Google’s YouTube recently took to its official blog to tout some highlights from its seventh annual advertiser event, which the company calls Brandcast, showing off the latest trends in content and advertising for its YouTube platform. Among the topics of discussion, YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki revealed that YouTube’s logged-in monthly user figure has risen by 300 million over the past year. In total, the registered user count landed at 1.8 billion from last year’s 1.5 billion. That equated to more than 150 million hours of YouTube being watched every day on TV screens alone. Featured content included brand-sponsored shows such as the Slow Mo Guys and ranged all the way out to Kevin Hart, with viewers racking up more than 700 million views across the first year’s run of content.
Sponsored content also won some prominent achievements this year, highlighting YouTube’s capabilities as a primary viewing and advertising platform. Katy Perry’s “Witness World Wide” live stream was among Time Magazin’s Top 10 TV shows for 2017. Demi Lovato’s “Simply Complicated” was nominated this month for a Best Music Documentary award from MTV. Looking forward, the company hopes to build on the momentum even further with both returning content and new shows. Demi Lovato, the Slow Mo Guys, and Kevin Hart will be making comebacks, while new content will be made available featuring LeBron James, Jack Whitehall, Priyanka Chopra, and Will Smith. YouTube will also be partnering on new Spotlight Stories with artists such as Shawn Mendes, J Balvin, Janelle Monáe, and others. According to Wojcicki, that content remains free to viewers thanks to sponsorships from brands like Johnson & Johnson Consumer, Ulta Beauty, LL Bean, and others.
For advertisers, the Google-owned company is looking to capitalize on a strong year and increased viewership as well. Its premium content offering for those companies Google Preferred now reaches more 18-49 year-olds than any cable or episode streaming platform. This year, eligible VEVO channels and video will be joining Sony Music, Universal Music Group, and Warner Music Group on Google Preferred Lineups and Breakout Videos. Meanwhile, Google is partnering again with Global Citizen Festival and renewing its Coachella partnership for a further three years. That means that live-streamed events are set to remain a prominent part of the Google Preferred platform and sponsorships. Last but not least, the company says it is adding new signals to enhance affinity segments for Google Preferred. That should further improve its ability to help advertisers reach relevant audiences and audiences to see advertisements that are pertinent to them.