Google Buys Santa Monica Startup FameBit

SANTA MONICA, CA -- Tech giant Google announced Tuesday it bought Santa Monica-based startup FameBit for an undisclosed sum.

FameBit developed technology that matches YouTube content creators with brands for sponsorship and paid promotions. Most YouTube stars rely on these influencer gigs to make money off their videos. The deal by YouTube's corporate parent will now make it easier for these content creators to find such deals.

"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," Google's VP of product management Ariel Bardin wrote in a blog post announcing the deal.

Google started to give YouTube stars a cut of the advertising dollars through its partner program nine years ago and this deal is expected to give content creators more choices. According to Google, last year, the top 100 advertisers have increased their spending on YouTube video ads by 50 percent.

Famebit will remain a standalone operation for now. YouTube stars will continue to have a choice in working with brands, the company said.

"We’re excited to continue helping brands and creators succeed in an even bigger way," FameBit founders David Kierzkowski and Agnes Kozera wrote in a blog post. "With Google’s relationship with brands large and small, and YouTube’s partnership with creators around the globe, we hope to connect even more brands to creators, engage more audiences, and make brand marketing more creative and authentic than ever."

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