Not too long ago YouTube raised some concerns for content creators when they released a change to their terms of service which said they could terminate channels that aren't "commercially viable", and now Google has revealed that changes are coming to kids content as well, specifically regarding collecting and using data, in response to the US Federal Trade Commission and the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act.
This means you will be required to tell Google if content is made for kids, and machine learning will also identify videos targetting younger audiences. This includes the following elements:
Children or children's characters.
Popular children's programming or animated characters.
Play-acting, or stories using children's toys.
Child protagonists engaging in common natural play patterns such as play-acting and/or imaginative play.
Popular children's songs, stories or poems.
"We will stop serving personalized ads on content that is made for kids, whether designated by you or by our classifier," Google adds. "In accordance with COPPA, serving personalized ads (ads that are targeted to users based on their past usage of Google products and services) to child audiences is not permissible. If applicable, this may result in a decrease in revenue for some creators. Note that we will continue to serve non-personalized ads (ads that are shown based on context rather than on user data) on content that is made for kids."
Comments will no longer be available either, and likes, dislikes, and subscriptions will no longer show up on public lists. Essentially, viewer engagement is at a minimum for these videos.
Google advises creators to familiarise themselves with COPPA, and "you need to consider your applicable legal obligations when evaluating whether your content may be made for kids, including how the age of a child is defined in your country. Consult legal counsel if you have additional questions."
The FTC is accepting comments on COPPA right now, but as reported by PC Gamer, YouTubers like GoodTimesWithScar have raised concerns that this could harm kids content on YouTube, asking the FTC to make further distinctions with kids content on the platform.
What do you make of these new rules?