YouTube creators gather in Playa Vista to mingle with leading brands

Inside a historic airplane hangar in Playa Vista, throngs of people gathered Thursday to browse the latest fashions from handbags to dresses and shoes as they prepare for the holiday shopping season.

It is not consumers or retailers who are looking for the latest products. Instead, they were YouTube video creators courted by brands from Louis to Shark Beauty to encourage online viewers to buy their products.

Aaron Ramirez, a 22-year-old influencer who focuses on men’s fashion and lifestyle, stood in front of carefully curated shelves of backpacks as he decided which items to endorse for his 234,000 YouTube subscribers.

“I can make a video about anything that improves my quality of life and add a link,” Ramirez said. “I only recommend products that I actually use and really like.”

The San Diego native was among about 300 creators who participated in YouTube’s annual benefit for creators called “Holiday Home,” which helps Internet personalities sell goods during the busy holiday shopping season.

The event — held in Google’s cavernous converted offices that once housed Howard Hughes’ famous Spruce Goose plane — underscores YouTube’s ambitions to become a major player in online shopping by using its relationships with manufacturers to promote products in the same way that rival TechTek does.

In August, YouTube introduced new tools to help its creators promote the products they plug into their videos. One feature uses AI to identify the best place on the screen to place a purchase link when an influencer points to a product. If a customer clicks on this link and makes a purchase, the creator receives a commission.

Brands that were once skeptical of influencers have embraced them over time as sales tracking tools have improved and the fan base of video creators has grown.

“It’s like the people you’ve seen on TV and the people you’ve heard on the radio before that become trusted figures in your life,” Ernest Petty, head of trending insights at YouTube, said in an interview. “Oprah’s Favorite Things was a phenomenon because of how trusted Oprah was, so it’s really the same phenomenon, just spread throughout the creator ecosystem.”

Despite economic uncertainty and tariffs imposed by the Trump administration, consumers in the United States are expected to spend $253.4 billion online this holiday season, up 5.3% from last year, according to data firm Adobe Analytics.

Social media platforms have helped drive some of this growth. Online revenue market share in purchases directed by social media affiliates and partners, including influencers, is expected to grow 14%, according to Adobe Analytics.

Cost-conscious consumers are doing more research on how they spend their money, including looking at influencer offers. In fact, according to YouTube, nearly 60% of 14- to 24-year-olds who go online say their personal style has been influenced by the content they’ve seen on the Internet.

“It’s more about discovery, knowing where the best deals are, where the best options are,” said Vivek Pandya, Adobe’s director of digital insights. “Many of these users are getting this guidance from their influencers.”

YouTube is one of the top streaming platforms, accounting for 13.1% of viewing time on US TV sets in August, more than competitors Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, according to Nielsen. And shopping-related videos are especially popular among this audience, with more than 35 billion hours watched each year, according to YouTube.

With YouTube’s shopping feature, viewers can view products, add them to a cart, and make a purchase directly from the video they’re watching.

One-click e-commerce promotion and activation from video is huge in China, creating a wave of live streaming and recorded shopping videos across Asia and the world. Live commerce, also known as live shopping or live streaming e-commerce, is a powerful combination of streaming, chatting and shopping.

The lure of shopping is turbocharged with algorithms like Talk Talk Shop, encouraging people to try other channels and products.

1

2

1. YouTube content creators Diana Eckstein, left, and Candace Waltrip try on movie costumes during YouTube’s Holiday House Shopping event at Google Spruce Goose on Thursday in Playa Vista, Calif. 2. YouTube content creator Peja Ann, 15, makes a video as her mother Christine Roeder films beauty products at YouTube’s Holiday Home Shopping event at Google Spruce Goose on Thursday in Playa Vista, Calif.

A YouTube content creator who declined to be named browses YouTube’s Holiday House Shopping event at Google Spruce Goose in Playa Vista, Calif., on Thursday.

YouTube content creator Cheri Lewis’ channel focuses on lifestyle and fragrance, and the brand’s deal with Fenty Beauty has helped launch her content to a larger audience.

As of July, more than 500,000 video creators have signed up to participate in YouTube Shopping, the company said.

Creators who promote products can earn money through advertising and brand deals, as well as commissions.

YouTube already shares ad and subscription revenue with its creators and currently takes no less from its shopping tools, said Travis Katz, YouTube’s vice president of shopping.

“For us, it’s really about connecting the dots,” Katz said. “At YouTube we’re focused first and foremost on, how do we make sure our creators are successful? This gives creators a new way to monetize.”

Companies like Austin-based BK Beauty, which was founded by YouTube creator Lisa J, said YouTube helped sell their products.

“They’ve built this long-term audience,” said Sofia Monetti, BK Beauty’s senior manager of social business and influencer marketing. “A lot of these creators have created channels. They’ve been around for a decade and just have a really engaged community.”

To be sure, YouTube faces a strong competitor in TikTok, which is a leader in the live shopping space (its parent company, ByteDance, is being sold to a group of American investors so that the very popular app can continue to operate in the United States).

Two years ago, the social video company launched TikTok Shop, working with creators and brands on live shopping broadcasts that encourage viewers to buy products. TikTok had 8 million hours of live shopping sessions in 2024.

YouTube says that its size and technology create advantages, along with the loyalty that creators build with fans when it comes to product offerings.

Bridget Dolan, YouTube’s director of shopping partnerships, said that “shopping has been in YouTube’s DNA from day one” and that the company is integrating shopping features into its viewing experience.

YouTube content creators view products and film content during YouTube’s Holiday House Shopping event at Google Spruce Goose on Thursday in Playa Vista, Calif.

Santa Clarita-based YouTube creator Cheray Lewis said YouTube Shopping helped her gain traction and build a loyal audience through quality offerings. Louis, who has 109,000 subscribers on YouTube, makes videos about things like perfume and skin care products.

Lewis has been a video producer for eight years and has worked with companies such as Rihanna’s beauty brand Fenty.

“I try to encourage women and men to feel bold and confident through the fragrances they wear,” Lewis said at the event on Thursday. “I give my audience real talk, real honesty.”