Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Logan Paul produced a controversial video

YouTube says it is developing new policies to deal with video-makers who damage the reputation of the website.

Chief executive Susan Wojcicki said "egregious" behaviour by video bloggers caused "significant harm" to the entire community of video-makers.

The site has been under closer scrutiny after video blogger Logan Paul made a video which showed a dead body in a "suicide forest".

Many video-makers have been frustrated with YouTube's policies.

In a bid to stop advertisements appearing next to controversial content, YouTube has been using algorithms to identify content that it judges not to be "advertiser-friendly".

However, many of the platform's biggest stars have complained that their videos have been incorrectly marked as unsuitable for advertising.

Image copyright Getty Images Image caption YouTube chief executive Susan Wojcicki

YouTube creators have coined the words "demonetisation" and "adpocalypse" to describe the problem.

The platform has also been criticised for what video-makers perceive as a lack of transparency about its policies.

In a blog post, Ms Wojcicki said she wanted to "strengthen the trust that our community places in YouTube through open and frequent communication".

Addressing the so-called adpocalypse, she said the company was "working on a more accurate solution" that would involve more human moderators to review videos.

"We're also currently developing policies that would lead to consequences if a creator does something egregious that causes significant harm to our community as a whole," she added.

When Mr Paul uploaded his video recorded in the suicide forest, YouTube removed him from the Google Preferred programme, which sells premium advertising for the website's top 5% of video-makers.

Mr Paul has since apologised for uploading the video.

Reputation

The company says it wants to have clear policies for content creators to follow.

"While these instances are rare, they can damage the reputation and revenue of your fellow creators," said Ms Wojcicki.

"We want to make sure we have policies in place that allow us to respond appropriately."

One of the platform's best-known stars, Hank Green, welcomed the blog post.

"I am often critical of YouTube, but I also have a lot of sympathy for the tightropes they must often walk," he said.

"Do I think they give in to advertisers too much? Yep! But to me this statement shows a very good and deep understanding of the issues the platform (and its creators) face."

But others urged YouTube to enact its promises more quickly.</s>YouTube is taking another step forward in purging the video streaming platform from inaccurate content, and this time it is chasing channels promoting conspiracy theories and state-backed propaganda. YouTube has been the subject of criticisms in the last few years, particularly on its role in spreading wrong information.

The company on Friday announced its plans to change the way it provides users context for videos promoting such content. YouTube chief product officer Neal Mohan said it would label all videos of broadcasting companies sponsored by any states.

Also read: Cryptojackers use YouTube ads to mine digital coins

On top of state-sponsored videos, the Google unit will also be looking at conspiracy theories and try providing relevant content from reliable news sources. Mohan admitted that their platform has been infested with videos of such kind and they do not know yet how to select relevant videos.

YouTube depends largely on algorithms to parse and recommend videos. With the new scheme, Mohan said this way of selection may find it difficult to sort out which ones are theories and which ones are not.

In 2017, Mohan directed his team to enhance YouTube as a platform to get news, including moves to promote "an ever-changing list of authoritative news sources" that it chooses with the help the Google News team.

"The principle here is to provide more information to our users, and let our users make the judgment themselves, as opposed to us being in the business of providing any sort of editorial judgment on any of these things ourselves," says Mohan.

YouTube's crackdown is still in the development phase and it remains uncertain when YouTube officials will begin pushing the planned changes.</s>YouTube boss Susan Wojcicki outlines her goals for the video community.

YouTube has had a tumultuous start to its year after popular creator Logan Paul uploaded a controversial video that brought the company’s moderation issues even further into the global spotlight.

In 2017, it also dealt with a series of problems surrounding content geared towards children, some of which was disturbing and unsuitable for the intended audience.

In response to its troubles, YouTube has vowed to hire more moderators as well as severing business ties with Paul following the ‘suicide forest’ video scandal.

CEO Susan Wojcicki has publicised a series of goals for the company in an effort to communicate better with creators on the platform.

The most notable one is her doubling down on the need to enforce content policies in a much stricter manner, leading to more severe punishments for offending creators such as Paul. “We’re also currently developing policies that would lead to consequences if a creator does something egregious that causes significant harm to our community as a whole.

“While these instances are rare, they can damage the reputation and revenue of your fellow creators, so we want to make sure we have policies in place that allow us to respond appropriately.”

Mirroring the statements of many other tech companies, Wojcicki said YouTube would also be prioritising solutions to combat fake news, as well as refining policies that were previously unclear.

YouTube will prioritise transparency and communication through forums, blogposts and its Twitter handles to respond to issues in more efficient ways.

Wojcicki said there would be more requests for creator feedback prior to the launch of new features and updates.

She also addressed the major issue of demonetisation, which has been a bone of contention among creators for some time. Many creators have complained about their work being deemed unsuitable for advertising, causing them to miss out on revenue.

“While we worked hard this year to provide an appeals system and quicker responses to creators when a video is demonetised, we’ve heard loud and clear that we need a better system.

“We’re currently working on a more accurate solution that includes more human review of your content, while also taking your own input into account, since you know your videos best,” she said.

YouTube will be pushing YouTube Red this year, as well as its revamped YouTube music experience. It is also testing new revenue streams for content creators.

New innovations in AR and VR are expected and Wojcicki said this was in response to requests for engagement-boosting and interactive features.

The platform is also set to be increasing its investment in learning and educational content, which currently drives more than 1bn views a day, according to Wojcicki. “The potential of our creators to enhance education and learning is incredible, so we’re going to do more to take advantage of the massive, modern-day video library that YouTube has become.”</s>YouTube Go, a light version of the standard YouTube app designed for emerging markets, made its full worldwide debut in 130 countries today (1 February).

The app was first announced in September 2016, and launched in beta in India in April 2017. Rollouts in 14 additional countries, including Indonesia, Nigeria, and Thailand, followed, and YouTube Go hit the 10 million download mark in December 2017.

Based on feedback from these early launches, YouTube said it updated the app ahead of the broader launch to include a number of new features. Among those are the ability to download and stream video in high quality resolution (as well as basic and standard quality), the addition of personalised content recommendations to the home screen and more options to make it easier to share content.

YouTube reportedly does not plan to bring the app to countries like the US, Japan, South Korea or the UK.</s>YouTube's data-light app YouTube Go is expanding to more than 130 countries, the company said in a blog post Thursday.

Launched in India last year, the YouTube Go app was designed to work with little to no connectivity, use less data and make recommendations more tailored to where you live.

YouTube Go is also a crucial competitive move against rivals like Facebook. Both Facebook and Google's YouTube have amassed billions of users across the world. Now they face the challenge of recruiting new members in places where mobile internet can hard to come by or expensive. As Facebook campaigns to swipe more of video viewing away from YouTube, both companies are jockeying to lure in consumers in emerging economies, and those viewers are more likely to shy away from a data-draining format like video.

Facebook, for example, started an initiative called Free Basics, which provided no-cost free access to Facebook and several other approved services. (The venture ran into backlash for potentially setting up a two-tier Internet that would divide the rich and the poor.)

Since YouTube Go's launch in India, Google's service had widened it to 14 more countries, including Indonesia, Nigeria and Thailand. "We're excited to expand YouTube Go to over 130 countries around the globe starting today," YouTube product manager Jay Akkad said in YouTube's blog post.

YouTube also touted some feel-good examples of how YouTube Go has been used. A startup in Indonesia uses it to equip women with financial skills to start and run small businesses, and a primary-school teacher for low-income children in Lagos, Nigeria, says it gives her videos to help teach mathematics and other lessons.

The company also noted it has made some design changes to YouTube Go. They've give you more control over the quality that you stream or download a video and made it easier to share multiple videos at once and to share from the home page. The app also introduced a feature to refresh your home screen with new personalized content quickly with a simple pull-down of the screen.

Virtual reality 101: CNET tells you everything you need to know about VR.</s>It's the second year of YouTube Works for Brands awards, in partnership with the APG and, for the first time, in association with Campaign.

Google kicked off this year's contest by gathering a roomful of eager media and creative agency execs to hear tips on how to write a winning entry - and how not to.

Alison Hoad, the 2018 chair of judges and chief strategy officer at BBH, Jen Smith, global creative officer at Wavemaker/Maxus and one of this year's judges, and Damola Timeyin, strategy director and partner at BBH and a past winner for Tesco, laid out their advice on writing a winning paper for any award - and for YouTube Works for Brands in particular.

For Smith, winning work needs just four things - a problem that needed solving; a reason you did what you did; a compelling hook within the solution and results that solved the problem. Or, put another way - a catastrophe, an insight, a creative hook and results.

She encouraged the media agencies in the room to step up to the YouTube Works for Brands challenge, or to collaborate with creative agencies to do so. Her biggest advice for writing a winning entry: "A marketing brief is not usually the start of the story and stats are not insights. And match the challenge with the results."

Telling a beautifully structured story with clarity - signposting and summarising and flagging up the big idea - also comes high on Hoad's list of priorities for effective entry-writing. "Tell us about the challenge you had to overcome," she added. Plus, highlight the new learnings that came from it; the industry needs best-in-class examples on YouTube to set the standard and learn from.

For those entering YouTube Works for Brands, Hoad has this specific advice: demonstrate the role that YouTube played, plus the role that it played in a broader context, and show the effect of the campaign beyond clicks.

Evidence of brands digging into YouTube's subcultures and communities, working with its army of creators and influencers, using the platform's formats to their advantage and hooking into the possibilities of global events shared on YouTube are all likely to grab the judges' attention.

Overall, the panel will be on the lookout for "the fusion of cutting-edge data and analysis with insight into how humans tick," she said.

Timeyin, strategy director and partner at BBH, and a 2017 YouTube Works for Brands winner with Tesco, urged strategists writing an entry paper to think like a copywriter. "Better still," he suggested, "book in a creative review and put yourself in the shoes of a creative, experiencing the crushing blow of being told to re-write something for the umpteenth time. Their point of view on the narrative of your story may make a difference."

Be humble, he added, think about what to leave out as much as put in, get a quote from a stakeholder and don't forget to talk about impact as much as effectiveness. Importantly, identifying why and how YouTube made the difference, creatively or strategically, is key.

Hear what some of the 2017 judges had to say about last year's entries

YouTube Works for Brands, in partnership with the APG and Campaign, is a free to enter initiative for UK agencies and clients to show how they are using YouTube to deliver highly effective campaigns. Enter by 9th March here</s>The data-friendly version of YouTube is branching out. The YouTube Go Android app is rolling out to more than 130 countries, starting today, after first launching in India last year.

"YouTube Go gives access to YouTube regardless of connectivity status and more control over data usage, while being locally and socially relevant," YouTube Product Manager Jay Akkad wrote in a blog post.

With YouTube Go, you can preview videos by tapping on the thumbnail. This way, you can get a better idea of what's in the video to decide if you want to consume data watching it. If you think it's worth it, you can stream the video right away, or download it to watch later as many times as you like. YouTube Go gives you the option to stream or download videos in basic, standard, or high quality, depending on how much data you want to use. The app also lets you share videos with nearby friends without using any data.

YouTube Go itself is just 9.4MB, so it won't take up too much room on your phone, and works on Android versions back to Jellybean (Android 4.1).

Those in the US will have to stick to the regular version of YouTube for the time being. A YouTube spokesperson told PCMag that the app will not be arriving in the US as part of this expansion.

"This is mostly aimed for countries where connectivity and price are a challenge," the spokesperson said.

In other YouTube news, the company's $35 monthly YouTube TV service is now available on Roku devices, according to 9to5Google. YouTube TV offers cable network streaming and live broadcast television from local affiliates, along with YouTube Red content.</s>Last year was a rough one for YouTube, and it plans on fixing a lot in 2018.

Whether you're a creator or just an occasional viewer, you probably heard a thing or two about YouTube having a rough 2017. Between multiple Ad-apocalypses, the whole Logan Paul debacle, and stricter partnership requirements for smaller channels, there was no shortage of events and controversial decisions that made last year one of YouTube's roughest.

CEO Susan Wojcicki recently took to the YouTube Creator Blog to share her top five priorities for the site for 2018, and while it remains to be seen how these words will be turned into actions, it sounds like YouTube is on the right path.

Starting first with the elephant in the room, it's said that YouTube is working on new policies to better handle bad behavior from the site's biggest names.

We're also currently developing policies that would lead to consequences if a creator does something egregious that causes significant harm to our community as a whole. While these instances are rare, they can damage the reputation and revenue of your fellow creators, so we want to make sure we have policies in place that allow us to respond appropriately.

On a similar note, Wojcicki also reiterates the fact that YouTube will be increasing its number of human employees to 10,000 for manually reviewing content, in addition to further improving its machine learning system that's had a tendency to demonize videos and entire channels that weren't actually deserving of it.

Improvements here are important and need to happen, but in an effort to help creators continue to make money even without advertisements, YouTube Red will expand to additional markets alongside "a revamped YouTube Music experience."

Communication has also been a weak point for YouTube, but changes are coming here, too. YouTube will supposedly start making better use of its @YTCreators and @TeamYouTube Twitter accounts to be more engaged and active with community questions/concerns, and emails will be sent out for any major news or updates.

Lastly, YouTube will also use 2018 as a year to invest more in its educational content. More specifically –

No matter if you're a creator or viewer, what are your thoughts on this update? Do you think these changes are enough, or is there more you think that needs to be addressed? Sound off in the comments below.</s>YouTube on Friday began labeling news broadcasts that get government money as it vowed to be stricter about content at the globally popular online video-sharing service.

A feature being rolled out in the US displays notices below videos uploaded by news broadcasters which receive government or public money, according to a blog post by YouTube News senior product manager Geoff Samek.

“Our goal is to equip users with additional information to help them better understand the sources of news content that they choose to watch on YouTube,” Samek said

“News is an important vertical for us and we want to be sure to get it right.”

The move is likely to affect videos from services such as Russia-backed RT, which critics call a propaganda outlet for Moscow, but others as well.

The blog post included a screen shot with a disclaimer about the US government-funded Radio Free Asia. The flagging may also apply to state-chartered news organizations such as the BBC and AFP, and US-based public broadcasters.

Notices displayed with state-sponsored news broadcasts will include links to Wikipedia online encyclopedia so viewers can find out more about agencies behind the reports, according to Samek.

The feature is nascent and will be refined based on feedback from users.

YouTube made a series of changes last year intended to “better surface authoritative news,” according to Samek.

YouTube priorities for this year include tightening and better enforcing rules at the service, according to chief executive Susan Wojcicki.

“The same creativity and unpredictability that makes YouTube so rewarding can also lead to unfortunate events where we need to take a clear, informed, and principled stance,” Wojcicki said in an online post.

“We realize we have a serious social responsibility to get these emerging policy issues right.”

Solutions being worked on include enhanced software smarts and more human review of videos uploaded to YouTube, according to Wojcicki.

The number of workers at YouTube and Google focused on content that might violate policies was to increase to more than 10,000.

“We’re also currently developing policies that would lead to consequences if a creator does something egregious that causes significant harm to our community as a whole,” Wojcicki said.

YouTube last month announced ramped-up rules regarding when it will run ads with videos as it scrambled to quell concerns by brands about being paired with troublesome content.

YouTube late last year pulled 150,000 videos of children after lewd comments about them were posted by viewers.</s>YouTube is working on policies that would punish creators who harm the community through egregious acts, as the popular video sharing site faces questions about how it handles violent and disturbing content.

Chief Executive Susan Wojcicki said that while YouTube’s unpredictability can yield tremendous rewards —like the fact that a reggaeton song, “Despacito”, become the most popular video in history — it also can produce what she called “unfortunate events” that compel YouTube to take a clear, principled stand.

Wojcicki doesn’t specifically mention Logan Paul, who uploaded footage of himself and his friends standing laughing next to the corpse of a man who committed suicide in Japan’s so-called “suicide forest” Aokigahara. The video attracted widespread criticism, and resulted in Paul being dropped from Google Preferred, YouTube’s top-tier ad program.

“While these instances are rare, they can damage the reputation and revenue of your fellow creators,” Wojcicki wrote in a blog post Thursday laying out YouTube’s priorities for the creator community. “So we want to make sure we have policies in place that allow us to respond appropriately.”

Wojcicki said YouTube recognizes it has a responsibility to get these emerging policy issues right, so it’s consulting with dozens of experts and third parties, including the Anti-Defamation League and the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.

YouTube also is tightening enforcement of its policies through a combination of human review and machine learning technology. Its goal, she said, is to bring the total number of people across YouTube and Google working to address content that might violate our policies to over 10,000.

Wojcicki is attempting to find a balance between fostering a creative community that produces the edgy content that attracts young viewers, but ensuring that this boundary-pushing content doesn’t go so far that it alienates advertisers or inflicts harm.

YouTube’s CEO also addressed “demonetization,” an issue that gained prominence in 2017 after another popular YouTuber, PewDiePie, uploaded a video that featured two men laughing as they held a banner that read, “Death to all Jews.” YouTube responded by pulling the ads from the anti-semitic video.

Wojcicki said she understands the frustration creators feel when they cannot collect ad revenue from the videos – and it worked to create an appeals process to respond to these concerns.

“We’ve heard loud and clear that we need a better system,” Wojcicki wrote. “We’re currently working on a more accurate solution that includes more human review of your content, while also taking your own input into account (since you know your videos best).”

At the same time, YouTube has tightened rules for its Partner Program, which allows creators to make money through advertising. Channels need to have a minimum of 1,000 subscribers and more than 4,000 hours of accrued watch time over the past 12 months to be eligible.
YouTube announces that YouTubers who make "egregious" content will be punished. Critics of the move call it censorship.