YouTube has added Amazon to its Shopping Affiliate Program in the United States, allowing eligible creators to tag Amazon products directly in Shorts, long-form videos, and livestreams. Viewers can use those tags to discover products while watching, while creators can earn commissions from qualifying purchases.
The integration gives creators another alternative to placing affiliate links in video descriptions. To use Amazon product tags, a creator must be enrolled in the YouTube Partner Program and the U.S. YouTube Shopping Affiliate Program, and have an active Amazon Influencer Program or Amazon Associates Program account in good standing linked to their YouTube channel.
Once enabled, creators can select products through YouTube Studio’s curated catalog, and creators who cannot find a particular item can ask YouTube Creator Support to consider adding it. YouTube can also automatically identify and tag eligible Amazon products in recent and future uploads when auto-tagging is enabled.
YouTube Studio provides metrics including clicks and estimated revenue, but Amazon purchase data is aggregated where creators can see daily revenue, clicks, and sales without seeing which specific product or video generated an Amazon purchase.
Finalized Amazon commissions are paid through AdSense alongside existing YouTube affiliate earnings. Payments operate on a monthly cycle; YouTube says, for example, that earnings finalized in January would be paid during the March payment cycle. Returns can reduce later commissions and may temporarily create a negative balance that carries into the following month.
The system can also account for some viewers outside the U.S. YouTube Shopping may match a tagged item with an eligible offer from a trusted local merchant, potentially allowing the creator to earn a commission on an international purchase. When no suitable local match is available, the tag may instead direct the viewer to Amazon’s U.S. or local storefront.
Creators who linked their Amazon Influencer or Associates account to YouTube before September 2024 must link it again using the current process. YouTube also limits Amazon product-tagging eligibility to one YouTube channel per Amazon account.
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