YouTube announced on Friday, October 10, that it is expanding its AI-powered shopping features to creators in India who are part of its affiliate programme. These features include the ability to replace sponsored ads in long-form videos and add brand website links in Shorts, giving creators more flexibility and monetisation options.
The Google-owned platform is also introducing an AI system that automatically tags products at the moment they are mentioned in videos. This tool identifies key moments of viewer engagement and builds on creators’ existing ability to manually tag products. Interestingly, the product-tagging feature is not powered by Google’s Gemini AI. YouTube said it will begin testing the feature’s ability to automatically detect and tag “all eligible products” mentioned in videos later this year.
The expansion comes as generative AI continues to transform creator-led commerce. While AI companies are developing new ways for users to shop and pay through conversational tools, YouTube has clarified that it will not allow third-party agents to interact with or make automated purchases on its platform. “At the moment, that is not on the anvil to allow third-party agents to interact with the platform,” said Gunjan Soni, Managing Director-India, YouTube.
When asked about the accuracy of the new AI tagging system, Shubha Pai, Head of YouTube Sales and Solutions-India, said, “The feature is about to be rolled out soon and we are doing several trials to better understand. By definition, generative AI is a learning algorithm so it will continue to learn and evolve.”
Eligible creators in India will also soon be able to insert or replace brand segments in long-form videos, while brands will get easier access to discover creators through the new Creator Partnerships Hub in Google Ads.
YouTube has partnered with Nykaa and Purplle as new merchant partners, allowing creators to tag products from these brands, along with existing partners like Flipkart and Myntra. The platform will also launch a programme with Nykaa to support upcoming beauty and lifestyle creators in India.
Since launching the Shopping Affiliate Programme in India last year, YouTube has paid out Rs 21,000 crore to creators. Over 40 per cent of eligible creators in India are now part of the programme, with more than 3 million videos carrying affiliate product tags.
YouTube continues to grow as a shopping destination in India, with over 200 million logged-in users performing shopping-related searches and a 250 per cent increase in shopping watch time year over year. Around 88 per cent of Indian shoppers say YouTube is important for product research, while 85 per cent trust creators’ opinions on brands and products.
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