YouTube is cooking up some new monetization features

"YouTube announced a batch of upcoming features during its "Made on" event today, some of which are focused on giving creators new ways to make money on the platform. You can check out more information about upcoming updates for livestreaming and AI features in our other posts, but there are a few other monetization changes coming in the future that could give viewers new ways to find products online and switch up the ads you see linked out by creators."

"An AI tagging feature that can automatically find and tag eligible products mentioned in videos based on images, voiceover, and information input by the video creator will start rolling out to "eligible US creators over the next year," according to YouTube. The ability to link out to a brand's website on YouTube Shorts will "begin testing later this year and launch broadly next year," allowing creators to direct viewers to recommended products."

"Support for dynamically inserting brand segments that can be swapped in and out, allowing creators to resell slots to another brand in future instead of having a permanent product ad in long-form videos. YouTube says it will start testing early next year before rolling it out later in 2026. An experimental feature will give "top viewers the opportunity to buy exclusive merch" from their favorite creators. This began testing earlier this year, but YouTube doesn't have any details available about when it'll be available."

YouTube will roll out an AI tagging feature to eligible US creators that automatically finds and tags products mentioned in videos using images, voiceover, and creator-provided information. The platform will begin testing the ability to link out to brand websites on YouTube Shorts later this year and plans a broad launch next year, enabling creators to direct viewers to recommended products. Support for dynamically inserting brand segments will allow creators to swap ads in long-form videos and resell slots to other brands; testing will start early next year with wider rollout in 2026. An experimental feature offers top viewers opportunities to buy exclusive merch, with testing underway and availability details pending.

Read at The Verge