Affiliate partnerships boost allows brands and sellers to take your existing YouTube Shopping content and use it as an ad.
From June 15 to July 15, 2026, if you receive an email invitation and choose to opt in and participate, you can earn a $200 bonus for each new Short that you create when they are boosted by select brands and sellers during this time frame. To make content that sellers and brands are likely to boost, follow these boosted content best practices.
Check your eligibility
To participate in this limited-time bonus program, you must:
- Turn on the affiliate partnerships boost feature in YouTube Studio
- Receive an official email invitation to join this bonus program
- Be based in the United States or South Korea
If you opt out of the affiliate boost program, you lose eligibility for this bonus. Any video boosted before you opted out remains eligible for payment.
Understand video eligibility
Your video must meet all of the following requirements to be eligible for the bonus:
- Shorts format: The video must be a Short. Long-form videos do not qualify for this bonus.
- Timeline: You must create, publicly upload, and tag the Short between June 15, 2026 and July 15, 2026.
- Videos created or boosted outside of these dates do not qualify.
- Boosted by an eligible brand: The video must be boosted for at least one day during the program window by an eligible seller or brand.
- Music limitations: The video must not use any copyrighted music or Shopping Sounds.
- Policy compliance: The video must follow all YouTube Community Guidelines, Google Ads policies, and YouTube Shopping program policies.
- Videos removed for policy violations do not earn a bonus.
- Tag one of the eligible sellers and brands.
Review eligible sellers and brands
The bonus only applies to videos selected and boosted by the following brands:
Track your boosted content & payments
We notify you by email every time a brand selects one of your videos for an advertising campaign. You can also find which videos are currently running as ads by checking your traffic sources.
Your bonus payments will be calculated after the program ends. You will receive your accumulated bonus earnings as part of your regular monthly AdSense payment up to 90 days after the bonus program ends, no later than October 31, 2026. In your payment history, these earnings will be labeled “Affiliate Boost Bonus.”
Use best practices for boosted content
To make content that sellers and brands are likely to boost, find authentic ways to feature products in high-quality videos.
Sellers and brands usually prefer content that:
- Prioritizes authenticity: Authentic, creator-made content tends to perform better than traditional ads.
- Focuses on the product or advertiser: Introduce the product or advertiser in the first five seconds, and get clear product displays in high-quality videos.
- Mention the advertiser’s brand while you’re on-screen instead of in a voice-over for the most impact.
- Uses a single advertiser: Tag products sold by only one advertiser.
- Provides a strong hook: Add a compelling hook within the first 30 seconds.
- Aligns with promotions: Feature products or sellers and brands that have active promotional offers.
- Follow "advertiser-friendly" best practices: Use clean language and do not use music, as sellers and brands may not have rights to the music.
- Add a clear call to action: Be specific when you say what the audience should do. For example, you can say “visit this site,” “sign up,” or “buy now.”
- Use high contrast text: Add text overlays that are easy to read even on small screens when highlighting key product features or call to actions.