YouTube is expanding its shopping tools for creators in India, reveals new AI tools
YouTube is expanding its shopping tools for creators in India with new AI tools. YouTube Shopping, the platform’s affiliate programme, has also added more partners ahead of the festive season.
The platform announced that the Shopping affiliate programme in India was expanding with the addition of Amazon. Ajio, Meesho, Snapdeal and Tata CLiQ have also joined the existing partners, Flipkart, Myntra, Nykaa, Purplle, Shopsy and Tira.
YouTube Shopping, which was launched in India in October 2024, allows creators in the YouTube Partner Programme to recommend products in their content. This includes long-form videos, Shorts or livestreams. Creators earn a commission on each sale through the programme.
The platform says this expansion comes as creator earnings from shopping are rising sharply in India. Average creator affiliate payouts in the country grew more than 160 per cent year-on-year from Q1 2025 to Q1 2026, ahead of the platform’s 100 per cent global growth. As per YouTube, over 450 million users in India search for shopping-related content, while shopping-related watch time in the country has risen 55 per cent compared to last year.
“With this expansion in retail partners we are meeting the 450 million+ Indians searching for products on YouTube, with India’s most comprehensive digital storefront in the country,” YouTube India’s Managing Director Gunjan Soni said in a statement.
Alongside the merchant expansion, YouTube also announced new shopping and monetisation tools. The platform has brought new features to Ask YouTube. This, the platform says, will allow you to ask about the product such as specifications directly from a video’s watch page. Like a chatbot, you can continue the conversation with follow-up questions, and use voice commands while watching on your TV.
Another addition comes for creators with a global audience. Going forward, YouTube will update product tags based on the region of the viewer. This means that viewers will be directed to local deals from regional retailers and display prices in local currencies, allowing Indian creators to earn commissions from their international audience. YouTube will now direct users to regional retailers for affiliate products.
For creators, YouTube is also bringing an Ask Studio for Brand Partnerships. This, the platform says, will let creators use AI to pitch campaigns or respond to brands. On the other hand, brands will be able to use YouTube Affiliate Partnerships Boost to promote organic content made by creators who have used affiliate links.
Next year, YouTube will also introduce Exclusive Affiliate Campaigns in India. Here, brands can send invites to creators with bonus incentives and higher commission rates.
At its Made on YouTube event in New York, the platform also announced a broader set of AI-powered creator tools. These include an AI draft feedback tool for unpublished videos as well as suggestions for title and thumbnails. You also get features such as dynamic thumbnails and automatic thumbnail performance monitoring set to come later this year.
YouTube stated that Gemini-powered conversational editing is coming to Shorts and the YouTube Create app to help creators edit clips. The company is also testing opt-in AI comment moderation and expanding likeness-protection technology using voice and facial detection. Users in the US will also be able to set Custom Feeds on the platform, where one can have greater control over the recommendations they get.- EndsPublished By: Armaan AgarwalPublished On: Sep 24, 2026 16:14 ISTAlso Read | YouTube will pay crores to creators if they don't work with Netflix, those who do may face consequencesAlso Read | After doubling watch-time criteria, YouTube is changing how it counts views on videosAlso Read | YouTube is making it harder for new creators to make money, doubles watch-hour requirements
