Google Expands Influencer Marketing Arm

Last week, Google announced that it had acquired FameBit, a company that helps connect independent content creators with brands that are looking to create endorsement and product placement partnerships. This is the first ever influencer network to operate under Google’s roof, and will primarily focus on Google’s massive video hosting and sharing service, YouTube.

Since its founding in 2013, FameBit has helped to create branded content for content creators on platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and Tumblr. They are responsible for over 25,000 pieces of branded content during this time, and have worked with large, multinational brands such as Adidas, Sony, and Canon. They have also worked promoting the many comic book movies of Disney-owned Marvel.

Partnering with Google should only serve to increase the amount of influencers FameBit can connect with, with the added benefit of giving them unfettered access to YouTube, one of the biggest video hosting sites in the world. “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,” FameBit founders David Kierzkowski and Agnes Kozera wrote in their blog announcement.

Google making the move to acquire FameBit shows how they too are focused on the new form of marketing. They are no longer content with merely selling display ads on their site, or pre- or mid-video advertisements. They have seen the power that influencer marketers can have over consumers, and want to ready themselves to better nurture these such partnerships. This is part of a greater trend towards the promotion of influencer marketing, as Twitter last year acquired Niche, a company that launched with a very similar functionality to FameBit.

“Creators will always have the choice in how they work with brands, and there are many great companies who provide this service today. This acquisition doesn’t change that,” Google's blog post reads. “Our hope is that FameBit’s democratized marketplace will allow creators of all sizes to directly connect with brands.” This acquisition by Google should only serve to grow their influencer marketing presence.