YouTube Announces Live Shopping and CTV Product Updates

At Advertising Week New York, Tara Walpert Levy, Google VP of Brand and Agency Solutions, announced the latest live shopping and CTV product updates from YouTube.

These announcements provide a clear picture of what’s coming next in streaming and commerce.

In a post on the Google Ads & Commerce blog, Levy explained that the pandemic accelerated both the moves to streaming and ecommerce. She added,

“As the number one streaming platform for ad-supported reach, YouTube is the place where hard-to-reach audiences come to be entertained and connect with creators and content they love. It’s also where audiences come to shop.”

So, YouTube is crossing the streams.

The platform is also hosting a week-long live shopping event that starts on November 15, featuring popular holiday gifts from Samsung, Verizon and Walmart.

Inspiring Shoppers In Real Time

As in-store and digital commerce continue converging, shoppers are seeking inspiration and advice from different sources.

YouTube creators have been at the forefront of this shift, sharing helpful, credible, and entertaining shopping content that cuts through the noise, Levy says. She points out that 89% of viewers surveyed say they trust recommendations from YouTube creators.

In the video below, Amy Lanzi, Commerce Practice Lead North America, Publicis Groupe, explains how YouTube factors into consumers’ shopping journeys.

Earlier this year, Levy said, YouTube also started testing an integrated shopping experience that allows viewers to tap into the credibility and knowledge of trusted creators to make informed purchases on YouTube.

YouTube initially experimented with “shoppable” on-demand videos, and now the platform is testing “shoppable” livestreams, as well.

More recently, YouTube partnered with several top creators to test their new live shopping features, and has also tested shoppable livestreams with leading retailers on their channels.

In the video below, you can hear from White and Jill Toscano, the VP of Media for Walmart, about how YouTube’s partnership has allowed them to better understand and adapt to consumer needs.

The YouTube Holiday Stream and Shop will kick off on November 15 with a week of shoppable livestreams, giving viewers access to new products,limited-time offers, and live Q&A with creators and other viewers.

Reaching More Shoppers On Connected TVs

As I mentioned in a recent post, streaming households passed cable TV households in the U.S. for the first time last year.

And according to Comscore OTT Intelligence, 40% of all ad-supported streaming watch time is currently taking place on YouTube.

Levy said that 60% of YouTube CTV viewers now watch video content with others, and that “people are connecting more deeply with each other by sharing the YouTube content that they love most on the big screen.”

Brands have an opportunity here to extend the overall reach and impact of their advertising campaigns.

Also new this month, U.S. advertisers can fully measure their YouTube CTV video investments across YouTube and YouTube TV. This provides a more accurate view of true incremental reach and frequency in Comscore Campaign Ratings (CCR).

The post notes that Nielsen Digital Ad Ratings (DAR) CTV measurement is available for YouTube TV and will also be available soon for YouTube CTV in the U.S., as well.

YouTube also upgraded Video action campaigns to automatically include CTV inventory recently.

To learn more about YouTube’s latest announcements, watch their Advertising Week keynote below.

Featured image: I AM NIKOM/Shutterstock