YouTube's Newest Revenue Scheme: Affiliate Fees

We are still waiting to see the mind-blowing revenue generating schemes Eric Schmidt has up his sleeve for YouTube (GOOG). But in the meantime, the stuff his video site has been rolling out has been pretty pedestrian. Earlier this month, YouTube debuted post-roll ads. Today: Click-to-buy buttons for iTunes (AAPL) and Amazon (AMZN).

Not a terrible idea, but obviously not a game-changer, either. Apple gives its small-fry affiliates 5% of each sale they generate; Amazon is offering its partners 10% of each MP3. Not surprisingly, YouTube isn't offering details on the revenue split for this deal, but we'll ask around.

Side note: Turns out it is worth listening to Chad Hurley when he talks. In June, the site's cofounder spelled out the plans for this program at a Palo Alto presentation. NTV:

“We’re integrating links to iTunes and Amazon for DVDs, CDs, and digital downloads,” Hurley said. “A lot of our content does drive awareness for music or for TV shows or movies, and a lot of our partners are really just excited to make that connection between the two — going from promotional, getting people to tune into a TV show or buy a movie ticket — to that direct response in terms of clicking to buy something.”

See Also: YouTube Launches Post-Roll Ads
Google: We Can't Figure Out How To Make Money On Web Video, Either
Eric Schmidt: Google Has Secret Plan To Mint Money With YouTube