Google will make YouTube a major shopping destination

The company plans to use vast amounts of video content as part of an extensive catalog of products.

The rapid development of e-commerce, further accelerated by the coronavirus pandemic, has attracted close attention to this area from significant players. Google, which traditionally specializes in advertising but not in sales on its resources, could not stay aside. Facebook, with the Instagram service, which is becoming increasingly popular as a shopping platform, competitors’ success forced the company to revise its strategy.

The idea that you can make purchases directly through YouTube videos has been in the air for a long time. Now the creators of content on the world’s largest video service offer a new opportunity. They can put tags and mark products in their videos. This option is still available only for individual channels and is in the experimental stage.

Subsequently, all the data obtained on the sold products will be linked to Google tools, which will make it possible to implement the actual shopping process. Viewers can watch the video and, if they like any of the demonstrated products, click directly in the video window to watch and make a purchase. YouTube testing sales methods, and there is also a test of Shopify integrations.

If YouTube realized such opportunities, which is already an advertising giant, could become one of the world’s largest marketplaces, compete with such significant players as Amazon and Alibaba.

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