YouTube's 'Affiliate Hub' Offers A New Way For Channels To Make Money

YouTube's Affiliate Hub is a new shopping tool integrated into the YouTube app that serves as a central place for channels to browse top affiliate partners, commission rates, promotional offers, and request product samples. It aims to simplify the process for creators to earn affiliate marketing income by consolidating various brand opportunities, promo codes, and commission information in one location.

Shopping Collections on YouTube allow creators to curate their own product galleries by grouping products into themed collections. These collections make it easier for viewers to discover and purchase related items. Collections will appear in a channel's product list, Store tab, and video descriptions. Initially, this feature is launching on the Studio app for mobile, with plans to expand to desktop soon.

The new product tagging feature on YouTube, which was previously available to affiliate shopping creators, has been expanded to all Shopping creators. This feature allows creators to bulk tag products across their entire video library, potentially increasing revenue from older, high-traffic content. Creators can tag their products and merchandise, making it easier for viewers to find and purchase items featured in the videos.

Fourthwall integration with YouTube enables creators to create and manage their storefronts directly within YouTube Studio. This integration with the e-commerce platform streamlines the process of setting up and maintaining an online store, making it more convenient for creators to sell products and merchandise through their YouTube channels.

YouTube is enhancing its ecommerce capabilities to capitalize on the growing creator economy and shopping trends. With viewers watching over 30 billion hours of shopping-related videos in 2023, representing a 25% increase in watch time year over year, YouTube is providing creators with more opportunities to monetize their content and making it easier for viewers to connect with products and creators they love.