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.
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:
What Gets Flagged:
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.
Effective YouTube commenting for affiliates requires a methodical approach that prioritises value creation over direct promotion. Here’s the framework that successful affiliates use:
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.
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.
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.
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:
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.
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:
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.
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.
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.
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.
While YouTube doesn’t offer native analytics for comment performance, several third-party tools can help affiliates track and optimise their commenting strategies:
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.
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.
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.
The most successful affiliate comment strategies focus on relationship building rather than direct selling. Consider these advanced approaches:
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.
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.
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.
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.