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Google hails 'really positive' response to stricter rules on YouTube

Google hails 'really positive' response to stricter rules on YouTube

YouTube's new rules on which channels can make money from its service have generated a "really positive" response so far, according to Google CEO Sundar Pichai (pictured).

"We are focused on making sure YouTube is a great place for users and advertisers while helping creators earn money from popular content," he told analysts during Google's latest financial earnings call, referring to the recent changes.

"Just a few weeks ago, we announced changes to advertising on YouTube, including stricter monetisation criteria, new manual reviews for all videos in Google Preferred and simpler controls for marketers. The feedback we have received from advertisers and creators so far has been really positive."

Google Preferred is the premium advertising tier on YouTube, where popular channels are bundled together to make an easier advertising sell to big brands. PewDiePie and Logan Paul are among the creators who have been removed from the program after controversies around their videos.

Pichai also talked up some of the more positive activity happening on YouTube, such as educational channels, citing the 4.5 million subscribers to science channel SciShow as an example.

"In fact, there are over one billion learning related video views everyday on YouTube. I learned that this week," he said.

The Q&A section of the call saw one analyst press Pichai on the new monetisation restrictions, and the impact they're having on YouTube's community.

"It’s a comprehensive approach to make sure all of this works well. And so, while there have been concerns but we are working really hard to address them and respond strongly," he said. "We’re focused on the long-term opportunity here and I think we are setting ourselves up well for the years ahead."

In other long-term opportunities news, YouTube has considerably expanded the rollout of its YouTube Go app, which is aimed at countries where mobile networks are often patchy and mobile data costs expensive.

It launched in India in April 2017, and has since expanded to countries including Nigeria and Indonesia, passing 10m Android installs in the process according to the Google Play store. Features include the ability to download videos for offline viewing, and to share them with nearby friends and family without using mobile data.

This week, YouTube Go has expanded to more than 130 countries. What does this mean for influencers? It should be an opportunity for channels and creators in these countries to build their audiences and viewing time, both for local viewers and (potentially) global audiences.


Contributing Editor

Stuart is a freelance journalist and blogger who's been getting paid to write stuff since 1998. In that time, he's focused on topics ranging from Sega's Dreamcast console to robots. That's what you call versatility. (Or a short attention span.)