YouTube announced on Thursday that eligible creators in the U.S. can now tag Amazon products in their content and receive a cut of sales. Creators can link Amazon products in their shorts, long-form videos, and livestreams.
The update turns product recommendations into a more direct revenue stream for creators, and for Amazon, the move puts its massive online marketplace inside one of the most popular video platforms.
Although YouTube already runs a Shopping affiliate program with participating retailers, the addition of Amazon’s vast catalog essentially allows creators to recommend a variety of products through a native integration. By bringing Amazon into the Shopping Affiliate Program, creators no longer need to paste Associates links in the video’s description, then hope viewers copy the link when they make a purchase.
Instead, YouTube says Amazon will provide it with a curated catalog of highly requested and trending products that creators can tag in their videos. If a creator can’t find a specific product that they want to tag, they can request to add it by reaching out to YouTube Support.
The feature also includes auto-tagging support. If enabled, YouTube’s systems can automatically review a creator’s recent uploads to identify and tag eligible Amazon products.
YouTube notes that creators won’t see breakdowns for specific products or individual videos in their analytics, but that they’ll see their overall daily earnings in YouTube Studio. If a viewer ends up returning an item, that commission will be deducted from the creator’s balance.
While only eligible U.S. creators can currently tag Amazon products, those tags can be seen globally. YouTube says it may automatically match a tagged product with a trusted local merchant offer to allow creators to earn commissions on eligible international purchases. If a local merchant isn’t available, the tag will route viewers to the Amazon U.S. website, where commission will be earned if a purchase is finalized on the U.S. site.
To be eligible, creators must be enrolled in YouTube’s Partner and Shopping Affiliate programs, have an active Amazon Influencer or Associates account, and link it to their YouTube channel.
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