YouTube’s rolling out an updated shopping button for Shorts, while it’s also giving more channel managers access to its Communities option, providing more ways to engage with your audience in the app.
First off, on shopping in Shorts. YouTube’s announced an updated display for product listings within Shorts clips, with product stickers to be displayed more prominently on screen.
As you can see in this example sequence, now, when you tag a product in a Short, you’ll be able to place a product-specific sticker wherever you choose on the playback screen.
As explained by YouTube:
“Up until now, tagged products appeared in a banner in the bottom left-hand corner of Shorts. Once clicked, the banner would then open a list of tagged products for viewers to shop. Now, the shopping button on Shorts is getting an upgrade. When you tag products in your Shorts, viewers will see a shopping product sticker. When viewers tap the sticker image, they’ll be redirected to the retailer’s website for that product.”
YouTube says that if multiple products are tagged, tapping the down arrow on the sticker (as you can see in the example above) will open a product list.
“Stickers are generated for the first product in the list of tagged products, and you can rearrange the list to determine which product a sticker will be generated for. Size and placement can only be changed using the YouTube main app, so if you’re uploading via desktop or Studio Mobile, and you’d like to change the size and placement, you’ll need to go to the YouTube main app.”
So, more options for your promotions, with a much more upfront presentation style in the display.
And it could be worth considering:
“In an experiment in the U.S. in May 2025, Shorts with shopping product stickers saw over 40% more clicks on products than Shorts with the shopping button.”
Some advertisers likely prefer the previous display, but the updated format will provide more options on this front.
YouTube’s also expanding access to its Communities feature once again, with all creators that have access to posts now getting Communities as well.
YouTube’s channel Communities provide a text-based discussion board element to channels, adding another, more social media-aligned way for creators and their fans to interact.
YouTube began testing Communities last July, and expanded them to more channels in February this year.
And now, a heap more channels will get access.
YouTube says creators who are invited to enable their Communities will receive notifications via email, and a banner notification displayed on their channel pages on mobile.
YouTube’s also adding new sorting options for Community posts:
“By default, the “Top Posts” are shown, and you can toggle to see “Newest” posts. These sorting options mirror the experience available on the main app.”
“Top Posts” ranks comments based on their likeliness to interact, while the “Newest” view is a reverse chronological feed.
“In recent months, we’ve improved our ability to reduce the visibility of lower quality post content, and raise higher quality content in the top feed, and the team is hard at work on additional features to further improve the experience.”
These updates could make Communities a more engaging, lively space, by making it easier for creators to ensure they prioritize key engagements.
Finally, YouTube is also rolling out four new animated gifts that livestream viewers can send during a broadcast.
As you can see in these examples, the new gifts are “Victory Spin.” “Hooray,” “Seal Splash,” and “Rockstar,” providing additional options for viewers to both get attention and donate to streamers in the app.
Not sure how much people will like the new options, but YouTube clearly thinks that these align with viewer responses to livestreams and streamers in the app.
The new gifts are currently only available to creators and viewers in the U.S.