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Low-quality "made for kids" content on YouTube cannot be monetized


If you create YouTube videos aimed at children, you need to meet YouTube's high quality principles for kids and family content to be eligible for monetization. 

Channels with low-quality kids' content, especially content that "encourages negative behaviors or attitudes", may have limited ads or be suspended from the YouTube Partner Program.

High-quality kids' content is also more likely to be recommended and included in YouTube Kids app.

This policy goes into effect in November 2021. 

What does YouTube mean by "High Quality" and "Low Quality" Kids' Content?


Watch this video from YouTube Creators for an overview.

If you make content for children, you should review all of the suggested best practices.

High Quality Principles to promote in your videos for kids

  • Being a good person
  • Learning and inspiring curiousity
  • Creativity, play and sense of imagination
  • Interaction with real-world issues
  • Diversity, equity and inclusion

Low Quality Principles to avoid in your videos for kids

Some of these principles are associated with mass produced or automatically generated content. 

  • Heavily commercial or promotional
  • Encouraging negative behaviours or attitudes
  • Deceptively educational
  • Hindering comprehension
  • Sensational or misleading
  • Strange use of children's characters

See the information in the YouTube Help Center for details on how each of those principles is defined.

Channels with "made for kids" content

If you make content that is aimed at children, you are required to set the audience of your videos (or entire channel) as "made for kids". If you do not do that,  YouTube may override your audience settings.

Setting your content as "made for kids" will limit the features available on your channel.

Such content can be monetized, but will not show personalized ads.

Effect of "Low Quality" kids' content on monetization

Channels that have a "strong focus" on low-quality "made for kids" content may be suspended from the YouTube Partner Program. Individual low-quality videos may have limited or no ads.

Currently YouTube is focusing on content that "encourages negative behaviors or attitudes". That can include encouraging dishonesty, disrespect of others, unsafe activities or wastefulness.  

Other types of low-quality content may become an issue in the future, so it is best to stick to the "high quality" princles if you want to monetize your videos. 

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