For the producers relying on YouTube to make a living and reach a global kids audience, the platform can often feel like a black box with a hard-to-understand algorithm and opaque rules.

The company has been cracking down on AI slop—but not all content produced with AI is considered slop by the platform, and from the outside it may be hard to know the difference. Just last week, YouTube updated its content policy singling out what sort of “inauthentic content” it would demonetize: videos that are generic, repetitive and template-based.

But with many creators and studios increasingly embracing AI to try and build success on the crowded platform (an average of 20 million videos are uploaded to YouTube each day), knowing specifically what’s accepted by the platform, what it might promote and what could get demonetized can be a challenge.

For channels that carry “made for kids” content, YouTube uses several principles to determine whether the programming will be monetized. Channels with too strong a focus on “low-quality” kids content will get suspended from the YouTube Partner Program, and individual videos could get limited or no ad earnings, so having a grounding in what YouTube actually values—and doesn’t—is important for producers who want to avoid getting punished by the platform’s monetization policies.

So to help producers stay on the right side of the algorithm, Kidscreen connected with YouTube and analyzed its policies to break down what the largest video service in the world considers high- and low-quality content.

High quality content principles 

High-quality content made for kids will get raised up in recommendations, YouTube says. To be classified as high-quality content, the platform suggests producers should promote:

• Looking after yourself and others: This means promoting positive behavior, respect and healthy habits. Examples: Brushing teeth and eating nutritious foods.

• Learning and inspiring curiosity: This includes school subjects, but it extends into hobbies, tutorials, fun facts and teaching kids critical-thinking skills.

• Creativity, play, and a sense of imagination: Celebrate kids’ imaginations. Examples: Show kids creating an imaginary world, or have them invent their own stories or do arts and crafts.

• Life skills and experiences: Model relatable, difficult moments in a child’s life, like the first day at school or going to the dentist. This helps kids build life skills like problem-solving and an ability to understand their feelings.

• Showing kids the world: Showcase a range of experiences, people and places. Don’t be afraid to feature diverse characters with a range of ages, interests and backgrounds.

Low-quality content principles

Low-quality content could be suspended from the YouTube Partner Program, and individual videos could get limited ads or no ads. YouTube advises producers to avoid making low-quality content by ensuring videos are not:

• Heavily promotional: Don’t make content that mainly features products and brands, including toys. And avoid unboxing-style videos that encourage “excessive buying”.

• Encouraging negative behaviors or attitudes: Don’t promote bullying, dishonesty or disrespect of others. Examples: Dangerous prank activities, unhealthy eating habits.

• Deceptively claiming to be educational: Don’t include titles or thumbnails that make content seem educational when it isn’t.

• Hard to follow: Make sure your videos aren’t confusing, whether because of poor writing, unclear audio or lack of a coherent storyline. These are often the result of mass production or AI generation.

• Sensational or misleading: Make sure to avoid content that’s untrue and might confuse young viewers.

• Strange use of children’s characters: Perhaps most obviously, don’t take characters that kids know, whether animated or live action, and put them in inappropriate situations.

What about AI? 

YouTube isn’t against AI. The platform allows, and even encourages, creators to make content with generative tools, a YouTube spokesperson tells Kidscreen. Its big rule around AI is that creators have to disclose if their video alters something a real person did or footage of a real event or place, or if it generates realistic-looking scenes that didn’t occur.

There’s a higher bar for AI use on YouTube Kids, where its policies and quality principles “explicitly prohibit sensationalist, deceptive or repetitive clickbait,” the spokesperson adds.

“It’s also important to note that not all AI-generated content is ‘slop’ or spam,” the spokesperson notes. “AI is simply a tool, and like any tool, it can be used to create high-quality, engaging stories. We remain focused on connecting our users with high-quality content, regardless of how it was made, including for our youngest users.”

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