YouTube is bringing its affiliate program to India so creators can tag products in their videos and earn referral money just ahead of the festive season. The company is partnering with Walmart-owned Flipkart and fashion and lifestyle e-commerce service Myntra, which is owned by Flipkart to open up their product catalogs to creators.
The company said that India, YouTube’s biggest user base with over 400 million users, has more than 110,00 channels and over 100,00 subscribers. For creators to be eligible for the affiliate program, they need to have their channels listed in the partner program and have at least 10,000 subscribers.
YouTube has already allowed select creators in India to list their own merchandise on their channels. The company is now expanding the ability for creators to tag products they might be talking about in their videos, shorts, and livestreams.
In the U.S., YouTube has lauched multiple programs that are related to shopping and affiliate links over the last few years. In 2022, the video streaming service started testing affiliate links in Shorts. In 2023, the company launched a feature to let creators tag products in bulk across their video library so they can monetize older videos.
YouTube also expanded its partnership with Shopify in August to get creators access to thousands of more products to tag in their videos. The company launched new features like letting creators make shoppable collections and a new affiliate hub.
“By making product discovery seamless across every format—from long-form videos and Shorts to live streams—and accessible on any device—mobile, web, and Connected TVs—we’re amplifying the impact creators can have and making it easier than ever for them to connect with their audiences,” the company said in a blog post.
“We’re incredibly excited about the future of YouTube Shopping in India and committed to building a platform where creators can thrive, viewers can discover, and brands can connect.”
Google’s blog also included some numbers to indicate that India has a potentially large audience that could be tapped for shopping. The company said since Shorts launched in India in 2020, users have viewed them over a trillion times. Google also cited Comscore and said YouTube is the highest-watched streaming service in India on connected TVs, where it has a product showcase designed for bug screens.
Apart from the U.S. and India, YouTube has an active affiliate program for creators in South Korea, Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam.
