The number of sponsored videos on YouTube increased by at least 54% between H1 2024 and H1 2025, as brands spend more money on creator partnerships.
YouTube creators produced more than 65,000 sponsored videos* in the first half of 2025, according to a report by Tubefilter. Over the same period, views of sponsored videos on YouTube increased by 27.9%, to 19.1 billion.
‘The growth pattern — with video volume increasing faster than total views — signals that sponsorship opportunities are expanding beyond mega-creators to include emerging and mid-tier creators,’ according to the report.
The brands driving this growth in creator partnerships — at least in terms of volume — come mostly from the tech sector, according to Tubefilter’s YouTube data data.
A news aggregation app, called GroundNews, which compares coverage on stories from different publications, was the biggest spender in the first half of 2025. Squarespace, BetterHelp and DraftKings rounded up the top four.
Factor, a meal delivery service, also made the list of the top 10 brand sponsors by number of videos. And Jack Link’s, which sells beef jerky, appeared on the list of top 10 brands by video views. While these companies appear to be the odd ones out in a list dominated by apps and digital services, they are likely still targeting gamers and other groups who spend a disproportionate amount of their time online.
But the absence of household brand names from the FMCG or other more traditional sectors on the list is surprising. Especially in light of Unilever’s claims that it’s ramping up its use of influencers.
Joshua Cohen, co-founder of Tubefilter, told Next In Media’s Mike Shields that it was likely because ‘YouTube hadn’t caught on as much for brands as a place for influencers, particularly long-form video inventory’. In particular, because platforms like Instagram have made it so easy for brands to work with influencers.
MediaCat UK has contacted Cohen to ask if Tubefilter’s data only looks at brand-level data, which could explain the absence of corporations, like P&G and Unilever, but he has yet to respond.
You can find the full report here.
*based on videos achieving at least 25,000 views in seven days after being uploaded from English-speaking channels
Main image by NordWood Themes on Unsplash
