YouTube Launches In-Video Shopping in Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Egypt with Amazon

YouTube has launched its affiliate shopping program in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Egypt, allowing eligible content creators to tag Amazon products inside long-form videos, Shorts, and live streams, earning a commission when purchases are completed.

Javid Aslanov, Head of YouTube in the Middle East and North Africa, stated that the feature opens a new chapter for the creator economy, giving creators a practical way to build their businesses and providing brands with a means to reach an engaged audience. He added that the partnership with Amazon helps connect businesses of all sizes with customers at the exact moment they are seeking recommendations.

Viewers can click on a product tag to go directly to the Amazon checkout page, while those watching on connected TVs can scan an on-screen QR code with their smartphone to complete the purchase. The program requires reaching 500 subscribers—a threshold lower than many other monetization tools—and creators can earn commissions from purchases made by viewers in markets outside the region, such as the United States and Japan.

YouTube stated that Google's artificial intelligence will identify products appearing in videos and suggest tags, reducing the time creators spend manually adding links. It added that more than 40 million registered users across nine MENA countries conducted shopping-related searches in June, and that 86% of viewers in Saudi Arabia and the UAE consider creators on the platform to be the most trusted source for product recommendations, according to a survey conducted by Kantar for YouTube.

What Do These Terms Mean?

Affiliate Shopping: A model in which a content creator earns a percentage of the value of each purchase made through a link or tag they post.

QR Code: A square barcode that can be scanned with a smartphone to navigate to a link or checkout page.

Live Stream: Video broadcasting in real time as it happens, allowing instant viewer interaction.