YouTube has decided to allow retailers to add buttons below videos on its site, thus making it possible for viewers to buy products featured in each video or those related to it.

With the help of buttons put below videos on YouTube, viewers will be able to connect to popular retail stores like Apple’s iTunes music store, Amazon’s online shopping site or to Electronic Arts to buy video games and other products. This e-commerce platform will enable YouTube to generate much-needed revenue for growth and expansion. However for the time being the e-commerce links are being added to its library of music videos only in the United States.

San Bruno-based YouTube is an exceedingly popular site for viewing and sharing online videos. It was founded in February 2005 and caught on the fancy of netizens for offering first-hand accounts of current events, for finding videos on viewers’ hobbies and interests besides showing the quirky and fantastic. In October 2006, YouTube was acquired by Google for $1.65 billion in stock in a deal that was criticized in some quarters for though YouTube was inordinately popular, it did not have a viable way to earn money. With the current launching of its e-commerce platform, YouTube hopes to address the issue and earn enough revenues