• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, February 13, 2012

Google is accelerating its focus on building out YouTube channels for the Hispanic market through partnerships with independent and traditional media companies, such as Telemundo, and Univision. The consumer segments range from retail to automotive to consumer products to technology.

The project, which began last year, supports five channels, including ClevverTV, Tutele, Nuevon and Werevertumorro. Some of the channels in Spanish have English subtitles.

Media providers have begun to focus on content for bicultural Latinos in hopes of attracting a variety of demographics, including second-and-third generation Hispanics. Lopez said this year he expects the majority of online growth to come from the Latino market. "About 95% of the teen population growth online in the U.S. will be Latino," said Mark Lopez, head of U.S. Hispanic audience at Google.

Last year, Google created a team led by Lopez to focus on serving the 50 million U.S. Hispanics who have about $1 trillion in spending power; 30 million are online. The focus supports content across desktops, tablets, smartphones, and TVs.

Lopez said Hispanic consumers have become much more tech savvy. About 55% use search engines to research tech-related information and rely on media consumption to make decisions. Online advertising effectively drives 61% of Hispanic tech shoppers to make in-store purchases, for example.

Citing Nielsen numbers, Lopez said this year streaming video should grow 23% on the Web, as well 15% on mobile. Overall, Americans spend more than 33 hours per week watching video across screens, according to Nielson.

While Google could opt into a subscription-based model for Hispanic channels in the future, today the offering remains an "open, ad-supported model," Lopez said.