BEIJING, Sept. 19 (Xinhuanet) -- Google’s Youtube is launching a new initiative to help stars on its video-sharing platform create high-quality content for the site.
The search giant is planning to invest millions of dollars in performers to produce various kinds of content, of different formats, and ranges in length. The company is also considering pairing the YouTube performers with Hollywood producers, according to media reports on Friday.
The plan comes as competition heats up in the realm of online video. Facebook has reportedly been eyeing some of YouTube's most popular creators and trying to lure them into distributing their work on the social network instead.
Google is bolstering its spending on YouTube as it seeks to become a stronger competitor to traditional television and digital upstarts such as Netflix Inc., based in Los Gatos, California, and Hulu LLC in Los Angeles.
Three years ago, YouTube spent more than 100 million U.S. dollars on a push to get performers to create their own YouTube channels.
"Now, we feel the time is right to make another important investment in our creators," Alex Carloss, head of YouTube original content, said in a blog post. "That's why we've decided to fund new content from some of our top creators, helping them not only fulfill their creative ambitions but also deliver new material to their millions of fans on YouTube."
YouTube has already built studios with video equipment in cities such as Tokyo and London and paid for marketing campaigns for popular YouTube stars such as fashion icon Bethany Mota.
(Agencies)
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