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- Influence Weekly #423 - Google Launches Creator Search Tool In Ads Platform For YouTube Partnership Discovery
Influence Weekly #423 - Google Launches Creator Search Tool In Ads Platform For YouTube Partnership Discovery
PMG Acquires Influencer Marketing Agency Digital Voices
Nii Ahene
January 09, 2026
Spotlight Stories
Google Launches Creator Search Tool In Ads Platform For YouTube Partnership Discovery
Instagram Head Adam Mosseri Sees Creator Value Rising As AI Floods Social Feed
PMG Acquires Influencer Marketing Agency Digital Voices
YouTube, Netflix Are Set To Change The Nature Of Podcasts In 2026
Great Reads
AI-generated virtual streamer Neuro-sama became Twitch's most-subscribed channel with over 162,000 active subscribers as of January 2, 2026, surpassing all human streamers on the platform. The channel was created by developer Vedal and streams continuously, using different generative AI systems to power movements, speech, and gameplay interactions with viewers. Neuro-sama was built using C# and Unity, with AI systems developed in Python.
The milestone occurred as virtual creator content reached mainstream adoption. YouTube data from April 2025 showed VTuber-related videos averaged 50 billion annual views over three years. A sample of 300 virtual creators generated over 15 billion views across videos, livestreams, and Shorts in 2024, including one billion views from U.S. audiences.
Instagram head Adam Mosseri published a December 31 post outlining his 2026 outlook, predicting that creator authenticity will become increasingly valuable as AI-generated content floods social feeds. Mosseri argued that as AI tools make high-quality content production accessible, audiences will shift focus from technical quality to creator credibility and recognizable authorship.
The platform executive noted that users have largely moved personal sharing from main feeds to Stories and direct messages, favoring unfiltered, technically imperfect content over polished imagery. He predicted users will gravitate toward deliberately raw aesthetics as signals of authenticity in an AI-saturated environment.
Instagram's December 2025 algorithm updates reflected this shift by deprioritizing templated or automated content while emphasizing topical clarity, early engagement signals, and originality. The platform now penalizes accounts posting across unrelated themes and reduces distribution of derivative content.
Influencer marketing agency YKONE merged with creative production house MIRROR MIRROR to form ONE, a Paris-based luxury brand marketing group. The combined entity generated €150 million in revenue and employed more than 400 people across 20 international cities as of January 2026.
The merger integrated YKONE's influencer marketing platform with MIRROR MIRROR's production capabilities. ONE incorporated YKONE's previous acquisitions including BarCode, an India-focused agency; BOLD, a talent management operation; and CAMPAYGN, a data and performance technology vertical.
Campaign Insights
Paramount launched a collaboration with TikTok for "Secret Screenings," invite-only film showings for content creators that remain undisclosed until attendees are seated in theaters. The partnership debuted January 5 with a screening of horror-thriller "Primate," featuring an appearance by star Johnny Sequoyah.
The program grants creators early access to Paramount's upcoming releases and library titles to generate conversation about theatrical releases. The initiative addresses lack of awareness, which surveys identify as a primary reason moviegoers skip films.
TikTok's Marketing Science team reports 34% of TikTok users who attend movies say the platform led them to watch a new film on streaming services. TikTok users are 44% more likely than non-users to visit theaters monthly, and 36% who discover films on TikTok purchase tickets. Paramount's 2026 slate includes "Scream 7" in February, "Scary Movie 6" in June, and "Street Fighter" in October.
Fox Entertainment launched Fox Creator Studios on January 7, 2026, during CES in Las Vegas, establishing a digital-first division focused on developing formats, intellectual property and talent from the creator community. The division debuts with food-focused content featuring chef Gordon Ramsay, YouTube baker Rosanna Pansino, British duo Jolly, Sorted Food, Food Theorists, and Little Remy Food.
The initiative includes Ramsay's Studio Ramsay Global, established through a 2021 partnership with Fox. Ramsay commands 115 million social media followers and produces programming including "Kitchen Nightmares" and "MasterChef" alongside digital content.
Fox Entertainment positions the division as providing creators with revenue diversification opportunities beyond platform algorithms while leveraging Fox's advertising infrastructure. The company plans to develop content for distribution across multiple platforms and international markets, with additional content verticals launching in coming months.
Google launched Creator Search, a new feature within its Google Ads Creator Partnerships Beta platform on January 8, 2026. The tool allows advertisers to discover and manage YouTube creator relationships directly through Google's advertising interface.
Ads expert Thomas Eccel first documented the feature on LinkedIn before it was reported by Search Engine Land. Creator Search enables advertisers to find YouTube creators using keywords or handles, with filtering options for subscriber count, average views per video, creator location, and contact availability. Advertisers can filter by specific subscriber ranges, such as 100,000 to one million subscribers, and view ranges between 10,000 and 50,000 views.
Google also added a Management menu that consolidates creator inquiry tracking, displaying creator names, inquiry status, subject lines, updates, response dates, and email addresses. The launch follows TikTok's expansion of search advertising capabilities and recruitment for over 120 positions across sales, engineering, and product teams globally to support its search division.
Omnicom Media unveiled a partnership connecting Walmart Connect's purchase data with Meta's Instagram influencer network to help brands select creators based on follower purchasing behavior rather than just demographics. The collaboration allows Omnicom's influencer agency Creo to use its Influencer Discovery Agent tool to identify Instagram creators whose followers demonstrate better conversion potential through actual Walmart purchase history.
The partnership expands Omnicom's existing data-driven influencer selection approach, which previously connected Walmart purchase data to TikTok last summer at Cannes Lions. Bimbo Bakeries U.S. has been using the system since summer 2025, utilizing the tool to select creators based on Walmart purchase patterns.
Tourism New Zealand spent $9.4 million on influencer marketing campaigns between January 2024 and September 2025, according to documents released under the Official Information Act. The government agency engaged 65 influencers across 13 global markets but declined to provide individual payment breakdowns, citing commercial sensitivity.
The spending breakdown included $1.2 million in fiscal year 2023/24, $6.1 million in 2024/25, and $2.1 million in the first quarter of 2025/26. Costs covered influencer payments, travel expenses, production costs, agency fees, events, and other market expenditures.
The campaigns generated $307 million in Equivalent Advertising Value in 2023/24 and $389 million in 2024/25. Tourism New Zealand targeted markets including the United States, United Kingdom, Japan, Korea, China, Australia, and Germany with content promoting destinations, off-peak travel, and stargazing tourism. The Taxpayers' Union of New Zealand, which obtained the disclosure, criticized the agency's refusal to provide detailed payment information or specific deliverables from individual influencers.
Publishers launched creator networks in 2024 and 2025 as traditional news organizations faced declining referral traffic and younger audiences increasingly following individual creators over mastheads. CNN announced CNN Creators in October 2024, a unit based in Qatar producing weekly shows for younger audiences. The Washington Post hired former Axios editor Sara Kehaulani Goo in August 2024 to build a creator network focused on personality-driven content.
Future introduced its Collab creator network in September 2024, partnering with 50 creators across its brands. Yahoo expanded its creator publishing platform launched in March 2024 to include over 200 lifestyle creators with 50/50 revenue splits. Bustle Digital Group's Nylon launched an invite-only creator membership program for advertiser access.
Younger Democratic politicians leveraged social media algorithms to launch campaigns without traditional party support, following New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani's successful digital-first strategy. Mamdani polled under 1 percent in February but won 70 percent of voters aged 18 to 44 in the general election after building his campaign around viral content.
Run for Something reported 10,000 young Democrats expressed interest in campaigns after Mamdani's primary victory, with 1,616 signing up within one day of November's government shutdown deal. More than 20 progressives under 40 announced congressional campaigns this cycle, nearly half challenging incumbent Democrats.
Candidates like Sam Foster, 24, running for mayor in Marietta, Georgia, and Kaylee Peterson, 35, seeking Idaho's 1st Congressional District seat, adopted similar approaches. Peterson raised $250,000 in her third campaign cycle, up from $70,000 in 2022, primarily through social media outreach after receiving no Democratic National Committee support. Mamdani raised over $750,000 from 8,500 contributors outside New York City between July and November.
Two Virginia residents filed a class-action lawsuit in federal court on January 5, 2026, accusing Drake, streamer Adin Ross, and Australia-based associate George Nguyen of promoting illegal gambling through casino platform Stake.us as part of an alleged racketeering conspiracy. Plaintiffs LaShawnna Ridley and Tiffany Hines claim they were influenced to gamble after viewing Drake's paid promotions and livestreamed gambling sessions.
The lawsuit targets Stake.us's dual-currency system that bundles virtual "Gold Coins" with "Stake Cash" tokens that can be wagered and exchanged for real money. Plaintiffs argue this structure allows the platform to operate in states where online casinos are prohibited by disguising gambling as sweepstakes.
The complaint alleges Drake used Stake funds to finance fraudulent streams of his music through automated bots across platforms including Spotify. Nguyen allegedly served as operational facilitator, receiving cryptocurrency through Stake channels and coordinating with bot vendors. The lawsuit seeks to represent Virginia residents who lost wagers using Stake Cash within the last three years under federal RICO and Virginia Consumer Protection Act violations.
Interesting People
Steven Bartlett, host of "The Diary of a CEO" podcast, appeared on Maggie Sellers Reum's "Hot Smart Rich" podcast on January 7 to discuss business strategies. The episode marked the first collaboration since FlightStory completed a seven-figure investment in "Hot Smart Rich" in December 2025.
Bartlett discussed his "Paper Walls" philosophy, which treats industry constraints as optional rules. He cited a Stanford study showing founders who view deadlines as optional deploy 300% more features and reach profitability 250% faster. He also outlined his "marginal gains" strategy, focusing on 1% incremental improvements rather than breakthrough innovation.
The appearance comes as Bartlett's venture Steven.com reached a $425 million valuation after completing an eight-figure investment round. "The Diary of a CEO" has 35 million followers, 14 million YouTube subscribers, and 60 million monthly listens and views. "Hot Smart Rich" reached 1.8 million downloads in under a year following the FlightStory partnership.
YouTuber Trisha Paytas announced she's considering a run for California's U.S. House of Representatives in 2026. The content creator shared her political aspirations in a video titled "2026 MANIFESTATIONS," telling followers the idea came to her in a vision. Paytas, who became a mother in 2022, says parenthood shifted her worldview and motivated her to get involved politically.
If elected, her primary goal would be raising the age requirement for adult entertainment participation to 25. Her proposed campaign slogan is "California could be good." Paytas hasn't specified which political party she'd join. The influencer admitted the prospect sounds "crazy" but says she wants to make a real difference for California and address what she sees as troubling global trends.
TikTok creator Morgan James won storyteller of the year at the TikTok UK and Ireland Awards 2025 in November, marking a career milestone for the Brighton-based content creator who has built 1.1 million followers since starting on the platform in 2019. James, known as Morgan M-James on TikTok, began posting music content after encouragement from a friend before expanding into lifestyle videos.
The creator transitioned from working as a videographer and wedding singer to making TikTok content his full-time job. His content creation work has led to international opportunities, including attending the Squid Games season two premiere in South Korea and visiting film sets in Greece.
James studied music, musical theatre and photography at East Sussex College before pursuing social media as a career. The college's CEO Rebecca Conroy praised his success as an example of creative education outcomes for alumni.
TikTok creator Paige Mackenzie built a business with nearly 10 million followers across platforms after starting on Musical.ly at age 15 in Arkansas. She now partners with brands including Walmart, Puma, Michael Kors, Prime Video, Audible, and Anastasia Beverly Hills.
Mackenzie documented her spinal surgery for a 45-degree scoliosis curvature, creating content that resonated with viewers facing similar health challenges. The surgery recovery took six months and became a narrative arc that drove engagement across her platforms.
She expanded into golf content, securing partnerships with Ghost Golf and TravisMathew while using the sport as content diversification. Mackenzie takes an active role in business negotiations and deal-making, drawing from her family's business background.
The creator emphasizes selectivity in brand partnerships, walking away from high-paying deals that don't align with her values. She advises newer creators to compare rates with peers and avoid undervaluing their work in brand negotiations.
Industry News
PMG has acquired Digital Voices, a London and New York-based influencer marketing agency with 70 employees. The deal brings two proprietary AI-powered tools to PMG: Chord and Composer, which handle campaign management, benchmarking, and predictive insights. These tools will integrate into PMG's marketing operating system, Alli, immediately.
Digital Voices serves major brands including General Mills, Adobe, DoorDash, and Unilever across technology, consumer goods, beauty, and wellness sectors. The agency launched the Global Influencer Council in July 2025, an invite-only network of 21 marketing leaders from companies like Amazon and Google.
Spotify has lowered Partner Program eligibility to 1,000 engaged audience members, 2,000 hours consumed in 30 days, and three published episodes, down from 2,000 listeners, 10,000 hours, and 12 episodes. The changes allow creators to monetize earlier through Premium video engagement payouts and advertising revenue.
The platform is launching video sponsorship management tools in April, enabling creators to update, schedule, and track host-read sponsorships in video episodes. A new Distribution API lets creators publish and monetize video podcasts on Spotify from participating hosting platforms including Acast, Audioboom, and Libsyn without re-uploading content.
Monthly video podcast consumption has nearly doubled since the program launched one year ago. Spotify also opened Sycamore Studios in West Hollywood for select Partner Program creators by invitation.
Digitalage, a subsidiary of Hop-on Inc., entered beta testing for its live news broadcasting platform designed for creators and journalists in January 2026. The platform offers creators a 70-85% revenue share compared to industry standards of 45-55% on existing platforms.
Digitalage built its system for real-time broadcasting rather than algorithm-driven feeds, enabling continuous publishing with structured replay and discovery features. The platform integrates identity-driven publishing, audience interaction tools, and privacy controls supported by patent-pending verification technologies.
Controlled beta testing began with Apple TestFlight access expected for initial creator groups. Hop-on Inc., which has operated since 1993 in electronics and telecommunications development, developed the platform using Web3 blockchain technologies focused on data portability and content protection.
Reddit launched Max Campaigns, an AI-powered automated advertising product now in beta testing. The system uses artificial intelligence and Reddit's Community Intelligence technology to optimize targeting, creative selection, budget allocation and placements in real-time without manual intervention.
Reddit tested Max Campaigns with over 600 advertisers in 2025. Brooks Running used the system for its Ghost 17 running shoe launch and achieved a 37% decrease in cost per click and 27% more clicks during a 21-day campaign. Split tests across 17 campaigns between June and August 2025 showed Max Campaigns delivered 17% lower cost per acquisition and 27% higher conversion rates compared to standard campaigns.
The product includes Top Audience Personas, which uses AI to cluster campaign audiences into categories like new parents or home cooks. Reddit reported Daily Active Uniques grew 19% year-over-year in Q3 2025, while ad conversions increased by more than double. The company plans broader rollout over coming months.
Researchers at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich conducted a controlled experiment with 60 participants that found TikTok specifically damaged users' prospective memory compared to Twitter and YouTube. The study tested how different platforms affected people's ability to remember tasks after interruptions.
After using TikTok, participants' accuracy dropped to levels only slightly better than random guessing when trying to recall their original tasks. Twitter and YouTube showed no measurable impact on memory performance. The researchers concluded the damage stems from short-form video formats rather than TikTok's engagement levels specifically.
A separate research team replicated these results in a study published in February 2025, confirming the initial 2023 findings. The format has since expanded across platforms including YouTube Shorts, Instagram Reels, Facebook Reels, and Bluesky's video features.
TikTok launched an expanded Intellectual Property Removal Request report in December 2025, detailing increased enforcement actions to protect shoppers from counterfeit goods on its platform. The company removed 30 times more products and content through proactive measures than through user reports between January and June 2025, with original violation determinations proven correct in over 89% of cases.
TikTok removed over 143 million videos for violations related to counterfeit goods trading and marketing, plus more than 530,000 videos and live-streams from TikTok Shop creators due to intellectual property infringement. The platform also streamlined its reporting process, reducing steps needed to report IP infringement from seven to one click for users in its Intellectual Property Protection Centre.
The enforcement push comes as TikTok Shop experiences growth outside mainland China, reportedly generating around $130 billion in gross merchandise value in 2025, representing a 100% year-over-year increase. This compares to parent company ByteDance's Chinese app Douyin, which generated approximately $500 billion in GMV in 2025.
PodcastAdBlock, a UK-based service owned by Freewheel Group Ltd, copied podcasts from publishers including Spotify, NPR, New York Times, and iHeart without permission and resold ad-free versions. The company charged $1.99 monthly to remove approximately ten minutes of ads from shows like Pivot, using AI to strip advertising content.
The service claimed to have removed 78,735 hours of ads, representing an estimated $944,000 in lost industry revenue over six months using a conservative $10 CPM calculation. Publishers received no compensation and did not opt into the program, with no opt-out mechanism available.
Ben Bowler, a serial entrepreneur who launched seven startups in 2025, built the service. Ironically, Bowler also created Poison Pill in September, a tool designed to protect musicians from unlicensed AI training. The company processed payments through Stripe, which prohibits services infringing intellectual property rights.
Chinese officials expressed uncertainty about a reported TikTok deal that would sell the platform's US operations to an Oracle-led consortium. On December 18th, 2025, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew informed US staff that a deal had been signed to transfer American operations to Oracle's investor group, with implementation scheduled for January 22nd, 2026.
However, Chinese state media issued a cautious statement on December 25th indicating the government "hopes that relevant parties can reach a solution regarding TikTok that complies with Chinese laws and regulations." Officials referenced a "basic framework consensus" but urged US negotiators to "earnestly fulfill" their commitments from negotiations.
The uncertainty comes as President Trump's fourth Executive Order suspending TikTok enforcement expires January 23rd, 2026. TikTok faced a ban under the Senate-approved "Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act" starting January 19th, 2025, but Trump paused enforcement through multiple executive orders while negotiations continued.
Triller, a creator platform and marketing company, was delisted from Nasdaq on December 30, 2025, after failing to file required quarterly and annual reports. The company missed its 2024 annual report and 2025 quarterly filings, prompting multiple Nasdaq notices and a hearing before its "ILLR" stock was suspended from the exchange.
Triller attributed the delayed filing to "one remaining technical matter involving the consolidation of accounts" and stated it was "highly confident" it would regain compliance within weeks. The delisting prevents investors from trading Triller's stock on Nasdaq, though over-the-counter trades may remain available.
The company reported $18 million in operating revenue for the first nine months of 2024, a 57% decline from 2023. Triller went public in October 2024 through a reverse merger with Hong Kong-based firm AGBA. In November 2024, the company appointed Sean Kim, former TikTok head of product, as CEO of its video app division. Triller owns multiple businesses including text-marketing tool Cliqz, influencer marketing platform Julius, and combat-sports streamer TrillerTV.
ThoughtLeaders, a Tel Aviv-based YouTube sponsorship company founded in 2017, reported facilitating more than $55 million in sponsorship deals while representing over 100 YouTube channels exclusively for sponsorship sales. CEO David Tintner said the bootstrapped company works with hundreds of brands annually across three divisions: a sponsorship software platform, media agency services, and talent representation.
The company operates exclusively on YouTube, rejecting multi-platform expansion strategies used by competitors. Tintner said ThoughtLeaders plans to target doubling its 2025 revenue in 2026 while maintaining its YouTube-only focus. The company's ThoughtLeaders Partner Program requires creators to meet operational standards including deadline compliance and standardized pricing aligned with what the company calls fair appraisal values.
ThoughtLeaders positions sponsorships as contextual advertising that complements rather than replaces traditional ad revenue streams like AdSense. The company uses performance-based attribution methods including QR codes, vanity URLs, creator-specific discount codes, and post-purchase surveys to measure campaign effectiveness for brand clients.
Registration Required
Netflix launched a video podcast slate in early 2026 to challenge YouTube's dominance in the podcast streaming market. Netflix secured at least 33 shows and planned to launch with 50 to 75 programs, including deals with Bill Simmons, Charlamagne Tha God's "The Breakfast Club," and several Barstool Sports offerings.
YouTube held the leading position among podcast platforms, with 40% of monthly listeners calling it their most-used service compared to Spotify's 18% and Apple's 11%, according to a June 2025 survey by Sounds Profitable and Signal Hill Insights. Fox also entered the podcast space in 2025 by acquiring Red Seat Ventures, which handles production and ad sales for Tucker Carlson, Megyn Kelly, and Bill O'Reilly, plus signed a deal bringing Audiochuck's shows to its Tubi streamer.
Netflix required exclusive video content, forcing hosts to remove shows from YouTube. The strategy posed risks for creators who valued YouTube's wide distribution, real-time data, and fan interaction capabilities that Netflix's closed platform could not replicate.
Margo Martin, a 30-year-old Trump aide, has become one of the GOP's most influential content creators by filming the president in various settings with her iPhone. Her behind-the-scenes footage generates massive engagement, with content from Trump's Asia trip viewed nearly 50 million times on her X account and over 222 million times on Team Trump social channels. Martin's raw, vertical videos are then repurposed by right-wing influencers for memes and viral content.
More than 300 high-profile Republican influencers and politicians have shared her posts since the inauguration. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt credits Martin with fueling news cycles and prime-time Fox packages. Her desk sits just outside the Oval Office, and her close proximity to Trump gives her unparalleled access to create content that reaches audiences traditional media cannot.
Creator economy startups raised nearly $2 billion in 2025, with venture capitalists shifting focus away from influencer-focused companies toward artificial intelligence, social commerce, and community platforms. Over a dozen startups secured at least $50 million in funding each, according to Business Insider's analysis of PitchBook data.
AI content creation tools captured more than half of the funding across 13 rounds reviewed. Suno, which creates AI-generated songs, raised $250 million in November, while text-to-voice company ElevenLabs secured $180 million. Other AI video and photo generation companies including Synthesia, PixVerse, and Krea collectively raised hundreds of millions.
Social commerce attracted substantial investment as live shopping gained traction in the US. Whatnot doubled its valuation to $11.5 billion after raising $490 million across two funding rounds in 2025. Affiliate marketing platform ShopMy raised $147.5 million total, reaching a $1.5 billion valuation.
Newsletter platform Substack raised $100 million in Series C funding at a $1.1 billion valuation, representing investor interest in alternative community platforms.