YouTube expands Shopping affiliate program to US, Germany, and Poland

YouTube is expanding its Shopping affiliate program globally, allowing content creators to tag products directly within videos, Shorts, and livestreams. This feature moves product discovery from the description box to the video interface, a shift that internal testing suggests can increase product clicks by approximately 110 percent.

In the United States, the program has integrated with Amazon, enabling creators to select items from an authorized catalog via a product picker tool in YouTube Studio. In Germany, the rollout includes ten major retailers such as Otto, Kaufland, MediaMarktSaturn, and Tchibo. The system connects to the Google Merchant Center to synchronize product catalogs.

In Poland, the service is launching with Allegro as a primary partner. The integration utilizes AI tools to help identify products and allows viewers on Smart TVs to complete purchases by scanning QR codes with their phones. The program aims to provide creators with new revenue streams while offering brands a direct sales channel through social commerce.