YouTube Comments: The Untapped Goldmine for Affiliate Marketers

While most affiliates focus on video descriptions and pinned comments, the vast ecosystem of YouTube’s comment sections represents one of the most underexplored opportunities in affiliate marketing. With recent platform updates and evolving features, understanding how to leverage comments effectively could be the competitive edge your affiliate strategy needs.

Can You Put Links in YouTube Comments? The Current Reality

Yes, you can post links in YouTube comments, but there are restrictions. YouTube does allow users to post links in comments, but most of them will be held pending approval. The platform’s automated systems scrutinise comments containing URLs, particularly looking for spam patterns and suspicious content.

You can hold comments that contain URLs for review through YouTube Studio’s community moderation settings. This means channel owners have granular control over which comments with links appear publicly, making strategic relationship-building with creators more important than ever.

What Works in 2025:

• Links to reputable websites with strong domain authority
• Contextually relevant links that add value to the discussion
• Links from verified accounts with established commenting history
• Direct responses to viewer questions that require additional resources

What Gets Flagged:

• Repetitive link placement across multiple videos
• Shortened URLs without context
• Links to suspicious or unverified domains
• Generic promotional messages with affiliate links

YouTube Comment Updates: New Features Creating Opportunities

YouTube’s recent introduction of hyperlinked comments to Google search results has opened fresh possibilities for affiliates. This change allows users to provide quick access to more information by embedding hyperlinks directly within comments, which could become a powerful tool for affiliates.

This development means affiliates can now create more interactive experiences within comment threads, guiding viewers to additional resources while maintaining the natural flow of conversation. However, success requires understanding YouTube’s evolving community guidelines and the platform’s increasing focus on authentic engagement.

Our analysis at Affiverse Media shows that YouTube’s affiliate hub continues expanding, with new features rolling out regularly that impact how affiliates can operate within the platform’s ecosystem.

How to Add Comments Strategically on YouTube

Effective YouTube commenting for affiliates requires a methodical approach that prioritises value creation over direct promotion. Here’s the framework that successful affiliates use:

The Value-First Approach

Before dropping any links, establish yourself as a helpful community member. Share genuine insights, answer questions thoroughly, and demonstrate expertise in your niche. This builds the trust necessary for your eventual promotional efforts to be well-received.

Timing and Relevance

Comment early on trending videos within your niche, but ensure your contributions are substantive. Late comments on viral videos often get buried, while early, thoughtful responses can gain significant visibility and engagement.

Cross-Platform Integration

Use YouTube comments to drive traffic to your other content platforms where you have more control over affiliate link placement. Instead of direct affiliate links, guide viewers to your blog posts, social media profiles, or email lists where you can present offers more comprehensively.

How to Find Your Comments on YouTube: Tracking Your Engagement

YouTube on a browser does not contain any extra features for viewing and modifying your comments compared to the mobile app, but you can access your complete comment history through these steps:

1. Desktop Method: Click the hamburger menu → History → Comments
2. Mobile App: Profile → History → Comments
3. Advanced Tracking: Use third-party tools like SocialBee to monitor engagement across all your YouTube activity

Understanding your comment performance helps identify which types of engagement generate the most response and potential traffic. Track metrics like reply rates, likes, and subsequent video views from users who engage with your comments.

For affiliate marketers managing multiple campaigns, consider implementing our scaling strategies for 2025 which include systematic comment tracking and engagement analysis.

What Does Highlighted Comment Mean on YouTube?

The highlighted comment (HC) on YouTube doesn’t necessarily mean that your comment has been approved or liked by other YouTube viewers. In fact, it is only the result of an improved YouTube algorithm that places the reply at the top of the comment section with a light gray shadow.

Highlighted comments appear when someone clicks a direct link to a specific comment thread. You can see the YouTube highlighted comment because the link you visit has a special parameter behind the original URL: &lc=***. This feature creates opportunities for affiliates to create shareable comment links that direct traffic to specific discussions.

Strategic Applications:

• Share highlighted comment links on social media to drive targeted traffic
• Use in email campaigns to reference specific product discussions
• Include in blog posts to provide social proof and community engagement
• Create conversation hubs around specific affiliate products or services

How to Delete a YouTube Comment: Managing Your Digital Footprint

Comment management is crucial for maintaining a professional affiliate presence. YouTube provides you with an option to take down your comment on your own that you deem rude, disrespectful, or offensive towards other users.

Deletion Process:

1. Navigate to the specific comment
2. Click the three vertical dots next to your comment
3. Select “Delete” from the dropdown menu
4. Confirm the deletion

When to Delete Comments:

• Comments containing outdated information or broken links
• Responses that no longer align with your brand messaging
• Comments on videos that have changed context significantly
• Any content that violates updated platform policies

Remember that edited YouTube comments have an (edited) note next to the comment’s timestamp, so sometimes deletion and reposting may be preferable to editing for maintaining credibility.

Comment Bots on YouTube: Navigating the Automated Landscape

YouTube comment bots are often accounts created for the sole purpose of mass-commenting on videos. These accounts are placed into a comment automation software and used to comment on random videos. Understanding this landscape helps legitimate affiliates differentiate their strategies and avoid being mistaken for bot activity.

Identifying Bot Behavior:

• Generic usernames and profile photos
• Repetitive, templated messages
• Rapid-fire commenting across unrelated videos
• Comments that don’t align with video content

Standing Out as Human:

• Craft personalized responses that reference specific video moments
• Engage in genuine conversations with other commenters
• Vary your commenting patterns and timing
• Use natural language that reflects your authentic voice

These bots operate by commenting on popular YouTube videos. They search for comments that have gained a lot of traction and then reply to them, often with nonsensical text. By understanding these patterns, affiliates can ensure their engagement appears authentic and valuable.

YouTube Comment Checker Tools: Monitoring and Optimization

While YouTube doesn’t offer native analytics for comment performance, several third-party tools can help affiliates track and optimise their commenting strategies:

Recommended Tools:

• SocialBee: Comprehensive YouTube comment management and analytics
• TubeRanker: YouTube analytics with comment tracking features
• YouTube Studio: Basic comment moderation and response tracking
• Brand monitoring tools: For tracking mentions and engagement across the platform

These tools help identify which comments generate the most engagement, track response rates, and monitor overall comment performance across your affiliate campaigns.

For broader affiliate marketing analytics, consider implementing the data-driven strategies we recommend for 2025 to optimise your entire marketing funnel.

Why YouTube Keeps Deleting Your Comments: Avoiding Common Pitfalls

During the second quarter of 2024, approximately 80 percent of removed video comments on the Google platform YouTube were deleted due to being spam, misleading, or scam content. Understanding deletion triggers helps affiliates maintain consistent visibility.

Common Deletion Triggers:

• Spam Detection: Posting identical comments across multiple videos
• Link Restrictions: Including suspicious or blacklisted domains
• Keyword Filters: Using terms that trigger automated moderation
• Rapid Posting: Commenting too frequently in short timeframes
• Community Guidelines: Violating platform policies around promotional content

Prevention Strategies:

• Space out your commenting activity across different time periods
• Vary your language and approach for each comment
• Focus on building relationships before introducing promotional elements
• Use branded domains rather than direct affiliate links when possible
• Engage authentically with the community before promoting products

The Strategic Advantage: Why Comments Matter More Than Ever

As YouTube continues restricting affiliate marketing in Shorts, the comment sections of regular videos become increasingly valuable real estate for affiliate marketers. Unlike Shorts, where links are now unclickable, comment sections on standard YouTube videos still offer opportunities for strategic link placement and community building.

Hyperlinked comments can be a game-changer for affiliates. By including relevant links in comments, affiliates can direct viewers to product information, reviews, or deals, creating a smooth path from engagement to conversion.

This shift means affiliates who master comment-based strategies will have access to traffic sources that competitors ignore, potentially providing significant competitive advantages in crowded niches.

Building Long-Term Success Through Comment Marketing

The most successful affiliate comment strategies focus on relationship building rather than direct selling. Consider these advanced approaches:

Community Leadership

Position yourself as a thought leader within specific YouTube communities by consistently providing valuable insights, answering questions, and sharing helpful resources. This builds the trust necessary for successful affiliate recommendations.

Cross-Video Campaigns

Develop campaigns that span multiple videos within a niche, creating conversation threads that naturally lead viewers through your affiliate funnel. This approach works particularly well for product comparison content and educational series.

Influencer Collaboration

Partner with content creators to develop authentic comment strategies that complement their video content. This collaborative approach often yields better results than standalone promotional efforts.

As we’ve outlined in our comprehensive affiliate marketing guide, successful affiliate marketing in 2025 requires diversification across multiple channels and strategies. YouTube comments represent an underutilised channel that, when approached strategically, can deliver significant returns.

Conclusion: Unlocking the Comment Opportunity

YouTube comments offer affiliate marketers a unique opportunity to engage directly with highly targeted audiences in a context where they’re already consuming related content. Success requires understanding platform restrictions, building genuine relationships, and providing authentic value before introducing promotional elements.

As the affiliate marketing landscape becomes increasingly competitive, those who master these subtle, relationship-based strategies will find themselves with access to engaged audiences that others can’t reach. The key lies in treating comment sections not as advertising spaces, but as community building opportunities that naturally lead to affiliate success.

By implementing these strategies thoughtfully and consistently, affiliate marketers can transform YouTube’s comment sections from an afterthought into a core component of their traffic generation and audience building efforts. The opportunity exists—it’s simply waiting for affiliates strategic enough to seize it.