YouTube makes it easier for advertisers to connect with diverse creators

YouTube creators will be able to disclose various elements of their identity to advertisers, helping brands to more accurately determine the YouTubers with the audiences they are looking to target. Through the “Inclusive Media Initiative,” spearheaded in conjunction with video advertising company Pixability and Whalar, YouTubers for the first time will be able to self-select how they identify regarding their race, ethnicity, sexuality, gender and disabilities. YouTube creators have previously had to rely on third-party ad vendors to choose the identity labels that are presented to advertisers, which often results in creators being limited to a single part of their identity. Ad Age Breakout Brand Leaders New award honors the people behind emerging brands Enter here “We're passionate about enabling revenue for YouTube creators who produce impactful content and believe these creators should have the power to decide with which communities they identify,” said David George, CEO of Pixability, in a press release. Until now, brands interested in boosting their investment in YouTube creators with a diverse range of identities had no streamlined way to direct their ad spend on the platform toward these YouTubers—especially those with multiple identity labels, such as Bri Hall, who has participated in a pilot of the initiative over the past few months. View this post on Instagram A post shared by 🎨 B R I H A L L | SmartistaBeauty (@brihallofficial) Hall, whose content revolves around beauty, art and music, told Ad Age she has often had third-party vendors select identity markers for her without asking for her input. And these platforms typically limit her identity to just being a Black woman, rather than taking her LGBTQ+ identity or two disabilities into account, she said. “I have a friend who's a huge creator, and we, visually, are both Black women,” she said. “But when we ran an analysis on both of our channels, we only had a little over 1% audience overlap. I feel like some brands might look at us and say, ‘Oh, these are two Black women. They probably have similar audiences.’ … [But] with my background in art, I've attracted quite an artsy, diverse audience that’s more than just Black women. And my friend is in comedy and entertainment, so their audience is a reflection of that, too.” “When you only look at us visually, you’re actually not really reaching the maximum potential of who you can advertise to,” she added. Also read: YouTube is more profitable for creators than Instagram, TikTok Pixability partnered with creator commerce company Whalar to bring creators such as Hall onto the initiative ahead of its launch. It will incorporate additional creator companies into the initiative going forward, according to the release. Like Hall, the majority of the creators who have joined the initiative over the past few months identify as part of multiple communities, per the release. Along with creators, Pixability brought on several advertiser partners ahead of the initiative’s launch. The company has also already partnered with multiple agencies on the initiative, though it didn’t disclose which. “For many creators of diverse backgrounds, ad revenue isn’t just supplementary, it’s fundamental,” said Ashley Rudder, Whalar’s chief creator officer, in the release. On YouTube, creators currently earn a 55% cut of the revenue from video or banner ads viewed or displayed alongside their videos through Google’s AdSense program. Though YouTube has allowed creators to volunteer information to the platform about their race, ethnicity, gender and sexuality since 2021, it withheld those creators’ self-identifications from advertisers. Also read: Inside the state of DE&I media investment Hall, who has been a full-time creator for over a decade, was forced to rely on multi-channel networks—third-party services that offer YouTubers funding and access to creator collaborations and sponsorships in exchange for a portion of the creators’ ad revenue—“to get her AdSense up to a livable wage” in her early days as a creator. She anticipates the “Inclusive Media Initiative” will lead to more brands being interested in running their ads alongside her videos and open the door to additional brand sponsorships. “It gives me a sense of hope about being seen as a full creator and a full person, rather than this glimpse that sometimes people get to see of you in passing online,” she said of the initiative. “It's important to really take time to understand [creators] as full people with lives and backgrounds and multiple identities and experiences, because it can be extremely beneficial not only for us as creators, but also for brands to better understand who they're marketing to.” ~ ~ ~CORRECTION: A previous version of this story incorrectly reported that Kellanova was among the advertiser partners for the initiative.

YouTube makes it easier for advertisers to connect with diverse creators

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