• by Laurie Sullivan , Staff Writer @lauriesullivan, August 7, 2015

Google will reduce the number of advertising options on YouTube, but mobile apps like StarMaker Interactive are developing other ways for advertisers to attract attention for their brands.

By the end of this year, marketers will no longer have the option to purchase YouTube ads through the DoubleClick Ad Exchange (AdX), turning the focus toward offerings like programmatic video buying, TrueView and Google Preferred. Some brands are taking control of the way they earn revenue through videos that end up on YouTube.

StarMaker developed a business model that provides YouTube talent with channels or pages, as well as movie studios like Universal Pictures, or television shows like "American Idol" and "The Voice," enabling them to create opportunities through revenue share licensing deals, promotions and campaigns. About 30 million people have downloaded the apps, per Nathan Sedlander, president and co-founder of StarMaker Interactive.

Sedlander said StarMaker supports many auditions and promotions running simultaneously, such as American Idol auditions or promotions for television shows like "The Voice." Many of the video end up on YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook. The app gives singers access to mainstream music opportunities such as record labels like Atlantic Records, RCA, and Columbia, and others searching for the next generation of talent.

Nothing is really new here, but as content becomes more important to brands, Sedlander provides a few search marketing tip reminders to brands and strategies to get attention for the "American Idol" hopefuls.

He says singers should start by creating a cover of a song heading up the music charts and publish it on YouTube or Facebook. As the world searches on Google, Bing, and YouTube for the cool song sung by Katie Perry climbing the music charts, the cover songs created in StarMaker app serve up in search results beneath the original song in the video.

Songs recorded in the StarMaker app are indexed in search results by optimizing embedded metadata. Sedlander says most budding talent sings covers. "Taylor Swift grew up singing Spice Girl covers," he said, explaining how new vocal artists can capitalize on searches for big hit songs by recording cover versions.

The crew over at StarMaker optimizes the videos for the song title and the word "cover" version, which Friday returned about 118 million search queries in YouTube, and 114 million in Google. "Lyrics," another widely searched on term, also is added into the description of the video because many viewers are looking for the lyrics rather than the song name.

The app features about 1,000 of the top pop songs on the radio today. In karaoke style, the app uses the front facing camera on the mobile phone. The microphone picks up the singer's voice. It also provides full backing tracks. The app maps out the melody of the song and guides the singer to the notes he must hit to remain in tune. A reporting feature provides insight as to whether the singer remained in pitch.