YouTube has launched its Shopping affiliate program in South Korea through a partnership with the country’s leading e-commerce platform, Coupang Inc., allowing creators to earn more from their content.
The world’s largest free online video-sharing platform, owned by Google LLC, announced on Wednesday that as of the previous day, Korean creators can now access the YouTube Shopping affiliate program.
This new feature lets creators tag products from affiliated shopping sites or brands in their videos and earn commissions when viewers click the tags and purchase the products.
This addition enhances YouTube Shopping, which has been a popular tool for creators worldwide to monetize their content.
To facilitate the use of this new shopping feature by Korean creators, YouTube has partnered with Coupang and plans to extend its partnerships with other companies in the future.
The Shopping affiliate program was first introduced in the US in June last year, and South Korea is the second country where creators can utilize this program.
Eligible creators can feature various brands’ products sold on Coupang by tagging them in their videos.
YouTube surpassed KakaoTalk, Korea’s leading mobile messenger app operated by Kakao Corp., to become the most used platform by Koreans in December last year.
The platform’s rising popularity is largely due to the launch of YouTube Shorts in July 2021.
Additionally, YouTube plans to introduce a special shopping feature later this month that will enable Korean shopping creators to establish their online storefronts on YouTube, marking a world first.
YouTube developed this service in collaboration with Cafe24 Corp., a Korean e-commerce platform that provides merchants with software and business services such as marketing and logistics support to start their online stores.
In 2023, YouTube reported that people watched over 30 billion hours of shopping-related videos on the platform, with a 25% increase in watch time for videos that assist people with shopping.
