If you’re eligible, you can tag products featured in your content. When you tag products in your content, a "Shopping button" (when tagging in long format videos) or a “Shopping Product Sticker” (when tagging in Shorts) will show up on your content. Viewers can select the label to review a list of the products you tagged.
For Shorts, a Shopping product sticker will appear for the first product in the tagged product list. If you want the Shopping product sticker to showcase a different product, reorder your list of tagged products. You can also choose the size and placement of the Sticker using the YouTube mobile app.
Viewers can click on the Shopping product sticker to navigate to the retailer’s website. If viewers click on the downward arrow, they will open the full list of products you have tagged. To explore where placement and sizing is available, see How to tag and manage products . We've enhanced product tagging to allow you to tag products as product groups that include multiple options, such as various colors or sizes. For more details, see tagging grouped products below.
This feature is only visible to viewers in select countries or regions. Learn more about how viewers browse and buy products on YouTube .
Tagging grouped products
You can now simplify product tagging by using grouped products, a new feature that offers multiple product variations (e.g., different colors or sizes) from a single product tag. Tagging grouped products allows you to:
- Discover new options:This feature allows you to explore and showcase a broader range of product variations that might otherwise be overlooked.
- Reduce inventory reliance:By presenting a wider selection of available products, you can minimize the impact of individual products being out of stock.
There is no requirement to use grouped products - you still have the option to tag individual products with specific attributes like color or size. Additionally, not all products can be tagged as grouped products.
Tagging Guidelines
If you're eligible for this feature, only tag products in your content if they meet all of the following guidelines:
- Products are easily identifiable and featured prominently in your content:Products featured in your content should also be verbally or textually mentioned so they can be easily discovered.
- Products are meaningfully related to your content:Your content should authentically integrate products in a way that provides value to your viewers. This includes demonstrating or reviewing a product or brand.
- A viewer may reasonably want to learn more or buy a product based on your content:Product design or functionality should be depicted clearly. Avoid brief, blurred, or obscured depictions.
- Products are used as intended. This means that your use of the product aligns with the manufacturer’s intent and promotes safe usage:Products featured in content should follow the manufacturer's intended use.
These guidelines apply to all content formats such as Shorts, live streams, or standard videos.
Products are easily identifiable and featured prominently in your content
- Wearable apparel:Feel free to tag clothing apparel or fashion accessories you're wearing, as long as they're prominently featured and verbally or textually mentioned in your video. If the exact color/style isn't available, variations of the same product are permitted.
- Character-based products:If your content features characters (like in game reviews), you can tag products with that character on them (e.g., t-shirts, mugs) as long as the character is prominently featured in your content, and the product is meaningfully related to the character.
- Animated products:Tagging animations of featured products is also allowed, as long as the animated product is a representation of a real product, and the tagged brand matches the animation.
Products are meaningfully related to your content
In certain cases, you can tag products that are related to your content, even if they aren't showcased.
- For example, you can tag products that are used as part of an activity, such as paintbrushes in a home renovation video.
- You can also tag products that enhance a product or activity shown in the video, such as headphones for a phone demonstration.
A viewer may reasonably want to learn more or buy a product based on its appearance in your content
- If you tag products in the background, ensure they're relevant and something viewers might reasonably want to learn more about. These products should still be verbally or textually mentioned in your video to keep them relevant.
Sponsored content:
- To tag products from your brand sponsors, you must still follow the tagging guidelines above.
- When creating sponsored content (like a podcast) that is uploaded to YouTube in multiple segments, be sure to reference the brand/product in all segments in which you plan to tag their products.
- Please ensure to also follow the paid product placement policy .
Meeting Guidelines
We want viewers to have the best possible experience discovering products featured in your content. Therefore, product tags should be related to your content and should not mislead viewers. Spam tagging products, or indiscriminately tagging many unrelated products in content does not provide a trusted shopping experience for viewers. Tags that don’t meet our guidelines may be removed.
What happens if my product tags don’t meet the guidelines?
If we find instances of product tags that don't comply with our guidelines, we'll send you notifications to help you understand the issue and how to correct it. These messages are designed to educate and remind you of the proper tagging practices.
It's important to pay close attention to these notifications. Repeated instances of non-compliant tagging could result in your channel losing access to the YouTube Shopping affiliate program .
How can I find videos with removed product tags?
To assist you, a new filter will be available in YouTube Studio, allowing you to easily identify videos where non-compliant product tags have been removed. To look at your videos with removed product tags, please follow these steps:
- Log into YouTube Studio .
- Head to the "Content" page.
- Using the filter, filter for "Products" then for "Tagging violation" to view your videos that contain removed tags.
Troubleshooting product tags
Keep in mind that product tags won't show on your content if:
- Your content's audience is set as made for kids .
- Your content has a copyright claim against it.
- Your content is deemed limited or ineligible for monetization .
- Your content includes a revenue sharing track from Creator Music.
- Your viewer is not in an eligible country/region .
- Your viewer is watching your content on a mobile browser, smart TV, or game console.
- Products were removed by brand/retailer due to reasons which include but are not limited to the product being out of stock.
- Your tagged products were removed by the brand/retailer for not meeting their brand needs.
- If you don't see products when searching for them from a specific brand/retailer, it means that their products are not available for you to tag at the moment. You may choose to tag these products from other brands/retailers.
How to tag and manage products
Tag, remove & rearrange products while uploading new content
To tag products while uploading new content
- Sign in to YouTube Studio .
- Upload a video or Short .
- On the "Details" page, go to the video description
click Products.
- Click
and enter the name of the product that you want to tag in the search box.
- Enter the name of the product that you want to tag in the search box.
- Select the product and drag it to the indicated area in the tool. You can tag up to 60 products.
- For Shorts, you can rearrange the list to choose which product appears as the Shopping product sticker. You can also adjust the size and placement of the Shopping product sticker directly inside the YouTube mobile app while tagging.
- Post uploading, you can also adjust placement and sizing, see how to adjust the placement and sizing of a Shopping product sticker .
To help your viewers shop the products tagged in your videos at the right time, add timestamps to your tagged products:
- In the “Details” page, go to the video description.
- After tagging your products, click Add timestampnext to the individual product you want to add a timestamp for.
- The intuitive interface to timestamp will pop up. Select the product you’d like to add a timestamp to.
- You can drag and edit the timestamp duration across the video utilizing the intuitive interface.
- Once you are done adding your timestamps, click Done
Notes:
- Timestamps can only be added to your tagged products using a computer.
- Timestamps are only available for long-form videos that are at least 1 minute long.
To add a product sticker when uploading:
- Navigate to the YouTube mobile app and upload your Short .
- Tap Tag Products
- Enter the name of the product that you want to tag in the search box.
- Select the product and add it to your video.
- You can tag up to 60 products.
If multiple products are tagged, the first product tagged will appear as a sticker. Rearrange the list of tagged products to choose which product appears as the Shopping product sticker.
To adjust a product sticker’s size and placement for existing content:
- Navigate to the YouTube mobile app.
- Select the "You" tab at the bottom of the screen.
- Tap Your videos.
- Choose the desired Short and select Menu
- Tap Tagged products
- Adjust the size and placement as needed, then tap Done to save your changes.
To tag products in live streams
To remove a product
- Find a product that you’ve already tagged.
- To remove it from the list, click Delete
next to the product.
To rearrange two or more products
- Find a product that you've already tagged.
- Drag it to the desired position.
- Select Continueto save the change.
Tag, remove & rearrange products in existing content
To tag products in existing content
- Sign in to YouTube Studio .
- From the left menu, select Content.
- Click a video’s title or thumbnail.
- On the "Details" page, go to the video description
- Click
- Select the product and drag it to the indicated area in the tool. You can tag up to 60 products.
Add timestamps to your tagged products
To help your viewers shop the products tagged in your videos at the right time, add timestamps to your tagged products:
- In the “Details” page, go to the video description.
- After tagging your products, click Add timestampnext to the individual product you want to add a timestamp for.
- The intuitive interface to timestamp will pop up. Select the product you’d like to add a timestamp to.
- You can drag and edit the timestamp duration across the video utilizing the intuitive interface.
- Once you are done adding your timestamps, click Done
Notes:
- Timestamps can only be added to your tagged products using a computer.
- Timestamps are only available for long-form videos that are at least 1 minute long.
Auto-tagging
If you are enrolled in the YouTube Affiliate program , you could benefit from auto-tagging. Auto-tagging automatically identifies products in your videos and tags them on your behalf, saving you time and allowing you to earn commission for purchases.
Auto-tagging may occasionally make mistakes. You can manage the tags directly in YouTube Studio and opt out of this feature at any time. Auto-tagging is currently available in the US. This may change as the feature is rolled out over time.
To manage auto-taggingAuto-tagging helps find videos and tag products in your videos. You can manage the tags directly in YouTube Studio and opt out of this feature at any time.
Manage your tags
- Sign in to YouTube Studio .
- On the left menu, click Earn
Shoppingtab.
- Under the “Latest auto-tagged videos” card, click View More.
- Select the video you would like to change.
- On the right side, click Products.
- Then you edit, remove, or add tags to that video.
Turn on or off auto-tags
- Sign in to YouTube Studio .
- On the left menu, click Settings
.
- From the left menu, click Channel
- Scroll down to “Automatic product tagging.”
- Next to “Tag product automatically,” you can turn on or off auto-tagging.
- Then click Save.
To remove a product
- Find a product that you’ve already tagged.
- To remove it from the list, click Delete
To rearrange two or more products
- Find a product that you’ve already tagged.
- Drag it to the desired position.
- Select Continueto save the change.
Auto-tagging for Shopping product stickers
Auto-tagging for product stickers automatically places a single product sticker on a Short if products are tagged (either manually or via auto-tagging) and you are opted into auto-tagging
.
Auto-tagged stickers will appear in the default placement. You can always adjust the placement and sizing of a product sticker
in the YouTube mobile app.
Shopping performance and revenue
To access your shopping insights
FAQs
Timestamp FAQs
What are the benefits of timestamps?
Is there a new way to timestamp?
How flexible are timestamps?
How are timestamps presented?
How does this new timestamp shelf work?
What type of content can use timestamps?
Auto-tagging FAQs
About auto-tagging
How does auto-tagging work?
What benefits does auto-tagging offer?
Are there any other benefits to opting in?
Auto-tagging requirements
What videos are not eligible for auto-tagging?
The following video types are excluded from auto-tagging:
- Videos with existing product tags
- Videos subject to third-party claims
- Videos designated as Made for Kids (MFK)
- Videos using music from outside the Shopping Sounds library
- Videos with paid partnership designations, including sponsored content
Can I still promote other affiliate programs that I work with?
Auto-tagging experience
How will I know that products were auto-tagged?
Can I add, edit, or remove products myself?
Why do the product links in my video descriptions not trigger auto-tagging?
Will the viewer experience change with auto-tagging?
Opting out
What if I don't want auto-tagging on a specific video?
You may opt out of auto-tagging per video. This will disable auto-tags on this specific video only and continue to show all existing auto-tags on past videos and not block further auto-tags.
