- A new report suggests that a YouTube shopping feature is on the way.
- Google admitted that it is testing a form of tagging products at the moment, but wouldn’t say more.
- Allegedly, Google might be moving to make YouTube a one-stop-destination for all your shopping needs.
If you watch enough YouTube videos, you’ll eventually hear a creator say something like, “I’ll put a link to this product I’m using in the description.” Wouldn’t it be way easier if the link appeared right on the screen?
Related: Here are all five YouTube apps and what each of them do
Apparently, that might be in the works. According to a report from Bloomberg, Google is working on developing a YouTube shopping tool. Theoretically, it would make it easy for creators to link to products directly in videos. They (and Google, naturally) would then earn a commission from those purchases.
Google admitted to Bloomberg that it is testing out a way for creators to tag products in videos at the moment. However, it would not give any more info related to a YouTube shopping platform.
YouTube shopping: A natural progression?
If you think about this, it makes perfect sense. Even in the case of Android Authority’s own YouTube channel, most of our videos center on products. It would certainly be beneficial to viewers of smartphone reviews to be able to tap right on the video and buy a phone if they like what they see.
Loading pollGiven that Google’s business model is heavily dependent on advertising, a YouTube shopping platform seems like a natural progression.
Of course, one of the biggest complaints related to YouTube is how obtrusive advertising has become. If a shopping platform does come to fruition, it would make the push for viewers to buy products even more intense. Hopefully, Google would simultaneously reduce YouTube’s reliance on ads, or, at the very least, make them less in-your-face.
What do you think? Answer our poll a few paragraphs back and then hit up the comments with anything that’s on your mind on this topic.
