Creator partnerships in Google Ads is the space where brands can find YouTube creators to partner with on sponsored content and partnership ads.
On this page
Availability
Creator partnerships is in Open Beta and rolling out to accounts and markets as eligibility is met.
Access Creator partnerships
You can access Creator partnerships in Google Ads by following the steps below:
- Go to Creator partnerships
within the Toolsmenu
.
- Depending on your account’s eligibility, you may find one or more of the following tabs:
- Overview
- Creator search
- Analytics
Overview
Similar to the table of contents page in a book, the Overview tab showcases the features available in Creator partnerships. These include panels such as:
- AI-powered sponsored video content discovery
- Video linking suggestions
How to use AI-powered sponsored video content discovery
This panel makes it easy for you to boost creator videos that mention your products or brand.
- Under “Promote sponsored videos mentioning your brand”, you can find video previews that feature a partnership with your brand.
- Select the video to watch it in an expanded view.
- To watch the video on YouTube, select the video preview and the YouTube button at the bottom right-hand corner to open a new tab with the video.
- You can also select the share iconat the top right-hand corner to get the URL to the uploaded video.
- To send a linking request which unlocks video audience data and better reporting, select the link icon
at the top-left corner of the video preview. The link icon
Note: You should send a request to link the creator video to your Google Ads account. The creator may accept the request, enabling you to use the video in your Google Ads campaign. Google isn't involved in your agreement with the creator. You're responsible for securing the rights to use the video as an ad, which may require a separate agreement with the creator or other rights holders. - If you want to use these videos in an ad campaign, select the promote button to open ad campaign selection.
- Select the Copy URLbutton, then you can paste the video link to an ad campaign of your choice.
- You can also select the Start campaignbutton to start making your campaign.
- Select Copy URLor Start campaignto initiate the video linking process with the creator.
- To start a new campaign or add to an existing one, follow the steps described under Partnership ads powered by BrandConnect .
- To give feedback on videos suggested, select the Feedbackicon
at the top right-hand corner of the video preview. Select Send feedback.
- A side panel should appear for your input. Write a description on the issue, and our team will aim to quickly resolve the issue. Select Sendin the bottom right-hand corner when you’re done.
How video linking suggestions work
Video linking lets you partner with YouTube creators to use their videos and improve performance with partnership ads. Here's how video linking suggestions work:
- Go to Creator partnerships
within the Toolsmenu
- Under ”Link and approve creator videos”, you'll find suggested videos that have been used in your ad campaigns.
- Select Link videounder the ”Action and status” column to send a linking request. The link icon will update to the status of the request. You can also send a linking request to all suggested videos by selecting the Link allbutton.
- In the ”Link a YouTube video” slide panel, select the Linkbutton at the bottom.
- To check all your linked videos and requests, go to Data Manager .
Note: Video linking lets you:
- Run ads without potentially being blocked from serving due to lack of linking
- Run partnership ads with co-branded ads layout
- Access performance data and opportunity to create audience segments
Creator search
Creator search can help you discover creators to partner with. You can search for creators, view creator profiles with rich insights, and apply filters to help you narrow down and decide if you want to partner with a creator.
How to use Creator search
You can find creators for your advertising needs using keyword search or searching for a YouTube channel.
- Navigate to the search bar at the top of the page under the “Creator search” tab.
- Start your search by typing in a keyword or a YouTube channel handle along with the @ symbol. For example, “summer beauty trends” or “@ YouTube channel name”.
- Select or press enter for the search results. Creators are shown in the card view by default. Use the toggle to switch to table view.
Table view
- The table view allows for customization with the addition of more metrics. To do so, select the columns icon
.
- Modify columns by selecting from a wide array of fields to be added to the table.
- Select “Apply” to view the newly added columns.
Filters
- By default, you will find 4 filters: Subscriber count, average views, creator location, and ways to contact.
- You can add more filters by selecting “Add filter”. To clear filters, you can select the x icon or “clear all”.
How to use creator profiles
After you’ve searched for a set of creators and applied filters to a smaller pool, you can view detailed insights about a creator to help make an informed decision.
- Select “See details” or the channel avatar on the “Search results” page.
- You will find a slidealog with detailed insights including recent and relevant videos, core metrics that can be sliced by time, and audience insights for those creators who have shared their detailed channel insights.
- You can reach out to these creators through their publicly available business inquiry email, if available.
Frequently asked questions
In what markets is Creator partnerships available?
Creator partnerships is available in 23 advertiser markets and growing.
Why does the search for a YouTube channel return more than one channel?
In most cases, YouTube channel search will return not only the exact channel you searched for but also other channels that are closely related to the channel. These include, but are not limited to, other channels owned by the same creator, channels that have collaborated or mentioned the channel being searched.
I applied an audience filter and now the search results seem really limited. Why?
Applying audience filters, performance and some other filters excludes the creators who have not opted in to share their detailed channel insights. In these cases, an informational message to this effect will be displayed.
What’s video linking?
Linking a video made by a YouTube creator to your Google Ads account allows you to view video performance insights, such as organic view count and show ads to people who have watched the video. Also, by accepting the video link request, the creator enables you to promote their video as part of your ad campaigns. Learn more about video linking .
How do you detect videos for my brand?
We use signals available in your Google Ads account to find content that’s relevant to your brand. Examples include, but are not limited to:
- Google Ads account name
- Business name used when running ad campaigns
- Name of your linked YouTube channel
- Ad creatives used in campaigns
- Landing page URLs used in ads CTA
YouTube content that we match against includes:
- Creator who is part of YouTube Partner Programme (YPP)
- Languages: English, Japanese, German, Portuguese, French, Italian, Spanish, Indonesia, Hindi, Korean
- Partnership signals (for example, #sponsored, #ad, video marked as having a paid product placement and more)
- Other signals (for example, minimum number of views and more)
Note that videos on Creator partnerships don’t show all the videos sponsored by your brand. They show examples of sponsored creator content for your brand.
We're continuously expanding these signals to improve the quality of our recommendations.
How can I improve video suggestions?
You can help improve the quality of video suggestions by doing the following:
- Update your account name to reflect your brand.
- Connect your brand’s YouTube channel to your Google Ads account. Learn how to Link YouTube channels or videos and Google Ads accounts .
- Connect your brand’s Merchant Center to your Google Ads account. Learn how to Link a Google Ads account to Merchant Center .
- Connect with your influencer team and ensure that new sponsored content is labelled as a paid product placement .
Why don't I have any video suggestions?
Creator partnerships is in open beta and may not have finished reviewing videos for your brand yet. We’re still in development and will release more content with future updates.
