YouTube is testing product tags that will allow bloggers to tag products on videos so users can make a purchase without leaving the platform. The video service has been working on this technology since last year, states Postium.
“We are testing a new feature that will allow us to find and buy products that are described in videos. During pilot testing, content creators will be able to add specific products to their videos. By clicking the shopping cart icon in the bottom corner, the user will see a list of products, and separate pages for each product with additional videos and information on how to buy.”
A limited number of YouTube channels are involved in testing, reports NIX Solutions. Product tags are now only seen by US residents in their iOS, Android and desktop apps.
Facebook recently released research showing that more and more people are looking to shop directly from video, particularly during live streams, which opens up new market opportunities.
TikTok, Snapchat and Facebook are trying to create new trading tools for their videos. Obviously, any content on social networks will soon become “buyable”. Each picture and video will have something like a link to the product.
Google has been working on this functionality for several years. In 2017, the company introduced its Cloud Video Intelligence API capable of identifying objects in video.
The technology has a wide application, but such an API, in particular, can automatically find objects in the video, including goods.
Pinterest already has a similar development: their product tags allow companies to display their products in different ways in Pins, and their Lens feature shows products similar to those in the photo.
It is much more difficult to create this kind of functionality for video but, apparently, thanks to its tools, YouTube will be at the forefront of this technological revolution. Billions of videos are uploaded on video hosting giving endless possibilities for e-commerce.
Shopping tags seem to be a logical extension of the platform, given the current development of the e-commerce market. According to some analysts, e-commerce is developing five years faster than previously predicted.
Previously, YouTube analytics added the First 24 Hours metric, as well as a new hashtag search.