This is one of those things that was bound to happen at some point. Creators can now sell you things from Amazon directly in their videos. The news comes directly from Neal Mohan, YouTube’s CEO. Mohan announced Amazon’s entry into the YouTube affiliate program on X (via Android Authority).
Going forward, eligible creators can tag Amazon products in their videos and YouTube Shorts. So, prepare to have your favorite YouTube creators selling you more stuff thanks to this new partnership.
Most creators are selling something
To be completely honest, I get it, creators need a way to generate more revenue, since some of them rely on the income as their full-time job. We’ve also seen this on other platforms like Instagram, so it only makes sense for YouTube to keep up.
Over the past several years, the lines have blurred quite a bit when it comes to what kind of content you’re actually watching. Sometimes the videos are so well put together that you don’t even realize you’re being sold a product.
YouTube’s algorithm hasn’t been all that great either, pushing content front and center that you often times don’t even want to watch.
YouTube creators used to rely just on ad revenue. However, that isn’t as fruitful as it was a decade or so ago. Naturally, YouTube has introduced new ways for creators to make money outside this lane, like brand partnerships, YouTube Shopping, channel memberships, gifts, and more.
There really isn’t another platform like YouTube. So, if you’re a creator or even someone who just loves to watch content, there really isn’t a valid alternative, despite some creators trying to get something similar off the ground. While there wasn’t much shared, this Amazon affiliate will only be available in the US for now.
We can easily imagine this branching out to other regions over time. Amazon is available in roughly 20 countries, so we don’t think this would be a stretch to get done by the end of the year. Naturally, each region has its own set of rules, so compliance would be the biggest hurdle.
Watch Later playlists are fixed
Perhaps more interesting is that YouTube finally revived Watch Later playlists after a bug wiped them out for users. If you were down because the videos you saved to Watch Later were gone, you can now hop back on the app and enjoy them without any issues.