What Google’s Acquisition of FameBit Means for Influencer Marketing

In 2013 David Kierzkowski and Agnes Kozera started FameBit. With time it developed into a platform that connected brands with influential content creators on an array of social media platforms (such as YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Vine, and more). The idea was to empower advertisers to select the platform(s) to be promoted on, set budgets, and receive proposals from content creators on how they would market you, and at what cost. Then the brand would select who to work with, and upon receiving the exposure — measure how the campaign performed. Having been primarily focused on visual content FameBit has prided itself in generating 406 million views and 1.5 billion watch-time minutes for hundreds of brands.

Fast-forward three years, and on October 11, 2016 FameBit Tweets:

We couldn’t be more excited to share this news. FameBit Acquired by Google! https://t.co/f0slGhCTly pic.twitter.com/Fg1zeOB5ZH

— FameBit (@famebit) October 11, 2016

“Any influencer marketing platform’s dream!” I hear you exclaim.

The amount and the details of the deal remain undisclosed, but while these are interesting, what is even more important is what this acquisition means for influencer marketing as as whole.

The acknowledgement of influencer marketing’s significance has manifested itself in very serious attention from several major players. As you may remember, in early 2015 Twitter acquired Niche. Then, in March of 2016 The New York Times acquired HelloSociety. Now… Google’s acquisition of FameBit.

Commenting on this development, Google’s VP of Product Management, Ariel Bardin noted:

…brands [are] taking their investments one step further, partnering with creators on branded content opportunities such as product placements, promotions and sponsorships.

This called for Google’s further steps in the influencer marketing space and resulted in the acquisition which will allow the giant to leverage the platform not only for YouTube, but also on the other platforms supported by FameBit.

Acquisitions of influencer marketing platforms are always a pleasure to report. They help (a) validate the still-fairly-nascent industry of influencer marketing and also (b) evangelize it as a powerful way to market your brand, product, or service.