YouTube is expanding its Shopping affiliate programme in India by adding more retailers and AI-enabled tools to boost creator commerce, with strong enrollment and earnings growth for Indian creators.

Ask Studio will assist creators in responding to brand briefs, developing proactive pitches, and customizing Media Kits within YouTube Studio to align with brand objectives.

YouTube reports more than 450 million logged-in Indian users search for shopping content, and shopping-related watch time in India rose 55% year over year.

Industry observers see these moves as potentially transformative for individual creators and the broader creator economy, aiming to keep creators and brands engaged on YouTube.

Analysts note potential consolidation of influence away from independent influencer databases toward YouTube-owned tools within the Google ecosystem.

A forum briefing from YouTube outlines updates across creation formats, channel management, and monetization, complemented by four companion official blog posts from YouTube executives.

Enhancements include expanded creator-brand tools, live features, AI-powered moderation, and protections against misuse of creators’ faces and voices to support a more integrated creator economy.

The broader aim is to meet creators and brands where they are, enabling flexible interaction with YouTube and potentially resembling an ad tech opportunity from years past.

Ad revenue sharing eligibility thresholds will tighten from early 2027, with higher watch hours and Shorts view requirements, potentially affecting smaller creators’ access compared with other tools.

Gemini-powered features bring a conversational editing assistant to Shorts and the YouTube Create app, plus opt-in AI comment moderation and enhanced likeness-protection technology.

Gemini integration also enables a conversational editing workflow where creators describe edits and AI rearranges clips while preserving manual control.

Google/YouTube announced Gemini-powered assistant integration in Shorts and is testing opt-in AI moderation that adapts to creators’ preferences, including likeness-protection via voice and facial detection.