YouTube to Clean Kids Content from Advertising and Low-Quality

Protecting children from bad content is generally not a bad idea unless you suddenly find that the bad content is yours. That’s what may happen to many creators on YouTube that moderate their channels as made for kids. Starting next week, the main video service of the world may soon demonetize content it finds bad. 

What does bad content mean? YouTube managers offer their definition. If your content is overtly advertising, with too much PP, or low-quality, or encouraging negative behavior or attitude, it can be excluded from the monetization program. Chances are that, if your channel is weighed and found wanting, it will not do it to the YouTube Kids app where only approved content appears. Neither will it participate in monetization programs. If your channel is seen as such, you will receive a letter with a warning and an instruction on how to change your content to avoid these consequences. 

YouTube first addressed the content problem in its August statements. The company admitted that it will implement some changes because of the new legal requirements, but some of these changes are initiated by YouTube itself. Some of them are meant to cater to the minors’ life, including breaks and bedtime reminders. 

Harsh as these measures may seem to the qualifying content makers, they are relatively mild next to what consumer advocacy groups wanted. Though their requirements to Google were diverse, they included the complete ban of these advertising videos. Unlike “low-quality” ones, these can be defined with more precision. One of their reasons was that content makers sometimes keep their relations with brands being advertised in a disguised manner.

Other sorts of bad content include pseudo-educational videos, those that hinder comprehension, misleading, or those with strange use of children’s characters (whatever it might mean). What an unexpected implementation of the “Don’t Be Evil” principle.