YouTube now lets creators tag Amazon products and earn commissions from purchases | TechCrunch

YouTube has introduced a major update to its shopping features by allowing eligible content creators based in the United States to tag Amazon products directly within their videos, Shorts, and livestreams.

This new collaboration integrates Amazon's extensive retail inventory directly into the video platform, providing a seamless way for creators to monetize their recommendations and earn commissions on viewer purchases. Instead of requiring creators to manually copy and paste external affiliate links into video descriptions, the native integration simplifies the process. Creators will have access to a curated catalog of trending items, and they can also opt to use an automated system that scans recent uploads to automatically identify and tag eligible merchandise.

The viewing of these product tags is global, meaning international audiences can see the links even though only U.S. creators can currently tag them. To accommodate global viewers, YouTube plans to automatically pair tagged products with local, trusted retailers in other regions, though transactions will route to Amazon's primary U.S. site if local options are unavailable. To qualify for this monetization feature, creators must belong to both the YouTube Partner Program and the Shopping Affiliate Program, alongside maintaining an active, linked Amazon Influencer or Associates account. Earnings will be reported as aggregated daily figures in YouTube Studio rather than individual product performance, and any returned items will result in a deduction from the creator's payout.