YouTube Brings Amazon Shopping Into Videos, Creators Can Earn Commissions

YouTube is giving eligible U.S. creators a more direct way to monetize product recommendations by letting them tag Amazon products in Shorts, long-form videos, and livestreams, with commissions earned when viewers make qualifying purchases.

The integration removes one of the clunkier steps in affiliate marketing on YouTube. Instead of relying on Amazon Associates links placed in video descriptions, participating creators can now put Amazon products directly in front of viewers through YouTube Shopping.
 

TL;DR

 

• Eligible U.S. YouTube creators can tag Amazon products across Shorts, videos, and livestreams.
• Creators can earn commissions from qualifying purchases without relying solely on description-based Associates links.
• Amazon tags can appear globally, with YouTube potentially matching products to eligible local merchant offers.

 

Amazon Product Tags Turn YouTube Videos Into A Direct Affiliate Channel

YouTube already operates its Shopping Affiliate Program with participating retailers, but adding Amazon substantially expands the range of products creators can recommend through the platform.

Amazon will provide YouTube with a curated catalog of highly requested and trending products that eligible creators can tag. If a particular item is missing, creators can request its addition by contacting YouTube Support.

For Amazon, the integration also brings its marketplace deeper into one of the world’s biggest video platforms. For creators, it turns product recommendations within their content into a more direct route to affiliate revenue.
 

 

YouTube Adds Auto-Tagging For Eligible Amazon Products

Creators will not necessarily have to tag every eligible product manually.

YouTube is also introducing auto-tagging support that can review a creator’s recent uploads and identify eligible Amazon products featured in the content. Creators can enable the feature if they want YouTube’s systems to handle that process automatically.

However, YouTube Studio will not provide earnings breakdowns for individual Amazon products or specific videos. Creators will instead see their overall daily earnings, while commissions from returned products will be deducted from their balance.
 

Amazon Product Tags On YouTube Can Reach Viewers Globally

Although the ability to add Amazon tags is currently limited to eligible creators in the U.S., viewers around the world can see those tags.

YouTube may automatically match a tagged item with an offer from a trusted local merchant, allowing creators to earn commissions from eligible international purchases. Where no suitable local merchant is available, viewers will be directed to Amazon’s U.S. website, with commissions applying if the purchase is completed there.
 

 

Who Can Tag Amazon Products On YouTube?

Creators must be enrolled in both the YouTube Partner Program and YouTube Shopping Affiliate Program to use the integration.

They also need an active Amazon Influencer or Amazon Associates account and must link that account to their YouTube channel.

With Amazon now officially part of YouTube Shopping’s affiliate ecosystem, creators have another way to turn product-focused content into revenue without sending viewers hunting through video descriptions first.