YouTube now lets you sponsor your favorite YouTube gamers. And even if you don't watch any gamers on YouTube, sponsorships are likely to become a big part of YouTube in the future. So you may want to start thinking about which YouTubers deserve your hard-earned cash. And which don't.

If you spend time on the web you probably visit YouTube several times every day. Maybe to see cats being cute, or maybe to check out the latest viral videos. Or maybe you're a fan of particular channels, whose content you vacuum up as soon as it goes live. If so, this news is for you...

After a brief period of testing, YouTube is rolling out sponsorships to all YouTube Gaming channels. Sponsors pay $4.99-per-month to support their favorite channel(s), and in return get a custom badge that helps them stand out in sponsors-only live chats as well as a custom emoji.

The idea here is to help bridge the gap between content creators and their fans. While YouTube has until now acted as the gatekeeper collecting a percentage of the money from gate receipts (ad revenue), sponsorships help you, the people consuming the content, give money directly to your favorite creators.

While sponsorships are initially only available to YouTube Gaming channels, YouTube has announced it's also testing them on non-gaming channels. Which means it won't be long before you'll be able to sponsor your favorite YouTubers, whether they play games or not. Which includes your very own MakeUseOf!

The introduction of sponsorships, alongside YouTube Red and Super Chat, means YouTube no longer has any need for paid channels. Launched in 2013, paid channels allowed selected creators to charge for content. They were never particularly popular, so we doubt that anyone will miss them.

Competing With Twitch and Patreon

This is YouTube trying to compete with Twitch and Patreon, both of which help content creators connect with their supporters in a big way. This intimate support for the people, channels, and websites you personally care about is the future. Especially with ad revenues continuing to slide.

Do you regularly visit YouTube? If so, how much time do you spend on YouTube every day? Do you have favorite YouTubers? Or do you just click on videos that interest you? What do you think of YouTube sponsorships? Who are you likely to sponsor? The comments are open below.