YouTube Adds AliExpress Affiliate Products for Creators

YouTube’s shopping affiliate program now includes AliExpress, letting creators tag products and earn commissions, with initial expansion across the US, Brazil, the UK and Germany.

What happened

YouTube has added AliExpress as a partner in its shopping affiliate program. Participating creators will be able to tag AliExpress products in their videos and earn commissions from any resulting sales. The program first launched in 2022 and lets creators tag eligible products in video clips.

The move follows YouTube’s expansion of the affiliate program to U.K.-based creators in August and a broader announcement at its Made On event last month. At that event, YouTube outlined plans to make affiliate listings available to creators in 35 markets by the end of 2026. The AliExpress collaboration launched in South Korea in March 2026 and will now expand to four markets: the United States, Brazil, the United Kingdom and Germany. Further expansion will take place in phases, tied to the rollout of YouTube’s affiliate program in new markets.

Key facts

• YouTube launched its shopping affiliate program in 2022; creators can tag eligible products in video clips and earn commissions from resulting sales.
• The program expanded to U.K.-based creators in August, and YouTube plans to make affiliate listings available in 35 markets by the end of 2026.
• The AliExpress collaboration launched in South Korea in March 2026, then expands to the United States, Brazil, the United Kingdom and Germany.
• Creators can use AliExpress data on bestselling and trending products to handpick items, and viewers can link directly from YouTube to AliExpress to complete purchases.
• AliExpress has over 100 million products listed in its app, and its U.S. GMV rose 50% year over year during the May 2026 promotional period.

Our analysis

The partnership matters because YouTube needs local suppliers and retailers to make its shopping affiliate program useful at scale. AliExpress brings a large catalog and existing cross-border commerce infrastructure. For creators in the four launch markets, this likely reduces the friction of finding products to feature, especially for product review, unboxing, haul and how-to content.

What is different from before is the direct link between YouTube content and a marketplace with over 100 million products. Instead of waiting for individual brand deals or region-specific retailer partnerships, creators can tag items and earn commissions from resulting sales. The source’s mention of AliExpress U.S. GMV growth suggests the marketplace has rising demand that creators may capture through product-focused videos. However, the benefit is likely concentrated first in the United States, Brazil, the United Kingdom and Germany, because those are the named expansion markets.

Operators should treat this as a phased rollout rather than a global launch. Since AliExpress said further expansion will happen in phases alongside YouTube’s affiliate program, creators outside the four markets may need to wait. The timing also matters for holiday and promotional content planning: creators who can tag AliExpress products early in those markets will likely have a wider inventory pool than they did before the partnership.

What it means for operators

• Check whether your channel is eligible in one of the four launch markets: the United States, Brazil, the United Kingdom or Germany. If yes, confirm YouTube Shopping affiliate access is active.
• Build a product tagging workflow using AliExpress bestselling and trending product data, and select items that fit your audience rather than tagging products at random.
• Plan disclosure and performance tracking. Creators earn commissions from resulting sales, so log tagged videos and track which products drive clicks and purchases.
• If you are outside the four markets, prepare now. Because expansion happens in phases, create product lists and short-form video templates so you can publish quickly when AliExpress tags become available in your market.