Youtube extends affiliate programme

WHEN THE FINANCIAL world gives you lemons, squeeze your assets and make lemonade. At least, this appears to be Google's strategy, as the firm pushes its video site, Youtube, to expand its affiliate advertising programme beyond Britain and the US.

The Youtube E-commerce programme, which is basically a click-to-buy feature, was launched last October, but only in the UK and America, offering punters the chance to buy the music they were playing or the film they were watching directly from partner sites like Amazon and Apple iTunes. Now the scheme will be expanded to Germany, Spain and the Netherlands too.

The ads appear as links on transparent overlays at the bottom of the video, so luckily aren't terribly intrusive. It also means that the big media firms can stop trying to sue Youtube every chance they get and start actually doing real business with the firm, including anything from ad revenue sharing to their own affiliate deals.

It may not bring Google billions of dollars in revenues just yet, but it's a start. µ