To celebrate 10 years of Creator Weekly, I’m sharing
tech highlights from 2015
that still resonate 10 years later. This update was for the week ending February 22, 2015.
On February 23, 2015 YouTube
launched YouTube Kids.
This was “the first Google product built from the ground up with little ones in mind. The app makes it safer and easier for children to find videos on topics they want to explore”.
There are parental controls, a timer, and limited search. YouTube Kids only shows approved family-friendly ads.
I think this was the first acknowledgement that there is specifically content aimed at kids on YouTube, or at least content that kids were watching.
Since then YouTube Kids expanded to more countries, and has more controls.
Interestingly, in the announcement of YouTube’s big bets for 2025, they announced they are working on this, using (of course) "AI".
TechCrunch 28 August 2019: Ahead of FTC ruling, YouTube Kids is getting its own website
This was “the first Google product built from the ground up with little ones in mind. The app makes it safer and easier for children to find videos on topics they want to explore”.
There are parental controls, a timer, and limited search. YouTube Kids only shows approved family-friendly ads.
I think this was the first acknowledgement that there is specifically content aimed at kids on YouTube, or at least content that kids were watching.
Since then YouTube Kids expanded to more countries, and has more controls.
They also
set up an advisory committee
of independent experts to "weigh in on products, policies and services
[YouTube] offer[s] to young people and families."
In August 2019 the YouTube Kids website launched, so that parents would not have to limit kids the mobile app.
In August 2019 the YouTube Kids website launched, so that parents would not have to limit kids the mobile app.
They also
allowed parents to set an age range for their kids, since what's inappropriate for a 4-year-old might be fine for a
11-year-old. And preteens would probably find videos aimed at pre-schoolers
boring.
The COPPA Settlement
It was noted that the launch of the YouTube Kids website was very shortly before a highly anticipated settlement with the FTC.
The
Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) is a US law that requires parental consent to collect personal
information about children under the age of 13.
YouTube and Google paid $170 million dollars for violating COPPA by tracking children who were watching videos on the main YouTube site.
YouTube and Google paid $170 million dollars for violating COPPA by tracking children who were watching videos on the main YouTube site.
One of the issues was that YouTube manually reviewed content for the YouTube
Kids app, so they knew that content aimed at kids was available on the
platform. But they served targeted advertisements on that content on
YouTube.com. Those ads collected personal information "in the form of
persistent identifiers that are used to track users across the Internet"
(aka cookies).
YouTube also started treating all content clearly aimed at kids
as if a child is watching.
New polices required creators to label any content aimed at children, and that "made for kids" content would have limited features. That means no comments, no notifications and no personalized ads.
There has been some confusion about that because not all content available in the YouTube Kids app is necessarily "made for kids".
Since then also put policies in place so that “low quality” kids content was less likely to be recommended, and could not be monetized.
But it's an ongoing issue, because kids want to watch videos that aren't necessarily aimed at them, or even kid-friendly.
New polices required creators to label any content aimed at children, and that "made for kids" content would have limited features. That means no comments, no notifications and no personalized ads.
There has been some confusion about that because not all content available in the YouTube Kids app is necessarily "made for kids".
Since then also put policies in place so that “low quality” kids content was less likely to be recommended, and could not be monetized.
But it's an ongoing issue, because kids want to watch videos that aren't necessarily aimed at them, or even kid-friendly.
What about the future?
There have been proposals
that Google (for Android) and Apple (for iOS) verify the age of device
users, and then limit the installation to age-appropriate apps.
While this is probably easier (and less a privacy problem) than requiring
every app and service to verify each user's age, it's not a perfect
solution.
Interestingly, in the announcement of YouTube’s big bets for 2025, they announced they are working on this, using (of course) "AI".
And that's why we'll use machine learning in 2025 to help us estimate a
user’s age – distinguishing between younger viewers and adults – to help
provide the best and most age appropriate experiences and protections.
It’s not clear how well that will work, but that’s the future.
References
YouTube Blog 23 February 2015:
Introducing the newest member of our family, the YouTube Kids app
YouTube Support 27 August 2019:
YouTube Kids app is now available on the web at www.youtubekids.com
TechCrunch 28 August 2019: Ahead of FTC ruling, YouTube Kids is getting its own website
FTC 4 September 2019: Google and YouTube Will Pay Record $170 Million for Alleged Violations
of Children’s Privacy Law
YouTube Blog 4 September 2019:
An update on kids and data protection on YouTube
YouTube Support 4 September 2019:
Upcoming changes to kids content on YouTube.com
YouTube Blog 21 October 2021: Our responsibility approach to protecting kids and families on
YouTube
YouTube Blog 11 February 2025:
YouTube's big bets for 2025
9to5Mac 25 February 2025:
Nine states proposing to make Apple and Google responsible for age
verification.
Google for Families: Understand YouTube & YouTube Kids options for your child
YouTube Help:
What features are not available on content that is made for kids and
why are those features not available?
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