10y ago

Hey, I hired YouTubers via FameBit quite a bit ago to help make videos like this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=1&v=Ko586_GPuR8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=1&v=Ko586_GPuR8 I have to say, it was a great experience. Famebit encouraged both sides to be open and transparent. They wanted to their YouTubers to include a note like "sponsored by so and so". We wanted that too. As an advertiser, I'm not trying to sneak into the native content of unsuspecting viewers. I want everyone to know the scenario. The fewer surprises, the better. And this type of thing works great on YouTube. Users aren't totally scornful of sponsored content. I wish more platforms were like this. Can you imagine how angry most reddit users would be if someone posted original content (even if it was great) and said "This is a paid posting by..." Sadly, it didn't work out for long with FameBit. We were getting a lot of new storefront owners... but they seemed very young, and they had no concept of copyright issues. That's a story for another day.

thedangler 10y ago

Interesting. I've been working on a similar project in my limited spare time. I wonder if I should continue or throw in the towel. I searched for others like mine before I started and didn't find much. I guess I'll have to up my googling skills.

yabatopia 10y ago
Youtube is a big, ever expanding ocean. Plenty of space for smaller fish. Important is to find your niche and target audience, and grow from there.
Disruptive_Dave 10y ago
Famebit has been around for at least a couple years (I used them often about 15 months ago). Grapevine, Revfluence, Instabrand, Exposely....

blahi 10y ago

I've always wondered why youtube and twitch don't just make a platform for content creators to sign direct deals and get a cut. Seems like a no-brainer IMO.