NEWS

Google to Add Shopping Features to YouTube

Oct 05,2024
2 min read
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In a move that serves notice to e-commerce companies, Google will reportedly add a shopping feature on YouTube. The new feature that allows viewers to buy products directly on the video-sharing platform is currently in its testing phase, there’s no final word on when the feature is rolling out, YouTube’s cut, and how the process inherently works.

The company announced these plans at a Marketing event in San Francisco Tuesday, where it also launched shoppable ads for a number of other services, including Discover, the curated newsfeed previously known as Google Now. Google Shopping, the company’s primary e-commerce offering, also received a facelift.

Showcase Shopping Ads, which are basically visual ads that highlight shoppable products, are arriving on Discover and Google Images effective immediately and will come to YouTube soon, according to a company blog post.

Right now, the video streaming giant rakes in a 30% cut from the creators’ revenue through paid subscriptions. However, the charge for using the platform for product sales will probably be less than that figure.

The current pandemic has negatively affected ad-based revenue, whereas, contrastingly, e-commerce sales revenue has soared. Google’s plan works in line with this trend as it looks to reduce YouTube’s reliance on Google Ads by introducing an incredibly potent e-commerce aspect.

Besides this, Google announced Shopify support for Google Shopping, its online marketplace, earlier this year. Shopify is also assisting the tech giant in the development of the new YouTube feature.

Much like rivals Amazon and Facebook, Google is also intent on harnessing the sheer power of the multibillion-dollar e-commerce industry. And, given that YouTube is an undiscovered mine of sales opportunity, Google’s decision to integrate shopping is a no-brainer.