What Do You Need to Know About COPPA on Youtube?

It’s crucial to know that kids are safe on Youtube. You and I as an adult may know how to dodge certain videos on Youtube and also report some of the inefficient ones but it’s important to have the assurance that our kids are safe on the internet that’s often deceitful and dark. We have COPPA on Youtube exclusively curated for kids as it’s the need of the hour.

What is COPPA on Youtube?

COPPA on Youtube is Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act that protects children less than 13 years. This has changed the way Youtube treats children’s content and this has an impact on every creator out there who is trying to make their ends meet. Irrespective of the fact whether the content creator is creating content for children or not this is applicable. This has a huge impact on the way videos are uploaded, how they are managed and monetized. 

How to select the audience on Youtube?

All digital platforms are restricted from collecting any sort of personal information from children aged below 13 years without the explicit permission of their guardians or parents. Youtube has made it mandatory to check all videos as they are compliant with kids or not. If you don’t abide by this, chances are you’ll be fined heavily. If you don’t comply and label it as aimed at kids, Youtube will set your target audience for you.

You can set your target audience for all your previous uploads by going to the ‘videos’ tab on Youtube and select the appropriate audience in ‘Audience’. Each time you upload a new video it’ll ask you the kind of audience you are selecting to interact with COPPA on Youtube. There’s another way to make this change too. You can go to ‘Settings’ and then click on the ‘Channel’ tab and select ‘Advanced Settings’ and then choose the best option that suits your goals. The selection will apply to all of your older videos and new videos too.

How to consider if the videos are kids related or not?

To answer this question, you’ll have to consider the below list of questions:

• What is the primary focus of the video?
• Are children your target audience?
• Does the video contain anything such as toys, characters, or cartoons that can be watched by children?
• Is the language used in children relevant?
• If the content of the video focuses on kids with rhymes, songs, or poems?

What happens if the videos are children specific?

If your channel has children-specific content, Youtube will impose a certain set of restrictions on your page such as limiting comments, stories, notification bell, community page, and personalized ads. What this means is that it will lead to a reduction in your Youtube earnings. The bread and butter of many people on Youtube is the income it generates from the uploaded videos. Not many like this approach as it curtails the income earned.

If you specialise in creating structured and unique videos for children, COPPA on Youtube will not necessarily affect you in any way. Since targeted ads are cut down in children’s content, this has created quite a talk in the virtual world. If any content is erroneously marked as children’s content due to COPPA on Youtube this can highly impact the video uploaded on the platform. However, to give the creators the benefit of doubt, Youtube allows the creator to override such decisions and will not contest with the creator’s decision. So this is a huge sigh of relief to all the creators.

Youtube thrives on view count so it’s important to strategize and monetize the income it generates. Some videos may not get views as soon as they are uploaded however, some get views immediately. Try to promote the videos across all social media platforms directing the link to Youtube, this way you can ensure there are more views for it.