The Hollywood Reporter – August 14, 2019

The Business

THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER 48 AUGUST 14, 2019

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Analysis

I

n early July, First Media

noticed that YouTube viewer-

ship to its toddler-centric

brand, BabyFirst TV, had dropped

between 30 and 40 percent. “It

was very clear that they did some-

thing,” says Arik Kerman, First’s

executive vp programming and

digital. He’s referring to YouTube,

which he believes made changes

to its algorithm that caused

the decline in BabyFirst

video views. “Honestly, it’s

very frustrating. We’re now

trying to understand what

the new rules are.”

Indeed, on Aug. 1, YouTube

acknowledged to Bloomberg that

it had made an algorithm change

to boost “quality” family content.

Some family-friendly chan-

nels got a viewership bump, but

BabyFirst — which has 1.5 million

subscribers on its main channel,

dedicated to teaching children

ages 0 to 3 basics like colors and

the ABCs — was one of several

channels impacted negatively.

While algorithm changes are

nothing new, this one comes

How YouTube’s Clean-Up Act Impacts Creators

In its latest effort to create a safe environment, the Google-owned video giant is changing its search algorithm and directing

younger visitors to its Kids app channels, baffling some content makers: ‘We’re now trying to understand what the new rules are’

amid renewed scrutiny over

whether YouTube is a safe envi-

ronment for children who both

post and view videos. Multiple

times over the past two years,

the Google-owned site has had to

answer for the scores of violent,

sexual and exploitative videos

aimed at children that prolifer-

ate on its platform. Earlier this

year, reports revealed that

pedophiles were congre-

gating in the comments

sections of videos featuring

kids. In response, YouTube

has purged more than 400

channels, disabled comments

on tens of millions of videos and

reduced recommendations of

content featuring children in

“risky situations.”

Per a July report from The

Washing ton Post, the company

has agreed to a multiyear settle-

ment with the Federal Trade

Commission over its collection of

data from children under age 13, a

violation of the Children’s Online

Privacy Protection Act. Kids’

safety on YouTube is “one of the

most important areas we focus

on,” Google CEO Sundar Pichai

said July 25 on an earnings call.

reaches a billion people where

many audience members are

young people who wouldn’t move

over to YouTube Kids, and now

they would only have access to

adult content.”

Analysts believe that cleaning

up the platform can only help. “It’s

important for advertisers to have

a YouTube that works for them,”

says GroupM’s Brian Wieser. “The

clearer the environment, even

if it came at the expense of less

inventory, the more desirable the

platform would be for advertisers

and to users and consumers, too.”

Creators agree. “This change,

in the short term, it hurts,” says

Kerman of BabyFirst, which

already has seen its traffic start

to recover from the July algorithm

change. “But in the long term,

I completely understand what

YouTube is doing. At the end of

the day, content creators, YouTube

and parents will benefit.”

DIGITAL | NATALIE JARVEY

NATALIE JARVEY is digital media

editor at The Hollywood Reporter.

Many creators who operate

family-friendly YouTube channels

acknowledge the importance of

child safety. But their concerns

over algorithm changes also high-

light the challenge for YouTube

in protecting young viewers from

exploitation while also sup-

porting businesses that use its

platform to reach their audiences.

“Over the years, we’ve taken a

number of critical steps to protect

minors and families on YouTube,”

a company spokeswoman told

THR, pointing to the effort to

disable comments on videos

featuring kids and a recent rule

change that restricts unaccompa-

nied minors from live-streaming.

“We recognize these changes

may have an impact on creators,

which is why we provide a number

of resources.”

YouTube restricts users under

age 13 from creating accounts,

though it’s not hard for younger

children to dodge that rule. The

company directs younger users

to YouTube Kids, a separate

app it launched in 2015 with

a curated selection of family-

friendly videos, including from

established brands like Sesame

Street, Nickelodeon and Disney.

While not as robust as the main

YouTube, which has 2 billion

monthly users, YouTube Kids

is popular with parents. Some

kid-centric channels report that

between 20 and 50 percent of

their overall views come from the

app. But while it’s been suggested

that YouTube could move all chil-

dren’s content to the Kids app as a

way to avoid further safety risks,

not everyone supports that idea.

“I don’t think it would achieve

the goal that those calling for it

are actually seeking,” says Chris

M. Williams, founder and CEO of

children’s media brand Pocket.

watch. “You’d have a service that

Pichai

How Often Parents Let

Kids Watch YouTube

How Often Users

Encounter Abusive or

Demeaning Videos

Source: Pew Research Center, November 2018

Never

19%

Never

14%

Regularly

34%

Frequently

19%

Hardly

ever

25%

Sometimes

42%

On occasion

47%