YouTube is inching closer to becoming a shopping channel

YouTube's big Made On event for the next 20" years of its streaming platform includes new features that will change the way creators make money off of the videos you watch. They include new links directing viewers on where to find products online and the ability to switch up the sponsored ads you see featured by creators.

• 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 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.
• 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 also announced upcoming changes for livestreaming and new AI features for content creators.