YouTube is Now Testing Shopping Ads and Affiliate Features in Shorts

Heads up content creators and even advertisers. YouTube is now testing a short-form video product –  a new shopping features and an affiliate program for YouTube Shorts.

Users will be able to purchase products as you scroll through YouTube Shorts in the new shopping features. This new affiliate program will benefit creators since it will allow creators to earn commissions when someone purchase for the product that got recommended in their Shorts or even regular videos.

Currently the affiliate program is only being tested in the United states. The Shopping features however will be available to other countries like United States, India, Brazil, Canada, and Australia.

In addition, YouTube recently announced a partnership with Twitch and Tiktok that would let creators profit from a share of ad revenues starting next year.

Creators will be able to apply to YouTube Partner Program (YTP) if they meet the new criteria that are Shorts-specific. The following criteria should be met: 1,000 subscribers and 10 million views on your YouTube shorts over 90 days. Once they meet the criteria, creators will be able earn 45% of the ad revenue from their Shorts.

It’s good to note as well that this option will co-exist with the first option to be a YouTube Partner which has the following criteria: 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 public watch hours. In short, as a content creator, you’ll have 2 ways to apply for the YTP.