YouTube Is Paying Millions To Keep Its Biggest Stars On The Site

Google has announced that it will be spending money on some of YouTube's biggest stars to help them develop new show ideas. This comes as the site faces competition from Facebook over control of the most popular online personalities.

In a post on the official YouTube Blog, Head of YouTube Originals Alex Carloss explained that Google will be funding new video projects from YouTube's big names. No details were revealed in the blog post, although Re/code is reporting that YouTube will be spending "millions" on "high-quality" content for the site.

YouTube is rumored to be interested in new formats instead of the short videos that helped its stars rise to fame. A video producer in talks with YouTube spoke to Re/code about the site's efforts, explaining that YouTube is offering Hollywood producers, promotion, and "single-digit millions" for a 10-part series.

The move from Google to spend millions on its top stars may be a response to efforts from its competitors to try and poach popular YouTube users. It has been reported that Facebook has assembled a specialist team to try and poach well-known YouTube users and convince them to post videos on Facebook instead. The company has also offered to help video creators with funding and audience development in return for their presence on Facebook.