Google Announces Acquisition of Influencer Marketing Platform FameBit

Google announced today in an official blog post that it has acquired three-year-old influencer marketing platform FameBit, which pairs social media stars with brands to collaborate on sponsored content. The deal will provide YouTube with an avenue into the innumerable sponsored video transactions that proliferate across its platform on top of the advertising revenues that it already shares with creators.

“Our hope is that FameBit’s democratized marketplace will allow creators of all sizes to directly connect with brands, as well as provide a great technology solution for companies like MCNs and agencies to find matches for their creators and brand partners,” Google’s VP of Product Management, Ariel Bardin wrote in the blog announcement.

The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

FameBit, for its part, said it would continue to function as usual and will remain a standalone operation for the time being. On its own blog, FameBit said that it has helped brands and creators collaborate on more than 25,000 branded videos that have generated over 2 billion minutes of watch time.

“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,” wrote founders David Kierzkowski and Agnes Kozera.

FameBit has raised a total of $1.5 million in VC funding from investors including Allen DeBevoise, Marcus Daniels, and Third Wave Digital.