YouTube recently cracked down on inappropriate content aimed at children, and if the video site’s recent announcements are any indication, its policing of family-friendly content is only going to get stricter. With that environment looming, SuperAwesome wants to make sure videomakers are properly educated on the best practices for creating ad-friendly content.

In order to achieve that goal, and to connect brands to appropriate adverting partners, the so-called “kidtech” company that helps to enable “safe, digital engagement with the global under-13 audience” between brands and content owners has launched SafeFam, a new certification program.

SafeFam participants are educated on what it means to be kid-safe and brand-safe while also learning about the consequences they could face if they do not adhere to those principles. Parents of underage creators can use SafeFam to better understand how to manage their child’s hobby. In return, SuperAwesome will review and certify family-friendly channels, leading to more ad revenue opportunities across the online video world.

The creators participating in SafeFam include some notable members of YouTube’s family video community. KittiesMama (pictured above) is an early partner, as is Grace’s World and 20-or-so kid-oriented creators.

“While YouTube has created the Intelligence Desk to spot inappropriate content earlier, there remains a lack of content guidance for YouTubers creating wholesome, kid-friendly content,” said SuperAwesome CEO Dylan Collins in a press release. “SafeFam has two very clear goals: a) establishing clear content policies for kids content creators on YouTube and b) increasing brand safety so that these YouTubers have more revenue opportunities ”

More information about SafeFam is available through an introductory YouTube video:

Filed under: Articles, Featured, News by Sam Gutelle
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In yet another harrowing incident of a deranged fan targeting popular YouTube stars, the couple Gavin Free and Meg Turney reportedly hid in the closet of their Austin home in the middle of the night late last month while a man with a gun unsuccessfully attempted to locate them, firing off one round.

While the couple were ultimately unharmed, the perpetrator, Christopher Giles, encountered police after leaving Free and Turney’s home after 10 minutes, reports the Albuquerque Journal. Free and Turney reportedly called 911 from their closet, and Giles was met by officers in the driveway, where shots were fired. Giles was pronounced dead on the scene — though it has yet to be confirmed whether he killed himself or if he was shot by one of the officers.

Giles, an avid gamer and YouTube viewer, reportedly drove to Free and Turney’s house all the way from Albuquerque, according to the Journal, and his phone contained more than 1,000 notes — as well as voice memos — about his fondness for Turney, a cosplayer and former Rooster Teeth host, and his disdain for Free, who created The Slow Mo Guys. “I want Gavin Free to die alone, with no children,” Giles said in one of the voice memos, per the Journal.

“Based on the footage seen [in the house], it was apparent that Giles’ sole intent was to cause harm to someone who resides there,” Austin Police Department detectives wrote in a report. The case is still under investigation.

This isn’t the first time that YouTube stars — whose fame is often bred on fostering a sense of accessibility — have been targeted by boundary-crossing and/or disturbed fans. Creator couples like Zoe Sugg and Alfie Deyes as well as Jenna Marbles and Julien Solomita have had to repeatedly urge fans not to show up at their houses. And most horrifically, in June 2016, the YouTube musician Christina Grimmie was fatally shot at a meet-and-greet.

Free thanked fans and the Austin Police Department on Twitter.

Hey everyone. I just wanted to say thanks for all the support and concern regarding the recent incident. It’s been a rough time for Meg and myself the last few weeks but we are doing ok. I want to give a huge thanks to @Austin_Police for the amazing response time. ❤️ you all.

— Gavin Free (@GavinFree) February 13, 2018

Filed under: News by Geoff Weiss
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Unilever, which owns brands like Dove, Axe, and Knorr, has long been a heavy advertiser on sites like YouTube and Facebook. A 2016 report claimed that the consumer goods giant spent a quarter of its ad budget on digital platforms, committing about $2 billion in the process.

The controversies that rocked the online video industry in 2017, however, have Unilever reconsidering its relationship with the digital world. In a speech provided to TechCrunch, Unilever CMO Keith Weed said that YouTube, Facebook, and their ilk must clean up in 2018, or else Unilever will spend its ad budget elsewhere.

“As a brand-led business, Unilever needs its consumers to have trust in our brands,” reads Weed’s speech. “We can’t do anything to damage that trust -– including the choice of channels and platforms we use. So, 2018 is the year when social media must win trust back.”

Last year, YouTube was criticized for allowing ads to run on extremist content. It was also taken to task after multiple reports discovered inappropriate videos aimed at children. Both of those happenings led to temporary advertiser boycotts.

Facebook, meanwhile, has had its own issues policing its platform. It has been held particularly accountable for the spread of fake news, which appeared to have an effect on the 2016 election.

“It is critical that our brands remain not only in a safe environment, but a suitable one,” explains Weed in his address. “Unilever, as a trusted advertiser, do not want to advertise on platforms which do not make a positive contribution to society.”

Unilever’s past advertisements on YouTube have included several notable campaigns. Dove’s ‘Real Beauty Sketches‘ (pictured above) was one of 2013’s most impactful digital spots, while Knorr’s ‘Love At First Taste’ has received more than 60 million views since its 2016 upload date.

It’s unclear how serious Weed’s threat is, or if he’s merely blowing hot air, but YouTube is taking pressure from advertisers seriously. It has vowed to use both human and technological methods to clean up its premium Google Preferred advertising tier, and it has pledged to build a force of 10,000 reviewers to search for inappropriate content. It remains to be seen whether those steps, and any others YouTube takes this year, will satisfy Weed and his team.

Filed under: Articles, Featured, News by Sam Gutelle
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Four-year-old Otter Media, a joint digital media venture between AT&T and The Chernin Group, has a new chief executive.

Tony Goncalves, who most recently served as AT&T’s CEO of digital brands, was today appointed CEO of Otter Media. Goncalves will be tapped with overseeing Otter’s illustrious portfolio of OTT services and digital content brands, including Ellation, Fullscreen, Rooster Teeth, Crunchyroll, VRV, Gunpowder & Sky, and Hello Sunshine. All told, Otter Media says it has 90 million unique monthly viewers, and clocked a total of 100 billion views last year.

“Tony has been our partner on Otter Media for almost four years, and, during that time, it was evident that he is a thoughtful, strategic executive who is hugely passionate about furthering the growth of one of the premiere digital media companies,” said Otter Media chairman Peter Chernin, who is also CEO of The Chernin Group. “Over the last six months, we started discussing having Tony join Otter full-time, and we are delighted that he has agreed to assume the role of CEO.”

In his previous role at AT&T, Goncalves not only oversaw Otter Media’s relationship with The Chernin Group, but also led strategy for the company’s entry into OTT via DirecTV Now. Goncalves first joined DirecTV in 2007. His appointment arrives amid reports that AT&T is seeking to buy The Chernin Group’s stake in Otter Media, which may be hanging in the balance due to AT&T’s delayed purchase of Time Warner. Last month, Otter Media became a full owner of two of its best-known properties: Fullscreen and Ellation.

Goncalves replaces Otter’s former chief, Sarah Harden, who joined Reese Witherspoon’s female-focused media brand, Hello Sunshine, as CEO in January.

Filed under: News by Geoff Weiss
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Insights is a weekly series featuring entertainment industry veteran David Bloom. It represents an experiment of sorts in digital-age journalism and audience engagement with a focus on the intersection of entertainment and technology, an area that David has written about and thought about and been part of in various career incarnations for much of the past 25 years. David welcomes your thoughts, perspectives, calumnies, and kudos at david@tubefilter.com, or on Twitter @DavidBloom.

We’re a couple of weeks into Facebook’s Friends & Family Right Turn, a seismic algorithmic shift that many proclaimed would be the death of publishing. So how’s everyone doing? Are we all dead?

Based on many recent conversations – at this week’s Digital Entertainment World conference where I moderated a panel – it’s been a bit like the “Bring Out Your Dead” bit in Monty Python and the Holy Grail:” We’re not dead yet.

Facebook’s moves here and elsewhere, along with Google’s just-launched Bulletin news app, do presage a push by the Duopoly to more local and less third-party content in what they serve to their billions of users. That shift has lots of implications for how publishers of all sizes negotiate their presence on the platforms that provide so many of their views.

Hammered by Congress, critics, and even Jim Carrey(!), Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg promised the site would rely more heavily on trusted news sites (as determined by a user survey), while also emphasizing local coverage. Most sites would be taken out of the News Feed, tucked into a separate section and left to find their views there. Organic reach, some said, had been sent to the organic compost heap. Much wailing, garment rending and teeth gnashing ensued.

Also ensuing: more Facebook meme/hoax outbreaks (that only-25-friends-or-so-in-your-feed thing, and, oh yeah, the Hillary Clinton “plot” to attack a train full of GOP members of Congress with a trash truck; she’s everywhere, folks. Don’t sleep on the HRC).

But for all the rending and gnashing, at least some I’ve talked with had a different view about the Algo changes. It might even be good, they said, at least for people who can tell a compelling story with video while working within the expectations of Facebook and its audience.

“If you’re a creator or storyteller, what Facebook is doing is a strong net positive,’” said Keith Richman, the president of Defy Media, whose brands include Smosh and Screen Junkies. “You have to evaluate and figure out how you keep going, and what it’s doing and how you can play with it.”

“Fundamentally, all media companies have a choice to make right now: Do I want to pursue scale for scale’s sake or do I want to pursue depth and engagement of audience?” said Jared Grusd, CEO of HuffPost and VP of News for its parent organization, Oath. “We want to improve the amount of people who return to us on a daily basis rather the amount of people who kind of stumble across us.”

Tubular Labs, which tracks the ebbs and flows of online video, hasn’t seen any Algorithma-pocalypse yet, said CMO and founder Allison Stern. In part, that’s because lots of publishers living on the double-edged knife that is publishing through Facebook kinda know what they’re doing.

“Zuckerberg said things are going to change for publishers and I’m not going to go against him,” Stern said. “But we haven’t seen that crazy drop immediately. One of the reasons is, to be successful in this, this is just another day of publishing on social platforms. The people who have mastered Facebook content so far are people who are data-driven, data-informed, keeping their (hand on the) pulse of the social platform. They understand that what takes off on YouTube is different from what takes off on Facebook and what takes off on Instagram. They’re just like, in it.”

The changes does shift the dynamic for companies that have been focused on gaming the algorithm, however.

“There are always people who can play the game and get to a lot of views,” said Richman. “But increasingly, as you look where the monetization is going, it’s to better programming, higher quality, less people getting hung in a Japanese forest, more people figuring out how to tell a story that is compelling and inspirational. The biggest thing that Facebook is doing is that it’s continued a shift to rewarding quality programming versus people who are good at games.  Unfortunately, you have to be good at both but it’s nice to see people who are good at programming have increasing chances of success.”

And it’s another example of how Facebook is both maturing its very immature video platform while becoming ever more like Snapchat (even beyond the endless and shameless feature copying).

In this case, Snapchat led the way in separating out the pros from the pals, a move that was further accentuated in the reboot of its Android app last fall. That redesign is credited with driving a big jump in average daily users, to 187 million, that undergirded Snap’s strong quarterly earnings (shares jumped about 25%).

By creating a different place for audiences to go on the site to see high-quality material, it changes their expectations, and starts to create a better space for the good stuff, several people said to me. Now, we have to see which publishers are ready to take advantage.

“That’s what the Watch page is trying to do,” said Defy’s Richman. “You don’t just discover video accidentally that’s muted and you’re not really sure where it comes from, but go to a destination where you can be with an audience and engage with a program. Long term, that’s good not only for people who are good at playing the game but also for people who are good at creating content and programming, because that’s what’s rewarded.”

“The world of digital video the last few years has been about building eyeballs and getting people to watch,” said Tubular’s Stern. “Now is the moment where we’re moving to making money on that. What is it that works? How do you create these new scalable entertainment companies?”

So, where to go next? Bill Jennings, the new CEO at Beachfront Media (a former sponsor of this column), has a really good idea where many are headed, based on what he’s seeing among his company’s thousands of publisher clients.

“I think this movement to the connected TV space is the next major phase,” said Jennings. “Already, 170 million people use connected TV. About 57 million of them are a combination of cord-cutters or cord-nevers. This is a massive shift.  Whether you’re a major broadcaster or a middle-tier publisher, CTV is a massive opportunity.”

And that’ll be something for a future set of Insights. See you on CTV, folks. Oh, and if you’d like to listen to my panel at Digital Entertainment World, which included many of the folks quoted here, plus top execs at 20th Century Fox and Deutsch, just click right here.

Filed under: Apple, Articles, Insights, Music, News by David Bloom
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When we last wrote about Snapchat‘s big redesign, the update had just arrived in several foreign territories but had not yet made its way to the US. The app’s new interface, which separates content created by friends from content created by Discover publishers, received immense criticism as soon as it arrived overseas. The biggest gripe seemed to concern the decision to combine Snaps from friends and Stories into a single, muddled feed.

A month later, some American users have switched over to the new Snapchat, and they have been equally negative about the fresh design. BuzzFeed has collected a few of the most vociferous responses, which, in true internet fashion, are expressed through memes.

More nuanced criticism of Snapchat’s recent track record — which, to avoid mincing words, has not been good — came from tech vlogger Marques Brownlee. In a video that ended up on YouTube’s trending tab, Brownlee accused Snapchat of failing to do enough to promote the discovery of user content. As he explained, his Snapchat Stories typically average around 90,000 views, but when he decided to experiment with Instagram Stories, he instantly received upwards of 400,000 views.

Brownlee’s critique is not directly related to Snapchat’s redesign, but he concludes that no matter how the app looks, it isn’t doing enough to promote its users. “I don’t see them fully embracing the discovery of individually-produced content in nearly the same way Instagram would,” Brownlee said.

As I mentioned in my last story on this subject, consumers can be sensitive to redesigns, so there’s still time for Snapchat’s new look to pick up some positive press. And despite the complaints, there’s evidence to suggest that the app is pulling users away from Facebook as a faster clip than anticipated, so even if customers are unsatisfied, they don’t seem to be deleted Snapchat in massive numbers just yet.

In hopes of turning the tide, Snapchat is sticking with its updated layout. “Updates as big as this one can take a little getting used to,” a Snap representative told Variety, “but we hope the community will enjoy it once they settle in.”

Filed under: Articles, Featured, News, Snapchat by Sam Gutelle
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In something of an unprecedented move, one of YouTube’s top executives sat down with one of the platform’s most beloved creators to discuss the complicated relationship between both parties amid the Logan Paul kerfuffle, the Adpocalypse, and a host of other issues. After being invited onto the creator Casey Neistat’s channel for a wide-ranging interview, YouTube’s chief business officer, Robert Kyncl, acknowledged that the proposition was “risky — but you guys do risky stuff every day.”

Neistat and Kyncl didn’t waste any time getting to the heart of the matter — how YouTube can best aim to preserve free speech for creators while also weeding out bad actors whose content may be perceived as objectionable to viewers and advertisers. To that end, Neistat says that YouTube culture today has come to be typified by “drama” — with a prime example being Paul’s infamous suicide vlog, which aimed to shock and appall in order to drive views.

Kyncl says that, every day, YouTube is thinking about ways to disincentivize drama and to incentivize creators “to do the right thing on YouTube — and that means a lot of different things, that means do the right things for advertisers, do the right thing for users, for the platform organically, and not chase views for the sake of views, not use drama for the sake of views, and not use drama at our expense for the sake of views.”

While Kyncl didn’t offer any specific incentives, he did discuss the kind of content that he would like to see more of on the platform. He says he likes news-related and educational content, and also said that there’s a “huge opportunity” for YouTube to engage more female creators. (Neistat, for his part, suggested that Kyncl check out one of his personal favorites, Elle Mills). Kyncl says that the company will continue to support underserved creator communities with marketing and content funding opportunities.

Check out the full 20-minute conversation below, in which Kyncl discusses YouTube’s response to the Paul controversy, recent changes to the Partner Program, and how it hopes to improve communication and transparency in the face of tensions with the community at large.

Filed under: YouTube by Geoff Weiss
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Last year, when Facebook was beginning to seed its newly-launched Watch tab, one of the first shows it announced was Returning The Favor, an inspiring documentary series led by former Dirty Jobs host Mike Rowe. A few months later, Facebook greenlit a second season of Returning The Favor, which has since premiered for Watch viewers.

Now, as Returning The Favor rolls along, its creators are looking to inspire fans of the show to help out people in need. Rowe and his team have launched a Facebook group called The Returning The Favor Effect, which aims to turn the show’s premise into a nationwide movement of positivity and goodwill.

In Returning The Favor, which is produced by Hudsun Media and mikeroweWorks, Rowe travels the US in search of hard-working do-gooders who deserve praise for the charitable work they have done in their respective communities. A February 13 episode, for example, spotlights an Idaho man who runs an organization that provides bedding for children who would otherwise have to sleep on the floor.

Viewers inspired by the heartwarming stories in Returning The Favor can connect to their own communities via the Returning The Favor Effect group. On that page’s message board, Facebook users are invited to share stories of do-gooders in their own areas in order to “inspire one another.”

Tubefilter got in touch with Rowe to discuss his partnership with Facebook, the second season of his show, and the corresponding group:

Tubefilter: How’s the relationship with Facebook Watch been?

Mike Rowe: Terrific. I’ve got the freedom we need to make the kind of show we want, and the support to make sure millions of people see it. For a new endeavor with a giant company, the relationship has been incredibly collaborative.

TF: How important to you is the interactive portion of the platform and the launch of this new group?

MR: Extremely important. I don’t look at Returning the Favor as a show; I see it as a very elaborate interactive video post – an antidote to some of the fear and division that’s dominated people’s feeds. We’ve already proven the best way to get people interested in RTF, is to ask them to program each episode. What I think we’re about to learn, is that the best way to keep them interested, is to encourage them to interact with the people we highlight. I think the group will accelerate that process.

TF: How involved will you be in the discussions on there?

MR: With Dirty Jobs, I interacted online everyday with viewers and fans, and the results were extraordinarily impactful. Here, I suspect I’ll chime in often, especially at the outset. But ultimately, the success of the group can’t depend on me. The trick here I think, is to foster a community where people can talk very specifically about the individuals we feature on Returning the Favor, discuss ways to replicate the organizations we highlight in their own communities, and then, return the favor to another bloody do-gooder in their own backyard. The biggest question I get after every episode is, “How can I do what so-and-so is doing in my hometown?” If this group works the way I hope it will, viewers will be interacting directly with the people we feature on the show. And more favors will get returned…

Check out new episodes of Returning The Favor each Tuesday on Facebook.

Filed under: Articles, Featured, News by Sam Gutelle
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YouTube has formalized into policy several of the actions it took last week against the controversial vlogger Logan Paul, who continued to engage in objectionable conduct even after igniting an internet firestorm by vlogging the body of a suicide victim in January.

In order to prevent a situation, like Paul’s, where “one creator’s actions harm the entire community,” YouTube has announced three new potential punishments, writes VP of product management Ariel Bardin in a new blog post. These include: removal from the company’s premium Google Preferred ad tier or the cancellation of a YouTube Red original series; the suspension of ads — and even permanent expulsion from the YouTube Partner Program; and the removal of a channel’s ability to be recommended on the home page, trending tab, or ‘watch next’.

When Felix ‘PewDiePie’ Kjellberg made anti-Semitic jokes last year, he faced the first punishment — as did Paul, who was subsequently subjected to the second last week when YouTube temporarily suspended all ads across both of his channels.

In a new page within its Help Center, outlining ways in which top creators can “use their influence responsibly,” YouTube notes that the length and severity of the punishment will vary on a case-by-case basis. “If the action is egregious, repeated, or coupled with malicious intent, it may result in stricter or longer repercussions.”

YouTube says the new consequences will be doled out when top-tier creators conduct heinous or traumatizing pranks, promote violence or hate toward a particular group of people, demonstrate cruelty, or sensationalize the pain of others in order to gain subscribers or views. Thse broader policies will live on top of the platform’s existing Community Guidelines and Ad-Friendly Guidelines, writes Bardin, and “can be used more quickly and effectively than the current system of guidelines and strikes.” YouTube acknowledged that, in the past, its responses to situations like Paul’s “were slow and didn’t always address our broader community’s concerns.”

YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki hinted earlier this month that new policies were in the works to prevent the platform’s biggest homegrown stars from creating broader harm to viewers, fellow creators, and advertisers alike.

Filed under: YouTube by Geoff Weiss
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