Google Acquires FameBit, Which Connects Marketers with Digital Influencers
Google is seeking new branded content opportunities for it’s YouTube stars with its acquisition of FameBit. Announced yesterday, Google picked up the self-service marketplace where brands and social media influencers collaborate for product or service endorsements. Google bought the startup from Science Inc., whose portfolio has included Dollar Shave Club (which Unilever bought in July) and HelloSociety (which the New York Times acquired in March).
“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,” said Google vice president of product management Ariel Bardin in a blog post.
The Toronto-born startup was founded in January 2014 by Agnes Kozera and David Kierzkowski, who built it to meet their own small business influencer marketing needs. The company last year moved to Silicon Valley, where it caught the interest of Google.
“After helping influencers make money — and sometimes even a full-time living — through YouTube and other platforms, it only makes sense that we would bring those capabilities to Google itself,” said Michael Jones, CEO of Science.
In their own blog post today, FameBit cofounders Kozera and David Kierzkowski remarked, “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.”
Details of the transaction were not revealed.
