YouTube is testing “Social Shopping” through video content creators. Instead of allowing YouTubers to apply, the platform has taken a slightly different approach, presumably to test the services and tools. YouTube’s “Tag Products” pilot program isn’t widely available yet.
YouTube recently invited a few content creators to test out a new product-tagging shopping tool as part of the Tag Products pilot program. The program will pay YouTubers a predetermined amount per month to be part of the program, and will also reward them for every click the tagged products receive.
Business Insider has indicated that YouTube started inviting content creators via emails to join the program earlier this year, and is paying them to test it out. The email stressed the Tag Products feature is in beta and isn’t commonly available.
The Tag Products feature works similar to the social shopping phenomenon that’s common on TikTok and Instagram. Simply put, the feature lets creators tag products within a video.
Those invited to test the feature can select products in their channel dashboard. These products will trigger a “View products” pop-up onscreen when a video is being viewed. Viewers can choose to browse the products on the video page itself, and if interested, proceed to buy on retailers" websites.
YouTube isn"t offering creators any affiliate commissions from sales through the Tag Products platform. Instead, the company is paying a fixed amount per month for using the feature. Additionally, YouTubers can earn a small amount each time a viewer clicks on a product tag and visits the product page.
The payments seem to vary depending on the YouTuber. The quantum of payment also depends on the product and “other factors”. Additionally, YouTube seems to be offering more exposure to videos that have the Tag Products feature being used. In other words, YouTube could be increasing the potential for a video to show up in other places across YouTube. This would obviously have a positive impact on the participating YouTuber’s reach and engagement.
Via: Business Insider