YouTube Launches Branded Content Platform In India To Connect Brands With Creators

Streaming giant YouTube has begun rolling out its branded content platform, YouTube BrandConnect, in India.

The platform will be open to eligible creators and select advertisers in the country and will connect creators, brands, and agencies for direct collaboration. Through this, brands will be able to zero in on the ‘right mix and profile’ of creators while the latter will get access to a new discovery avenue. 

“… We have begun rolling out BrandConnect, YouTube’s branded content platform, to eligible creators and select advertisers in India. This will help brands execute their branded content campaigns more seamlessly by identifying the right mix and profile of creators to work with, while creators will have a new avenue to be discovered and earn more from their content,” said parent Google in a blog post. 

The streaming major also announced new features on YouTube including ‘Podcast shelves’ on the YouTube Music homepage to improve discoverability and increase engagement for creators. It also introduced new features on YouTube Studio to make it ‘easier’ for creators to publish podcasts.

The company also said that creator podcasts will now be available for offline, on-demand and background listening on YouTube Music in the country. This, the streaming major said, would enable podcasters on the platform to ‘earn more via ads and subscriptions.’

Citing a report by Oxford Economics, YouTube said that more than 7 Lakh creators and partners in India received some form of income from their presence on the platform. 

It also said that the number of channels that earned a majority of revenue from fan funding features (which include channel memberships and Super Chats during live streams) rose 10% year-on-year in December 2022 without disclosing the actual number.

Channel memberships include subscription plans offered by creators in lieu of exclusive content. On the other hand, super chats enable viewers to highlight their messages during a live stream for a specified duration.

This comes amid a host of creator-focussed offerings launched by YouTube in recent months. Earlier this year, it expanded eligibility for the YouTube Partner Program (YPP) and brought YouTube Shorts creators under the initiative. It also rolled out an ad revenue sharing feature for short form videos as competition began to mount from Meta-owned Instagram Reels. 

YouTube also recently announced upcoming creative tools on YouTube Shorts and is said to be testing new GenAI features that would allow users to create music tracks based on a text prompt or even a simple hummed tune. 

However, the platform has also come under the spotlight of the government to crack the whip on deepfakes and  misinformation. YouTube India’s senior executive, last month, dubbed deepfakes as being antithetical to its interests, saying that viewers, creators and advertisers want to steer clear of platforms that allow fake news or misinformation.

The company then also said that it was compliant with all local laws and was continuously actively engaging with the government on all emerging issues.