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According to estimates by Oxford Economics, over 700,000 creators and partners in India have found their financial anchor in YouTube, receiving income from their presence on the platform, said the video streaming giant in a blog post on Thursday while announcing ‘BrandConnect’ and ‘Podcasts’ features for creators in India.
BrandConnect, YouTube's branded content platform, will be available to eligible creators and select advertisers in India. It will enable smoother communication between brands and creators on the platform.
“It (BrandConnect) 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,” YouTube announced in a blog post.
In India, the number of channels that earned a majority of revenue from Fan Funding products in December 2022 saw an increase of over 10 per cent compared to the prior year, said the video sharing platform.
Additionally, in the latest YouTube Studio updates, the process of podcast publication is going to be streamlined, and the introduction of Podcast shelves on the YouTube Music homepage will help in enhancing discoverability for audiences and elevate creator engagement.
“With podcasts available for on-demand, offline & background listening on YouTube Music in India, it unlocks the opportunity to earn more on the platform via ads and subscriptions,” reads the official website.
Earlier this year, YouTube introduced new creative tools on Shorts and announced upcoming Gen AI features for the creators. “Shorts opened the door for anyone to become a creator, but AI can take this even further by making creation even easier (and more fun),” read the blog post.
It also expanded the eligibility for the YouTube Partner Program (YPP) to include shorts creators and rolled out ad revenue sharing for shorts, while introducing earlier access to fan funding features like channel memberships, super chat, and more.
