YouTube has expanded its shopping affiliate program in the United States. As a result, eligible creators can now tag Amazon products directly in their content. Not only does this give creators a new way to earn money, but it also strengthens YouTube’s push into social commerce and in-video shopping.
Takeaways 🚀
✅YouTube adds Amazon affiliate tagging
✅Creators earn commissions from sales
✅Product tagging works across formats
✅Viewers get easier shopping access
✅Monetization options expand for creators
With this update, creators can tag a curated list of Amazon products across videos, Shorts, and livestreams. When viewers click and buy those products, creators earn a commission from each resulting sale. In short, the feature makes product discovery easier for audiences while opening yet another income stream for content creators.
How the Feature Works
YouTube’s shopping affiliate program already allowed eligible creators to tag products and earn commissions when those tags led to sales. Now, Amazon products are included in that same system.
Specifically, creators can choose from a curated catalog of Amazon items that YouTube has approved for tagging. If a creator wants to feature a product that isn’t on the list, they can request that it be added. On top of that, YouTube is introducing an auto-tagging option for eligible Amazon products, which makes the whole process faster and simpler for participating creators.
What Creators Need to Get Started
To use Amazon affiliate links through YouTube’s shopping tools, creators must first meet a few key requirements. To begin with, they need to enroll in YouTube’s shopping affiliate program. In addition, they must join Amazon’s influencer program. Beyond that, creators have to link their YouTube channel to their Amazon profile — without this step, they cannot enable commission earnings.
Taken together, these requirements suggest the feature is designed for creators who are already active in product recommendations, affiliate marketing, or shopping-focused content.
Why This Matters
The addition of Amazon affiliate links is good news for both creators and viewers. For creators, it adds a new revenue stream beyond ads, memberships, and sponsorships. Meanwhile, for viewers, it creates a more direct path from watching content to purchasing a featured product.
Furthermore, this update may outperform traditional product links placed in video descriptions. In fact, YouTube shared a notable data point: in a July 2026 experiment, videos using YouTube Shopping product tags alone saw over 110% more clicks on products than those using only description links. If that result holds at scale, in-video product tags could become a far more effective affiliate tool for many creators.
A Broader Shift in Creator Commerce
This move reflects a clear trend across the industry. More and more platforms are building shopping features directly into the content experience. Rather than redirecting users to external links, platforms now want discovery, engagement, and purchasing to happen seamlessly in one place. As a result, the gap between watching and buying continues to shrink.
YouTube first launched its shopping affiliate program in the U.S. back in 2022. After that, it expanded to markets like Thailand and India. Most recently, it extended the program to creators in the United Kingdom. Adding Amazon products is, therefore, the next logical step in that ongoing rollout.
Final Takeaway
Overall, YouTube’s decision to add Amazon affiliate links gives eligible creators a more integrated way to recommend products and earn commissions. By allowing creators to tag a curated list of Amazon items in their videos, Shorts, and livestreams, YouTube is making affiliate commerce more visible, more clickable, and easier to use than ever before.
For general audiences, the change simply means a smoother shopping experience. For creators, however, it could become a valuable and lasting new source of income.
