This week YouTube made major updates in how they enforce policy, there are new tools for merchants to get their products seen on Google, and more. In personal news, my YouTube channel is finally back in the YouTube Partner Program. It lost monetization just over a year ago, because my channel didn’t meet the new watch time requirements. Thank you all for watching!
Image: We’re coming to the end of the movie awards season. At the Academy Awards on Sunday, movie stars will be dressed to the nines. I’ve chose red beads and sequins for this my formal attire. And, of course Google wants to help “give you the scoop on Hollywood’s big night”. Photo by _Alicja_ on Pixabay (Free for commercial use)
- YouTube announced a total revision of how Community Guidelines strikes are enforced, with an initial one-time warning. After that, the first strike results in a 7-day freeze in posting content, the second strike within 90 days a 14 day freeze, and a third strike within 90 days, channel termination. Under the current system, a single strike causes live streaming to be restricted for 90 days. Under the new system live streaming will be restricted for the shorter period. The new system goes into effect on February 25.
- In response to reports that pedophiles were networking in the comments of videos featuring children, YouTube has disabled comments on "tens of millions" of videos featuring minors, and limited monetization on videos that feature minors and are at risk for predatory comments. Affected channels can re-enable comments, but YouTube recommends that they review all comments before they are allowed to appear on their video watch pages.
- It’s not all bad. YouTube Studio Beta now lets you graph Analytics comparisons, so, for example, you can easily compare the views on several different videos in a particular time frame.
- Google presented a white paper describing their work to prevent the intentional spread of misinformation across their products, including YouTube, Google Search, Google News, and Google Ads. It’s not really new information if you’ve been following Google’s actions over the past couple of years, but it’s useful to see in one place. It covers their active support of journalism, work to protect election integrity, development of algorithms that promote “quality” content, providing context to users, and investing in human reviewers.
- Social media is not only under pressure to stop the flow of misinformation about politics, but also medical treatments. And they have been responding. YouTube demonetized a number of anti-vaccination channels. Pinterest goes further, blocking "vaccine" and "cancer cure" searches, preventing re-pinning of anti-vax memes already removed from one account and no longer allows pinning links to certain anti-vaccination websites. And Facebook is thinking about taking measures.
- If you are interested in the development of Twitter, apply for the Twitter Prototype Program to try out the new prototype app. The first goal is to make it “easier to read, understand and join conversations.”
- Google has introduced new ways for merchants to make sure their customers find up-to-date and accurate product information when searching online. There is a “Products” report in Google Search Console, product information uploaded to Google Merchant Center may now appear in Search and Google Images, and there are new features in Google Manufacturer Center.
- Google Cloud Next will be April 9-11 in San Francisco. You can check out the official website to see the scheduled sessions, with tracks for G Suite apps for productivity and collaboration, application development, infrastructure, data management, security and much more. You can learn how Spotify uses Google Cloud Bigtable to serve personalized music recommendations, what’s new with Hangouts Meet and Meet Hardware, the future of Google Sites, a panel discussion on Google’s Communication Products, and much more.
Read on for more links, tips and updates for YouTubers, webmasters and more.
Image: We’re coming to the end of the movie awards season. At the Academy Awards on Sunday, movie stars will be dressed to the nines. I’ve chose red beads and sequins for this my formal attire. And, of course Google wants to help “give you the scoop on Hollywood’s big night”. Photo by _Alicja_ on Pixabay (Free for commercial use)
Upcoming
- February 25: YouTube’s new copyright strike system goes into effect.
- February 27: Deadline to register for Google I/O tickets
- March Spring Cleaning: Inbox by Gmail shutdown, Allo shutdown, Google+ APIs shutdown, Google navigation bar notification bell removed, Picasa Web Albums Data API completely shut down, goo.gl link shortener API shutdown
YouTube and Video Creation
- YouTube Studio Beta now lets you chart comparisons (Tom Leung)
- News Flash: Release manual content ID claims, commenter experiment and more (Creator Insider)
- YouTube revises Community Guidelines strike system to make it more fair and consistent (YouTube Creators)
- YouTube temporarily disables comments on millions of videos featuring kids; limits ads; recommends holding all comments for moderation (YouTube)
- Update on our actions related to the safety of minors on YouTube (YouTube Help)
- YouTube Sends Memo to Major Brands and Holding Companies Regarding Latest Ad Safety Controversy (Adweek)
- On YouTube, a network of paedophiles is hiding in plain sight (WIRED UK)
- The YouTuber who exposed the site’s ‘softcore pedophile ring’ is under attack (the Daily Dot)
- Clarifying YouTube Monetization policies on sensitive events, nerf guns, video game violence (Creator Insider)
- Fighting disinformation across Google products (Google Europe)
- YouTube just demonetized anti-vax channels (Buzzfeed News)
- How the shutdown of consumer Google+ will affect your YouTube Channel (don't panic, it won't be deleted!)
Go Live
- Twitch Partner and Affiliate Emote Update (Twitch)
- ‘Amazon Live’ is the retailer’s latest effort to take on QVC with live-streamed video (TechCrunch)
- When Your Favorite Streamer Turns Out To Be A Creep (Or Worse) (Kotaku)
Google+
Other social media
- About.me acquired by mobile-first small business startup Broadly (TechCrunch)
- Twitter opens applications for its ‘prototype’ program, first tests to focus on fixing conversations (TechCrunch)
- #KaraJack: All the tweets from Kara Swisher’s live interview with Jack Dorsey — in order (Recode)
- Opinion: Fact-Checking Facebook Was Like Playing A Doomed Game Of Whack-A-Mole (BuzzFeed News)
- Mark Zuckerberg explains why an ad-free Facebook isn’t as simple as it sounds (Recode)
- Facebook, Facing Lawmaker Questions, Says It May Remove Anti-Vaccine Recommendations (Bloomberg)
- Anti-vaxx propaganda has gone viral on Facebook. Pinterest has a cure. (The Guardian)
Google for businesses
- Help customers discover your products on Google (Google Webmasters)
- Now on iOS: Follow your favorite places on Google Maps (Google)
- A Local SEO Citation, you Never Knew You Had (SEMrush Blog)
Bloggers and Webmasters
- .dev domains are now available (Google Developers)
- Google Webmaster Central Office Hours Hangout (February 19) (Google Webmasters)
- Google Webmaster Central Office Hours Hangout (February 22) (Google Webmasters)
- WordPress 5.1 “Betty” Released (WordPress)
AdSense and advertising
- Introducing a simpler name for Google’s app ad solution: “Universal App Campaigns” are now just “App Campaigns” (Google Ads)
- Google backtracks on proposed Chrome ad blocker changes after public outcry and legal threats (Android Police)
- Google Partners Academy on Air: Build customized experiences with automation for your business (Google Partners)
Hangouts and Messaging
- Google Voice adding ‘Anonymous Caller ID’ option in settings (9to5Google)
- Easily copy your Gmail holds to Hangouts Chat in Google Vault (G Suite Updates)
Made by Google, Android, Google Fi
Productivity
- Google shutting down Google Fit on the web, focussing on Android and Wear OS (9to5Google)
- Stable Channel Update for Desktop (Chrome 72) (Chrome Releases)
- Stable Channel Update for Chrome OS (Chrome 72) (Chrome Releases)
- Setting a course to the future of cloud computing (Google)
Privacy and Security
- Maintaining Trust and Safety at Discord With Over 200 Million People (Discord)
- Facebook now lets Android users disable location tracking when you aren't using the app. (Facebook)
- These health apps are sharing sensitive information with Facebook (The Verge)
@Peggy K
ReplyDeleteNoted, lot of info headlines
Thank You