Shopping on YouTube will first be tried out in India before it is rolled out globally, Google CEO Sundar Pichai said on February 2 during Alphabet's earnings call. "When I look at YouTube in India, some of the commerce ideas we talked about earlier, you may see us first try it in India first because we can get quicker feedback; a very dynamic, youthful population. And so we'll do it there, and then roll it out globally," Pichai said. While this news is exciting, YouTube's entry into e-commerce will subject the platform to a whole new set of rules and additional scrutiny not just from retailer bodies but policymakers as well. What is shopping on YouTube? YouTube's plans to enter e-commerce was first revealed in 2020 when Bloomberg reported that the platform started asking some creators to link products featured in their video with shopping tools offered by Google. "The goal is to convert YouTube’s bounty of videos into a vast catalog of items that viewers can peruse, click on and buy directly," Bloomberg reported. While YouTube acknowledged the development back then, it did not reveal much information because the project was still under testing. Since 2020, a lot has changed. The pandemic has fuelled the growth of e-commerce to new heights, offering YouTube all the more reason to double down on its plans and diversify away from its traditional advertising revenue. In the earnings call, Pichai said: "Our commerce opportunity remains really exciting. We’re making it easier for viewers to…
