What to Do When the Product You Linked in a YouTube Video No Longer Exists

Andrew Pierce ·
affiliate marketing youtube broken links old videos discontinued products

What to Do When the Product You Linked in a YouTube Video No Longer Exists

You reviewed a product two years ago. The video still ranks well in search, still gets steady views every month, and still has people scrolling down to the description looking for the link. But the product has been discontinued. The Amazon listing says “Currently unavailable.” The affiliate link is dead.

This happens to every YouTube creator who uses affiliate links — it’s one of the most common affiliate marketing mistakes. Products have lifecycles. Consumer electronics get replaced by newer models every 12-18 months. Software gets acquired or shut down. Beauty products get reformulated. Even evergreen products like books can have editions go out of print.

The question isn’t whether your links will go stale — it’s what you do about it when they do. There are several strategies, each with different tradeoffs. The right approach depends on the product, the video, and how much traffic it still gets.

What Should You Do When a Product Has a Direct Successor?

Replace the old link with an affiliate link to the newer model. This is the most straightforward approach and the right choice in most cases. If the product you reviewed has a direct successor — a newer version from the same brand — swap the old link for an affiliate link to the current model.

In your description, add a brief note so viewers aren’t confused:

⚡ UPDATE: The [Original Product] has been replaced by the [New Model].
I've updated the link below to the current version.
🔗 [New Model Name]: https://your-affiliate-link.com

Original review below — most of what I cover still applies to the newer model.

Put this note at the very top of the description, above the fold. Viewers who land on this video from search are looking for a product to buy right now. If the first thing they see is a dead link, they leave. If the first thing they see is an updated recommendation, they click.

When to use this: The product has a clear successor from the same brand. The new version is similar enough that your original review is still largely relevant. Examples: phones, laptops, headphones, cameras, running shoes, most consumer electronics.

When not to use this: The new version is dramatically different from what you reviewed, or your review was negative and the new model might have fixed the issues you raised. In those cases, you’d be endorsing a product you haven’t actually tested.

What If the Brand Discontinued the Entire Product Line?

Link to a comparable alternative from a competitor that fills the same role. Sometimes there’s no direct successor — the brand discontinued the line, or the company went out of business — but a similar product exists.

⚡ UPDATE: The [Original Product] is no longer available.
The closest alternative I'd recommend is the [Alternative Product]:
🔗 https://your-affiliate-link.com

This is slightly more nuanced because you’re recommending a product you may not have reviewed in depth. Be honest about that. You can add a qualifier:

⚡ UPDATE: The [Original Product] has been discontinued.
I haven't done a full review yet, but the [Alternative] is the closest
current option in this price range:
🔗 https://your-affiliate-link.com

This maintains trust with your audience. You’re being transparent that you haven’t tested the alternative yourself while still providing a helpful link for viewers who want to buy something.

When to use this: No direct successor exists, but there’s an obvious equivalent product in the same category and price range. You’re comfortable recommending it based on specs, reviews, and reputation even if you haven’t personally tested it.

When not to use this: You have no idea what a good alternative would be, or the alternatives are significantly different from what you reviewed. Don’t recommend something just to have a working affiliate link.

Can You Link to an Amazon Search Page Instead of a Specific Product?

Yes, and this is an underused strategy that works well when you can’t point to a single replacement product. Instead of linking to a specific product listing, link to an Amazon search results page for the product category with your affiliate tag attached.

This is especially useful for Amazon links pointing to out-of-stock products. An Amazon search affiliate link looks like this:

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=wireless+noise+cancelling+headphones&tag=yourid-20

When a viewer clicks this, they land on Amazon’s search results for “wireless noise cancelling headphones” with your affiliate cookie set. If they buy anything from Amazon in the next 24 hours, you earn a commission.

In your description:

⚡ UPDATE: The [Original Product] is no longer available.
Here are the best current options in this category:
🔗 https://www.amazon.com/s?k=wireless+noise+cancelling+headphones&tag=yourid-20

Pros of this approach:

  • The link never breaks. It’s a search query, not a product listing. There will always be results.
  • Amazon’s 24-hour cookie still applies. Even if the viewer doesn’t buy headphones, anything they purchase on Amazon earns you a commission.
  • You don’t need to research a specific replacement. The search results page does the work.

Cons:

  • Lower conversion rate than linking to a specific product. Viewers have to browse and choose, which adds friction.
  • Less personal. You’re not recommending something specific, you’re pointing to a category.
  • Some viewers may find it less helpful than a direct product recommendation.

When to use this: You can’t identify a single good replacement, the product category is broad (headphones, running shoes, monitors), and the video is getting enough views that even a lower-converting link is worth having.

Should You Use a Pinned Comment Instead of Editing the Description?

A pinned comment is a good alternative when you don’t want to change the original description — maybe it’s long and carefully formatted, or maybe you have timestamps and other content you don’t want to disturb.

📌 Pinned comment — Updated February 2026:
The [Original Product] has been discontinued. Here are the current
alternatives I'd recommend:

🔗 [Product A] — best overall: https://affiliate-link.com
🔗 [Product B] — budget option: https://affiliate-link.com

Original links in the description may no longer work.

Pinned comments are highly visible — they appear at the top of the comment section, which many viewers scroll to before they even look at the description. They’re also quick to create and don’t require you to edit the video in YouTube Studio.

When to use this: The video description is complex and you don’t want to restructure it. You want to provide multiple alternative options. The video has an active comment section and viewers are already looking at comments.

Bonus: Pinned comments can boost engagement. Viewers often reply to pinned comments, and the activity signals to YouTube’s algorithm that the video is still generating engagement.

When Should You Create a New Video Instead of Updating the Old One?

If the original video gets significant traffic and the product landscape has changed substantially, creating a new video is often the best move. Make an updated review or a “best of 2026” version, then cross-link between the two.

In the old video’s description:

⚡ I've made an updated version of this video with current products:
🔗 https://youtube.com/watch?v=yournewvideo

The links below may be outdated.

In the new video’s description, link to the old one for context:

This is an updated version of my [original review title] from [year]:
🔗 https://youtube.com/watch?v=youroldvideo

When to use this: The product category has changed enough that an updated video would genuinely add value. The original video still gets strong search traffic that you can redirect. You’re willing to invest the time in creating new content.

The benefit beyond affiliate links: This strategy also captures new search traffic. “Best wireless headphones 2026” is a different search query than “Best wireless headphones 2024.” The new video ranks for the current query while the old video funnels its existing traffic to the updated content.

How Do You Decide Which Strategy to Use?

The right approach depends on two factors: how much traffic the video gets and how closely a replacement product matches the original.

High traffic + direct successor exists → Strategy 1 (newer model). Maximum revenue recovery. The viewer gets a relevant product, you get a working commission link on a high-traffic video.

High traffic + no direct successor → Strategy 3 (search results link) or Strategy 5 (new video). If the traffic justifies it, create a new video. If not, the search results link keeps the affiliate cookie active.

Moderate traffic + alternative exists → Strategy 2 (comparable alternative). Good enough to capture some commissions without investing too much time.

Any traffic level + complex description → Strategy 4 (pinned comment). Quick, visible, and doesn’t require description editing.

Low traffic → Consider doing nothing. If a video gets 50 views per month and the affiliate link is broken, the potential recovery is minimal. Spend your time on higher-traffic videos first. You can always come back to low-traffic videos later.

The hard part isn’t deciding what to do — it’s knowing which videos have the problem in the first place. If you have 200 videos with affiliate links, you need to figure out which links are broken and which of those videos are still getting meaningful traffic.

Manually, you can sort your videos by views in YouTube Studio and start checking descriptions from the top. But this only catches problems on videos you think to check, and it doesn’t tell you which specific links are broken without clicking each one.

Youfiliate automates this entirely. It scans every video description on your channel, tests each affiliate link, and flags the ones that are broken — prioritized by video view count so you know exactly which fixes will recover the most revenue. You can run a free scan to see which of your videos need attention right now, then use the strategies above to fix them.

A Note on Honesty

All of these strategies share one principle: be transparent with your audience. Viewers appreciate knowing that you’ve updated a recommendation. They don’t appreciate feeling misled.

This ties into FTC disclosure requirements as well. If you replace a link with an alternative you haven’t tested, say so. If you link to a search results page instead of a specific product, explain why. If you made the original video three years ago and the market has changed, acknowledge that.

This honesty doesn’t hurt your conversions — it helps them. Viewers who trust you click more links, buy more products, and come back for more recommendations. A viewer who feels tricked by a bait-and-switch replacement link won’t click anything from you again.

The goal isn’t to squeeze every possible commission out of a broken link. It’s to maintain the relationship between you, your audience, and the products you recommend — even when those products change over time.

Frequently Asked Questions

Should I update old YouTube video descriptions when products are discontinued?

Yes. If the video still gets views, a dead affiliate link means you’re losing potential commissions and providing a bad experience for viewers who expect to find a working product link. Prioritize updating descriptions on your highest-traffic videos first.

You can, but be transparent about it. Add a note in the description saying you haven’t done a full review of the replacement product. Viewers appreciate honesty, and it maintains trust in your recommendations. Never present a product you haven’t tested as if you’ve personally reviewed it.

At minimum, check your highest-traffic videos every few months. Products get discontinued, listings get removed, and links break without warning. Automated monitoring tools like Youfiliate can scan your entire channel and alert you when links break, which is more reliable than manual checking.

Broken links don’t directly affect your YouTube algorithm performance, but they hurt your credibility with viewers and cost you commission revenue. A description full of dead links signals to viewers that you don’t maintain your content, making them less likely to trust future recommendations.

For videos getting fewer than 50 views per month, the revenue recovery is minimal. Focus your time on high-traffic videos first, where fixing a broken link can immediately recover meaningful commissions. You can always come back to low-traffic videos later.