I had a very internet-heavy week, even by my standards.
YouTube is reportedly dropping millions to keep top creators off Netflix. The US Open has a creator press corps which I'm excited about, mostly because I’ve already decided tennis lessons are central to my 2027 personality. And retailers are stressing out about affiliate programs because the way people buy things has completely shifted.
I also overhauled my website on a random Wednesday without touching the live version until I was ready. Tiny product update, massive improvement to my willingness to f*ck around and find out.
Let’s talk about it.
YouTube is paying creators to stay home
YouTube is reportedly offering select creators millions to keep their shows exclusive to the platform. Meanwhile, Netflix is out here licensing internet shows and cutting deals with folks who built their audiences without major backing.
I've called creators "media companies" for years, but now the platform that built its empire on free, self-funded content is writing big checks to keep people from leaving.
For creators building real franchises, contract negotiations are starting to look like old-school Hollywood TV deals: distribution windows, first-look rights, and complex exclusivity clauses. The debate over whether internet content counts as "real entertainment" is officially dead. Now everybody is just fighting over who gets to host the party.
I think windowing is coming to more creator contracts.
Not every sponsored Reel needs it but once a creator owns a show that YouTube, Netflix, and whoever else wants to distribute, where that show lives, when it gets there, and who gets it first becomes part of what they’re selling.
Affiliate is getting harder to measure at the exact moment brands expect it to prove more
People keep saying "nobody buys through affiliate links anymore." That's not true, I work with creators selling six figures to millions a month. The issue is the standard affiliate setup still sees only part of the purchase journey which can hurt certain types of creators.
The internet used to be it’s own little world but now digital and daily life are one and the same.
Bazooka’s Great Candy Battle with Jessi Draper and Mayci Neeley (from The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives) is a good example of what I mean. They set up opposing creator teams to see who could drive the biggest sales lift across social, stores, and live events.
You aren't just buying a Ring Pop because Jessi posted a link; you see the content online, remember it three days later, and pick one up while walking through the grocery store.
The sale happened, the creator drove it, but the affiliate dashboard didn't track it.
If a creator reliably creates demand, brands have to look at retail lift, search spikes, and direct traffic and pay people fairly for moving culture, not just dropping links.
The US Open is casting honey! (nene leaks voice)
Last year, the US Open gave media credentials to 54 creators across fashion, food, wellness, and music. They pulled in over 5.5 million engagements.
The Australian Open took it even further, credentialing creators for hundreds of millions of impressions.
I love this strategy because it creates backdoors into a sport. You don't have to care about tennis to follow a food creator through the stadium vendor court, but suddenly the tournament is on your radar.
When I'm casting for health and wellness campaigns, I'm thinking a little deeper than "who's an expert in this niche?"