When it comes to short-form vertical videos, TikTok is known as being the unanimous king. TikTok has had such a meteoric rise that companies like Instagram and YouTube have tried to recreate the magic, introducing their own take on short-form videos. While it hasn't gone all that well for Instagram, YouTube has seen some success, promoting vertical videos in its app and adding tons of new features over the past few months. Now, YouTube is adding shopping features in Shorts, in a test with content creators in the United States.

The pilot will allow eligible creators to tag products from their own stores, which will be shown to viewers in the U.S., Brazil, Canada, India, and Australia. Viewers in those regions will be able to tag items and shop through the YouTube Shorts app. Although it is now currently in testing with a small number of creators, YouTube hopes to roll out the feature to more creators and more regions in the future.

In addition to shopping features, it is being reported that YouTube is also experimenting with an affiliate program. Creators in the United States will earn a small commission from the sales of products through their channels. Again, this is something that is being tested with a small number of creators, but YouTube does hope to roll it out to a larger group sometime next year. A spokesperson for YouTube stated, "We firmly believe YouTube is the best place for creators to build a business, and shopping is a piece of that."

YouTube has been hard at work, making sure that its creators can earn a living on its platform. This is important because without creators, YouTube and Shorts wouldn't attract the viewers that make the platform popular and profitable in the first place. Starting next year, Shorts creators will be able to earn a more stable income since they will be able to join the YouTube Partner Program. That's when things will become interesting, and competition with TikTok will surely heat up.

Source: Financial Times

Via: TechCrunch