The screenshot vidIQ posted showed a tab in YouTube Studio that it described as a "creator discovery" hub. According to vidIQ, YouTube calls the feature Channel Search.

Users could search for certain channels and see their backend analytics:

• Audience size. Unique viewers.

• Engagement. Watch time.

• Who watches. Audience age and gender.

• Where they watch. Top countries.

YouTube told Tubefilter it ran the experiment for "a small number of brand channels" and that it "strictly targets brand channels only". It is not a tool for creators to compare their numbers with other creators.

YouTube also said:

• Creators opted in. The creators whose analytics appeared had agreed to share them.

• Limited data. What brands saw was public information already available through YouTube's creator partnership tools.

• One mistake. A non-brand account was given access in error, and YouTube rolled the experiment back when it found the problem.

Tubefilter notes that Channel Search may not go beyond this test.

The test fits a wider move. In March 2026 YouTube merged BrandConnect and the Creator Partnerships Hub into one platform, YouTube Creator Partnerships, live in seven markets including the UK, according to PPC Land. There, creators can share channel and audience insights with advertisers and present their data in media kits.

The point for creators is simple: brands are getting more ways to check your audience before they offer a deal. Know your numbers, keep an eye on what you have chosen to share, and make sure your audience matches the brands you want to work with. That is the kind of work our creator management team does with talent every day.

Follower counts only tell part of the story. Data on watch time, audience age, gender and top countries lets a brand see whether a creator's viewers are the people it wants to reach, and in which markets.

Google describes its Creator Partnerships hub in Google Ads as a central place to search for YouTube creators, link sponsored creator videos and see organic and paid metrics. Whether or not Channel Search returns, the data is moving closer to the brands that book creators. For help planning talent campaigns or creator content, see our guide to UGC for brands.