Google To Invest Millions On Celebrity Youtube Channels

The recent boom of YouTube stars may get pushed aside by established Hollywood stars. Google is looking to entice established celebrities with $5 million dollars for their own YouTube channel of original content. The money would cover salaries, production values, and the celebrity would get full ownership of the show. Google hopes to get twenty celebrity channels, which equals to a $100 million investment. They can afford the price tag by making it back quickly with the premium advertising they plan to run on the channels. The move mirrors what AOL and Yahoo are doing with personal celebrity channels, but YouTube has a much larger footprint and distribution network.

Established independent YouTube stars aren't excited about the new development, but understand that it makes business sense for Google to do this. Many of the more popular YouTube stars are now YouTube partners with the company meaning they get a check from YouTube for their number of views and subscriptions. These independent stars can make up to six figures a year through their YouTube channels.

With the influx of celebrity channels may give independent YouTubers less of chance to get popular. "I'm not really expecting handouts from Google, but I feel that they should definitely contribute more to people that have a proven track record of being consistent and devoted to the site from the beginning, rather than people that are using it just because they're getting some money thrown at them," says one independent YouTube star, Alex Negrete (keeptheheat).

[via Business Insider]