Business & Finance
YouTube adds Amazon to its native creator shopping affiliate program
Eligible U.S. creators can now tag Amazon products directly in long-form videos, Shorts, and livestreams to earn sales commissions.
The short version
- YouTube announced that Amazon has officially joined the YouTube Shopping affiliate program, enabling creators to tag products directly in their content.
- Eligible U.S. creators can now link Amazon listings in videos, Shorts, and livestreams to earn commissions without needing manual links in video descriptions.
- Product tags posted by eligible U.S. creators will be visible to viewers globally, with analytics tracking overall daily earnings in YouTube Studio.
- Creators must be enrolled in the YouTube Partner and Shopping Affiliate programs and possess an active, linked Amazon Influencer or Associates account.
Key facts
- YouTube CEO Neal Mohan announced that Amazon has joined the YouTube Shopping affiliate program.[Engadget]
- Eligible U.S. creators can tag Amazon items directly in long-form videos, Shorts, and livestreams to earn sales commissions.[TechCrunch · Engadget]
- To participate, creators must belong to YouTube's Partner and Shopping Affiliate programs and maintain an active Amazon Influencer or Associates account linked to their channel.[TechCrunch]
- YouTube offers an optional auto-tagging feature that scans recent uploads to automatically tag eligible Amazon products.[TechCrunch]
- Commissions earned from purchases are deducted from a creator's balance if a viewer subsequently returns the item.[TechCrunch]
- YouTube lowered subscriber thresholds for its e-commerce program in March, and over 1 million people have signed up to participate in YouTube Shopping.[Engadget]
What remains uncertain
- It is unspecified whether YouTube plans to expand native Amazon product tagging capabilities to creators based outside the U.S. in the future.[TechCrunch]