The YouTube Shopping affiliate program is getting a major international expansion as YouTube adds more ways for creators to earn money from product recommendations, affiliate sales, and brand partnerships.
At its Made on YouTube 2026 event, YouTube announced that its Shopping affiliate program will expand to 35 countries by the end of 2026.
The company is also expanding support for Amazon products outside the United States, introducing localized product links for international viewers, and creating special affiliate campaigns that can offer creators higher commissions or bonuses.
YouTube is making changes to brand partnerships at the same time, including new tools designed to help creators pitch brands and manage sponsored opportunities more directly through YouTube Studio.
For creators building income around content, the announcement represents something larger than another YouTube feature update.
YouTube is continuing to turn videos, Shorts, and livestreams into direct commerce channels.
What Is Changing With YouTube Shopping?
YouTube Shopping allows eligible creators to tag products directly inside their content.
Instead of relying entirely on a traditional affiliate link placed in a video description, a creator can connect products directly to videos, Shorts, and livestreams.
When a viewer purchases an eligible product through those recommendations, the creator may earn a commission.
YouTube says more than 1.3 million creators are already part of the affiliate program.
According to YouTube’s September 2026 creator monetization announcement, gross merchandise volume generated through the program has increased 13-fold during the past two years.
YouTube also says its own research found that Shopping product tags generate more than twice as many clicks as product links placed only in video descriptions.
Those figures come from YouTube, but they help explain why the company is investing heavily in shopping.
More product discovery is happening directly inside video platforms.
Instead of watching a product review, leaving YouTube, searching for the product, and then finding a retailer, YouTube wants to shorten that path.
YouTube Shopping Is Expanding to 35 Countries
The largest change is the geographic expansion.
YouTube says its Shopping affiliate program will be available in 35 countries by the end of 2026.
That gives more creators outside the program’s existing markets an opportunity to earn affiliate commissions by tagging products in their content.
It also gives brands access to a much larger pool of creators.
This matters because affiliate marketing has increasingly moved beyond traditional blogs and websites.
As we discussed in Affiliate Marketing in 2026: Is It Still Worth It?, product discovery now happens across search engines, AI tools, social media, newsletters, livestreams, and video platforms.
YouTube’s expansion reinforces that shift.
A creator no longer necessarily needs a traditional affiliate website to build an affiliate income stream.
The content itself can become the storefront.
Amazon Product Tagging Is Expanding Internationally
Amazon is also becoming a larger part of YouTube Shopping.
YouTube recently introduced the ability for eligible creators in the United States to tag Amazon products.
The company says that support will expand to India and Brazil in the coming weeks, followed by additional countries before the end of the year.
For creators, that potentially opens access to a huge range of products without requiring every recommendation to come from a separate retailer.
A technology creator might tag cameras, microphones, accessories, or computer equipment.
A home creator might recommend kitchen equipment or organization products.
A beauty creator could tag products demonstrated in a tutorial.
An educational creator could link books or supplies used in a lesson.
The important part is still the recommendation itself.
Simply having access to thousands of products does not make them worth promoting.
A useful affiliate strategy begins with products that actually fit the audience and the content.
Product Links Will Become More Useful Across Countries
YouTube is also improving what happens when viewers and creators are located in different countries.
Previously, an affiliate recommendation could become less useful when the viewer clicked a product that was intended for another region.
The price might be different.
The product might not be available.
The retailer might not ship to the viewer.
Or the link might simply lead to the wrong regional storefront.
YouTube says product tags will increasingly display localized links based on where the viewer is watching.
That can help creators with international audiences.
A creator in the United States could publish one video that reaches viewers in Canada, Europe, Asia, and other markets.
Instead of every viewer being pushed toward exactly the same product link, YouTube can show a more appropriate local offer where supported.
The creator can still potentially earn a commission from those international purchases.
That reduces one of the friction points that has traditionally made global affiliate marketing more complicated.
New Affiliate Campaigns Can Offer Higher Commissions and Bonuses
YouTube is also introducing new affiliate campaigns.
Brands and retailers will be able to create campaigns offering creators additional incentives for featuring specific products.
Those incentives may include:
- Exclusive commission rates
- Additional bonuses
- Promotional opportunities tied to particular products
That adds another layer to YouTube Shopping.
Creators will not only be choosing which products they want to recommend.
They may also be able to see when brands are actively offering better financial incentives for certain campaigns.
That could create useful opportunities—but creators should still be selective.
A higher commission should not turn an irrelevant product into a good recommendation.
Readers of Income Idea Index may recognize the same principle from How to Promote Affiliate Products Without Sounding Salesy.
Trust matters more than squeezing a commission into every piece of content.
