The YouTube e-commerce platform will be rolled out on a scale over the coming months to allow partners across all industries including music, film, TV, and publishing to generate additional revenue from their content beyond the advertising we serve against their videos. Just as YouTube users can share, favorite, comment on, and respond to videos with a single click, now users can click-to-buy products – like songs, books and movies – related to the content they’re watching on the site, said YouTube.
According to YouTube, non-obtrusive retail links to buy songs from iTunes and Amazon.com will appear on the watch pages of authorized video content from companies such as EMI Music. YouTube users watching music videos from their favorite artists will be able to click on buttons that link to the corresponding pages on iTunes and Amazon MP3 where they can buy and download that music. Those partners who use YouTube’s content identification and management system can also enable retail links on claimed videos that they choose to leave up on the site.
Chad Hurley, co-founder and CEO of YouTube YouTube content partners now have the ability to promote and monetize their content in a new and exciting way and create a deeper distribution channel for their content online. Our goal is to improve the overall YouTube experience by connecting consumers with relevant information and entertaining content. The addition of retail links will enhance the viewing experience and allow people to engage more deeply with the content they want to consume.
