YouTube To Curtail Monetization Of “Heavily Commercial” Videos Targeting Children

A day before testifying in front of Congress — alongside TikTok and Snap — about how it’s seeking to protect children online, YouTube released a blog post detailing recent efforts.

YouTube shared that it has updated its monetization policies surrounding “low-quality” content targeting kids and families — by which it means content that is heavily commercial or promotional, or that encourages of negative behaviors and attitudes.

“Channels that have predominantly low-quality kids content…may be suspended from [the YouTube Partner Program],” writes James Beser, YouTube’s director of product management for kids and family. “And if an individual video violates these quality principles, it may see limited or no ads.”

The changes will take effect next month, and Beser says YouTube has reached out to potentially impacted creators to provide guidance. By contrast, YouTube notes that high-quality content encourages good attitudes, curiosity, creativity, interaction with real-world issues, and diversity.

In August, YouTube updated its policies to remove low-quality content from its dedicated YouTube Kids app. These videos — which only focus on product packaging or directly encourage kids to spend money — are also receiving reduced recommendations within the flagship YouTube app.

As for removal of dangerous content, YouTube said on its blog that in Q2 of 2021, it removed over 1.8 million videos for violations of its child safety policies, including videos targeting minors that contain sexual themes, violence, and obscenity.