Washington: YouTube Shorts will soon be including new shopping features on the platform. This includes affiliate marketing and the ability to purchase items through Shorts, YouTube's TikTok-like short-form video.
YouTube parent Alphabet is looking to diversify its revenue stream squeezed by falling ad spending, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday.
Ad sales on Alphabet-owned YouTube slipped to $7.07 billion in the third quarter from $7.2 billion a year earlier, as some advertisers pulled back on their ad spending in the face of an economic slowdown.
The streaming service is also testing new commission schemes for influencers who sell products through links in videos, the newspaper said.
According to The Verge, the long-form video giant is testing shopping features with US-based creators and audiences in the US, India, Brazil, Canada, and Australia.
As per the report, this allows influencers to tag their own products in Shorts that viewers can then purchase. An affiliate marketing program, open to select US influencers, adds yet another way for creators to monetize their Shorts.
For platforms that run on advertising dollars, shopping is a potentially lucrative area and Shorts competitors are eyeing expanding even more into e-commerce, reported The Verge.
Affiliate programs and other shopping features could make YouTube more appealing for content creators as the company tries to compete with TikTok.
Last week, TikTok began testing its long-anticipated Shop program, which lets users purchase products directly in the app.
As per GSM Arena, TikTok has made clear its plan to integrate shopping into its app: before testing in the US, the feature was available in the UK and parts of Southeast Asia.
YouTube did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment.
The report comes months after YouTube unveiled a new way for creators to make money on short-form videos, introducing advertising on its video feature Shorts and giving video creators 45% of the revenue.
The internet's dominant video site has struggled to compete with TikTok, the app that got its start hosting lip-sync and dance videos and has subsequently burgeoned to 1 billion monthly users.
