YouTube Shopping Affiliate Expands to 35 Countries at Made On YouTube

YouTube is expanding its Shopping affiliate program to 35 countries by the end of 2026 and rolling out deeper brand-partnership tools inside Studio, the YouTube Blog and NetInfluencer reported from the company’s Made On YouTube event.

More than 1.3 million creators already participate in the affiliate program, which YouTube said has driven 13-fold growth in gross merchandise volume over two years. Shopping tags drive more than twice the clicks of description links and work across long-form videos, livestreams and Shorts, both outlets reported. The year-end expansion to 35 countries is designed to put product tagging — and commissions — in more markets where creators already have audiences.

Amazon tagging, added to the U.S. affiliate program in August, is expanding to India and Brazil in the coming weeks and to more countries before year-end, the YouTube Blog said. Cross-border viewers will see localized product links while creators can still earn commissions on those global sales. New affiliate campaigns will let retailers and brands offer exclusive commission rates or bonuses when creators feature specific products.

Brand deals are getting the same product push. YouTube Creator Partnerships — the program formerly known as BrandConnect — is now available in 20 countries. Creators can share a one-click code so brand partners can view performance data and fund paid media behind a video through “creator partnerships boost,” NetInfluencer reported. Ask Studio is slated to help creators draft responses to brand briefs, build pitches and tailor Media Kits without leaving YouTube Studio.

YouTube also said it is investing hundreds of millions of dollars in incentives for agency partners on high-impact collaborations and continuing to test dynamic brand segments that can be inserted into as many as 20 long-form videos at once, with regional targeting and a built-in call-to-action shelf. Those tests matter for creators who treat long-form libraries as inventory, not only as episodic storytelling.

For creators following platform commerce on Influencers, the shopping expansion is the clearest cash-flow story inside a week of Made On YouTube announcements. AI editing, Custom Feeds and Live showdowns drew headlines, but affiliate reach and brand-partnership plumbing decide whether a mid-tier channel can turn recommendations into recurring revenue without waiting for a single six-figure sponsorship.

The competitive frame is familiar. TikTok Shop has trained audiences to buy inside the feed; Instagram continues to push checkout and creator collabs; YouTube is answering with tags that work on TV screens as well as phones. NetInfluencer noted that YouTube is positioning Shopping as a reason creators stay inside its ecosystem even as rival platforms court the same talent with live commerce and short-form drama tools.

Creators who already tag products will feel the change most when international viewers stop hitting dead-end U.S. links. Localized offers reduce friction for fans abroad and keep commission attribution attached to the creator who made the recommendation. For channels with split audiences across North America, LatAm and South Asia, the India and Brazil Amazon wave is the near-term test of whether “35 countries” is a headline or a checkout path.

Ask Studio’s pitch-writing help and the one-click brand data code are quieter but operationally important. Many creators lose deals in the admin gap between a brand brief and a clean media kit. Putting those steps inside Studio, next to analytics and A/B testing, is YouTube’s bid to shrink that gap before agencies and freelancers fill it.

Yesterday’s coverage of episodic Shorts packaging — our report on YouTube Shorts series — showed how the platform is productizing microdrama. Shopping and Creator Partnerships complete the other half of the pitch: keep the story on YouTube, then monetize the trust that story builds with tags and brand boosts.

Verified facts from the company posts and NetInfluencer’s Sept. 25 recap: Shopping affiliate program expanding to 35 countries by year-end; 1.3 million+ participating creators; 13x GMV growth over two years; Amazon tagging expanding beyond the U.S. to India and Brazil first; Creator Partnerships live in 20 countries; Ask Studio brand-brief help coming soon; agency incentives framed in the hundreds of millions. How quickly localized tags and Amazon international SKUs actually appear in creator dashboards will determine whether this interval’s commerce news becomes a measurable September–December earnings story.