Google's rumored plan is to convert YouTube into a direct-sales platform

YouTube is probably one of the most prominent source of device discovery and recommendations - second only to written in-depth reviews and articles from your favorite online source, obviously. Would you want to buy the products you see on it right from the same site, though? This, apparently, is a question Google plans to answer soon.

According to Bloomberg, it will implement a new service by which it will provide links to pages for every corresponding sellable item featured in YouTube videos. These links are reportedly intended to lead to an integrated Shopify e-commerce platform as well. The service has already been soak-tested in a way that would allow vloggers to display up to 12 active product links in a "carousel" located under a given video on its page.

The online sales market has exploded in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic (it is now thought to be worth US$2.8 trillion by 2025). This new use to which YouTube is apparently to be put may be its owner's way of getting its piece of that pie. Then again, similar Google initiatives have fizzled out in the past.