Massive drop in views on kid channels

[dv2000]

I agree with the practicality of it, but YouTube could try to salvage the situation in tandem with that tactic and it is very very clear that they have no interest in doing so based on the September and November updates. Everybody's FTC'ing (I swear YT has trolls running up and down the comments of that video pointing the blame toward FTC - they are posting on practically every comment) when 50% of the blame should be placed on YouTube. YouTube broke the law and expressed knowledge of under 13's using their platform to Mattel and Hasbro. Caught red handed and now they won't support the niche who suffers. YouTube is powered by one of the most technologically advanced companies in SEM in the world. They practically invented internet marketing. They are immensely wealthy and can totally shift digital advertising as we know it by executing adjustments in the system. Adjustments that could skirt the technicalities of the law and provide us with a more stable revenue stream. At the very least, they can re-work some of the features that are being eliminated for us. Can they find a solution? Absolutely. Do they seem to be interested in that? No. The sloppiness in their response (slashing end cards, playlists, etc.) is indicative of what they want to happen. As I have been saying, they want the niche to shrink. Can end cards be tweaked to be responsive to the under 13 designator? Absolutely. Switch to 13+ gaming, fitness, DIY, anything. Before it is too late! The RPM's are better!

FTC says that if a parent sings it is ok then you can have targeted ads. Why cannot youtube add a checkbox for a parent to check?

 

[Jungle Explorer]

I agree that Youtube's "solution" to this FTC / COPPA issue seems to be to put the legal responsibility on to the shoulders of the Youtuber. But the more I think about it, I realize there is no other practical way of doing it. Reading between the lines, their solution is essentially saying to the FTC "You want to go after every single youtuber and video that might be a problem? Then go ahead because we don't have the resources to do so..."

On a similar note, are the FTC really going to go after YouTubers who don't even live in the USA? I doubt they'd get very far.

As a computer programer long before I was a YouTuber, I agree with you about the complexity of the issue, but criminalizing innocent people that have not done anything wrong, is not the solution that should even considered in a nation that values justice. What YouTube is essentially doing is this. They are saying, we have no desire to try to control where we show targeted ads with our billions of dollars and some of the most advanced human behavior learning systems on earth, so we are going, shift this responsibility onto the little content creator because they are the weakest target to shift our responsibility onto and can't fight back. To provide an analogy that might make it easier to understand. I am a road paver and I paved a road. Some bank robbers robbed a bank and drove down my road, so the government fines me $42,000 for every mile of road the bank robbers drove down, while the bank robbers who broke the law go free.

Do you see how unjust that is? No matter how you slice it, punishing content creators for the actions of ad companies that are breaking the law, is the very same exact thing. Our content is the road on which the ads travel. YouTube is the one who controls what goes down our road, not us. If they allow criminal activity, that is not our fault. In fact, YouTube (Google) is actually the one who is SELLING access to the road. Google is the one tracking people and gathering the data. Google is the one using their tracking data to market the ad space to people seeking places to advertise. Google is the one doing all these things, NOT the content creators. The idea that the content creator should be held responsible or PUNISHED in any way for all of these actions that Google/YouTube takes, is so mind-numbingly evil, that I think that most people cannot even accept that this is what is actually happening. BUT IT IS!

YouTubers have two metaphorical guns to their heads. YouTube has one gun our head saying, "You MUST tell us where we should show target ads so that we can immunize ourselves from prosecution for crimes we know we are committing." The FTC has a gun on the other side pointed at our heads and is saying, "If you let YouTube run target ads on your videos, we will shoot you." Either way, we are being punished for something that is not our fault and we did not do. Either we lose our revenue (Which is a punishment) or we face life-destroying fines. This is not a CHOICE. In legal terms, it is "Coercion under distress".

This is WRONG!!!!!!!!! No matter how anyone slices it or tries to explain it, it is utterly and completely wrong. And because it is being done INTENTIONALLY, it qualifies as EVIL! Thousands of very good, honest, hardworking people that have done not one thing wrong, are now being punished (one way or the other) for something THEY did not do. It is not a violation of the COPPA act to create online content! It is not a violation of the COPPA act to make money from making children targeted content. It is not a violation of the COPPA act to play advertisements on online content that children watch.

The only thing that is a VIOLATION of the COPPA act is to GATHER personal information about children online. Not a single YouTuber is doing that. Google is the one doing that. But somehow, everyone seems overly willing to punish tens of thousands of innocent content creators for the violations that Google REFUSES to stop doing. Regardless of all arguments of how complex it would be for Google to stop, punishing innocent people and DESTROYING their lives, is not an OPTION that anyone should consider a plausible solution to the problem.

 

[dv2000]

I have a feeling they will create a mess next year and later will be trying to fix it like they always do. This applies to FTC and YouTube

 

[Duby]

 

[Jungle Explorer]

FTC says that if a parent sings it is ok then you can have targeted ads. Why cannot youtube add a checkbox for a parent to check?

I don't know if this might be a solution, but here are some ideas I am thinking about to try to protect yourself and I plan on doing myself.

1. Modify your video thumbnail to include a statement such as something like this. "NOT INTENDED FOR CHILDREN UNDER THE AGE OF 13!" or "CHILDREN UNDER 13 MUST GET A PARENTAL CONSENT BEFORE WATCHING THIS VIDEO".
2. Add a strong statement in your description stating that the video is not for children under the age of 13.
3. Add similar statements to tags. (Not for children under 13)

Now I think a plausible solution would be for YouTube to allow us to insert a disclaimer slide at the beginning of our video that would say something like, "This video is not intended for children under the age of 13. If you are 13 years of age or younger you MUST STOP WATCHING NOW, or get a parent/guardian authorization.

Youtube should also send out a notification to every single youtube account holder and force them to sign a statement saying that they are older than 13 years old and vow to not let anyone under the age of 13 use their account. This letter should say that if YouTube notices unusually high child activity on the account the will cancel the account.

Here is the real solution. YouTube has all the tracking data to know which viewer accounts are watching predominately children's content. If was this very data that YouTube was using to sell ads space on for ads targeted to children. This is what the 170 million dollar fine was for. It was not for showing ads to children it was for progressively soliciting companies to buy ad space targeted at children based on the data they had on VIEWERS. This was the basis of the whole FTC argument against. The FTC argued that YouTube used their viewer usage tracking data to identify users that they knew were younger than 13, and sold ad space to these viewers to companies. It is crystal clear that YouTube knows which account that children are using. They have the data to identify them. YT should cancel all those accounts or convert them into children's accounts that have no access to regular YT content.

There many other reasonable actions that YT can take to control this problem, outside of punishing creators and making them liable for unimaginable fines. We are just the easiest target for YT to shirk their responsibility off onto, while they throw their hands up in the air and say, "Hey, we are not going to stop tracking children".

 

[dv2000]

I don't know if this might be a solution, but here are some ideas I am thinking about to try to protect yourself and I plan on doing myself.

1. Modify your video thumbnail to include a statement such as something like this. "NOT INTENDED FOR CHILDREN UNDER THE AGE OF 13!" or "CHILDREN UNDER 13 MUST GET A PARENTAL CONSENT BEFORE WATCHING THIS VIDEO".
2. Add a strong statement in your description stating that the video is not for children under the age of 13.
3. Add similar statements to tags. (Not for children under 13)

Now I think a plausible solution would be for YouTube to allow us to insert a disclaimer slide at the beginning of our video that would say something like, "This video is not intended for children under the age of 13. If you are 13 years of age or younger you MUST STOP WATCHING NOW, or get a parent/guardian authorization.

Youtube should also send out a notification to every single youtube account holder and force them to sign a statement saying that they are older than 13 years old and vow to not let anyone under the age of 13 use their account. This letter should say that if YouTube notices unusually high child activity on the account the will cancel the account.

Here is the real solution. YouTube has all the tracking data to know which viewer accounts are watching predominately children's content. If was this very data that YouTube was using to sell ads space on for ads targeted to children. This is what the 170 million dollar fine was for. It was not for showing ads to children it was for progressively soliciting companies to buy ad space targeted at children based on the data they had on VIEWERS. This was the basis of the whole FTC argument against. The FTC argued that YouTube used their viewer usage tracking data to identify users that they knew were younger than 13, and sold ad space to these viewers to companies. It is crystal clear that YouTube knows which account that children are using. They have the data to identify them. YT should cancel all those accounts or convert them into children's accounts that have no access to regular YT content.

There many other reasonable actions that YT can take to control this problem, outside of punishing creators and making them liable for unimaginable fines. We are just the easiest target for YT to shirk their responsibility off onto, while they throw their hands up in the air and say, "Hey, we are not going to stop tracking children".

The problem is we do create kids videos under 13 but we need targeted ads. So ftc and google need to develop a new way to bring them back

 

[Jungle Explorer]

So it is unconstitutional. I will get paid less because I make kids directed videos. This should be reviewed. YouTube needs to add a button for parents about data collection. I hope some lawyers and politicians will stand for us

Walt Disney targets children aggressively based on many factors of gathered child behavior. I want to demand that the FTC shut Disney down, if the FTC is going to make this a crime.

 

[Jungle Explorer]

I agree

The problem is we do create kids videos under 13 but we need targeted ads. So ftc and google need to develop a new way to bring them back

I agree with you. You have done nothing wrong. If what you or any YouTuber is doing by making child-directed content and wanting to earn compensation from your work is considered to be wrong, than Disney, Warner Brothers, Pixar, "Mr. Rogers", and every other animation studio, toy manufacturer in the history of our country should be immediately be prosecuted and sued out of existence.

 

[Jungle Explorer]

Good morning, the main part of what your videos are about are the keywords, and seen their best labels, and there are many for children, first focus on cleaning the labels if you do not want your content to be cataloged as for children, if the videos do not offer content as such, their labels should not, it has some as
lego worlds LEGO animated cartoons for children full episodes children children's songs, among others

Can you please explain what these LABELS are. I have no tag or wording in any of my descriptions that talk about legos. Where are you seeing this? I can modify Tags and the description, but I have never seen a place to add or modify Labels.

 

[just Moto]