San Bruno, Calif. - Google's (NASD: GOOG) YouTube has begun placing links to purchase music and games on the pages of related videos on its site in the U.S., with initial partners that include Amazon (NASD: AMZN) MP3, Apple's (NASD: AAPL) iTunes Store, record label EMI and game developer Electronic Arts (NASD: ERTS). The "click-to-buy" links to purchase media at Amazon's MP3 store and Apple's iTunes Store can currently be found on pages for music videos by EMI artists, and pages related to Electronic Arts' new universe-building game, "Spore."

The company said it will also target the new e-commerce feature to customers of its Content ID system, which identifies when copyrighted materials are uploaded by users.

Instead of asking YouTube to remove the content, copyright owners can now add links to purchase their offerings, in addition to being able to monetize the user-generated posts with advertising.

"This is just the beginning of building a broad, viable eCommerce platform for users and partners on YouTube," the company said in a blog post.

"Our vision is to help partners across all industries -- from music, to film, to print, to TV -- offer useful and relevant products to a large, yet targeted audience, and generate additional revenue from their content on YouTube beyond the advertising we serve against their videos."

Related Links:
http://www.youtube.com/blog?entry=-y_3IbT8mJU

http://snipurl.com/46qf3 (AP)