Brand Partnerships: External Links on Shorts

When your brand partner activates a brand deal link through YouTube, you can add this clickable external link to your brand deal Shorts. This link directs your audience to the brand’s site or a specific product page, and appears as a sticker on your Short, in the video description, or both.

How brand deal links work

To add brand links, your brand partner or their authorized agency must report the partnership to YouTube through the YouTube Creator Partnerships (YCP) API or YouTube Creator Partnerships within Google Ads. You can accept brand deal link requests sent by YCP API partners regardless of your YouTube Partner Program (YPP) status.

If the campaign is not yet reported, you can still publish your Short. You will get a notification to add the link once your partner completes submission.

To keep the platform safe, all brand deal links undergo an automated safety scan. This check can take up to 20 minutes. If a link is found to be unsafe, it may be removed automatically while your video stays live without a strike to your channel. Links that are rejected or removed for safety reasons do not result in a Community Guidelines strike.

Add a brand deal link to a Short

You can only add a brand deal link to your Short if your brand partner or their authorized agency has reported both the partnership and also the external link to YouTube. Then, you can accept and add the link during the video upload process or to a video that is already live.

1. Open the YouTube Studio or YouTube app.
2. Tap the to upload a Short, or find a published video and tap Edit.
3. Under the “Add details” page, tap Paid promotion & brands.
4. Tap Find your brand partner.
5. If you see the partner in the list, tap Select to choose that partner.
   • If you don’t see the brand associated with the campaign, you will not be able to add a link. If you believe this is an error, please reach out to your brand deal contact.
6. Review the share agreement and then tap Share.
7. You can choose to show the link in your Video description, Video player, or both.
8. Tap Done to add the link to your video.

You can still post your video even if the deal has not been reported or the link has not been reported or passed safety checks. You will receive a push notification asking you to accept brand partner access and add the brand deal link.

Manage link placement

You can choose how and where the link is shown using toggles during the upload or editing process. You can select one or both of these options:

• Video description: This adds a link that appears in the video's description.
• Video player: This adds a clickable sticker that appears directly on the Short.