Google recently made some changes to its terms of service (also known as Terms and Conditions) with regards to YouTube videos and starting from January 2020 it will take full effect. The new changes in these YouTube terms and conditions will also affect how publishers will upload videos on YouTube from January 2020 onward. If you are not familiar with the terms and conditions of YouTube, please read it up from your dashboard.

Only few things were changed in the adjusted Terms and Conditions of YouTube but the notable change is the “made for Kids content”. Its so important that Google have placed the option and made it compulsory that you select or deselect it before you can continue to upload your videos.

This won’t be changing the way you upload videos, although the new upload interface that is coming in January is a little different than the regular one. But the procedure is still pretty much same with just few changes. Below is how to upload videos on YouTube in starting January.

New Method on How to Upload Videos on Your YouTube Channel

To upload a video on YouTube just follow the steps below. But first you need to have a YouTube Channel. Without a channel (or a YouTube account) you won’t be able to upload videos on YouTube. Don’t worry, the process is very simple and it won’t take more than 5 minutes for you to get your own YouTube channel.

How to create a YouTube channel The Easy Way

First you need to create a YouTube channel using your Gmail account. To like and comment on YouTube videos, you need to have a channel. So, you don’t expect that publishing a video there won’t require you needing a channel. Below are the simple steps

  • Create a YouTube channel using any of your Gmail; to create a channel is simple, just go to YouTube and LIKE or try to COMMENT on any video, it will prompt you to create a channel.
  • Provide all the necessary information by following the onscreen instruction by YouTube. Provide the YouTube name etc. Click Save or OK button then it is done. Congratulations you now have a YouTube channel and is ready to accept videos.
  • You can modify your channel from the settings
  • If you wish to set profile pictures and cover pictures you can do that by logging into your Google account.
  • Note that changes you make in your Google Account reflects in your YouTube channel. For example, If you change the name of your Google Account, the name of your YouTube channel will also change.

How to upload videos on YouTube

To upload videos on YouTube, you have to follow the simple steps below. Note that there will be some changes that will be explained just after the process of uploading videos on YouTube. Uploading a video on YouTube is divided into three stages. First is the Basic Info, the Advance Settings and the Preview and Publish.

  1. Log into your YouTube Channel (using your Gmail)
  2. Click the Upload Video button
  3. Select the first option of Upload (don’t use the Go Live feature except you want to stream a video live for you subscribers).
  4. Drag and drop the video into the box for persons using laptop or desktop. For mobile phone users select the video from the storage of your phone.
  5. Provide the basic details of your video which will include the name of the video (or Title), the description of the video (short note on what the video is about) and the audience.
  6. In the Audience section, you have to select if the video IT’S MADE FOR KIDS or NOT MADE FOR KIDS. This section is very important to YouTube that they marked it as Required and this is one of the Major changes to uploading videos on YouTube starting from January.
  7. Then you have the option to select the Age restriction section.

The above is the basic info section which is the first stage of uploading videos on YouTube. It is called Basic Info because here you provide basic details about the Video you want to upload. Every other thing is pretty standard but the major changes happens to be the IT’S MADE FOR KIDS or NOT MADE FOR KID selection option. We’ll explain that just below the third stage of uploading videos.

The Second Stage (Advance Settings) of Uploading Video on YouTube

After the stage one above, you’ll see a NEXT button at the bottom right. Click the button to continue to the next stage of the video upload. Below are what you will see in the second stage

  1. Add the video to a Playlist in your channel. If you don’t have a Playlist you can easily create one or just skip if you don’t want to add the video to a playlist.
  2. Next is for you to add Card to the video. You can link to another channel, create a poll, link to a playlist or even link to another website using the Add Card feature in the Second stage.
  3. Add Tags to the video you are uploading. Tags makes it possible for YouTube to display your Video in related searches. You can add many tags but make sure to separate the tags using comma. For example, if you are unloading a video about Lionel Messi your tags will be (sample of tags: messi, Barcelona, La Liga, Lionel messi, Argentina, Football etc). Your tags should be related to the Video.
  4. You can also add an End Screen to your video. End Screen can be a photo or a short clip you wish for your viewers to see just after your video has ended.
  5. Video language and subtitles is the last options of the section. Here you get to select the original language of the video and if you wish to include a subtitle YouTube provides you the feature to upload a subtitle file.
  6. Just below this option is the OTHER option that you can decide to change or leave. The major option to change here will have to be the Category of your video. Just click and select the category that best suites the video you want to upload.

If you don’t have the subtitle file you can decide to leave that and move to the final section of the video upload. If you are satisfied with the changes you can click the NEXT button at the bottom right of the page to move to the next and final section.

The Third Stage (Preview and Publish) of Uploading Video on YouTube

This stage only has two options and its pretty simple and straight forward.

  1. Publish Now: This option means you want the video to go live now for people to see it on YouTube. Under this option you can get to choose if the video should be made Public or Private.
  2. Schedule: Here you want the video to go live but not right away. It means you can tell YouTube the day you want the video to go live by scheduling publish for another day.

After this is set you can now click the DONE button at the bottom page and depending on your choice of publish the video will go live or be scheduled to go live. Just below the schedule section, YouTube placed another reminder that reads:

Before you publish, check the following:

Do kids appear in this video?

Make sure you follow our policies to protect minors from harm, exploitation, bullying, and violations of labor law.

What does YouTube mean by this Is It Made For Kids? Feature and why are they so strict about it? It is time we explain this feature and why it is important.

What Does YouTube mean by Is It Made For Kids?

What YouTube means is that you should check if your video is primary directed at children below the age of 13 (in United States anyone below the age 13 is regarded as a kid. This might be different for some countries. But generally, any child that is below 15 falls under this category).

So, when YouTube ask the question Is It Made For Kids? They are asking you if your video is directed primarily at children under the age 15. Why is this very important and why is YouTube very strict about this new feature?

Why the Is It Made For Kids feature very Important to YouTube

Kids have been and are easy target to fraud especially through video contents. And according to Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and/or other laws there are some measures put in place to protects kids using the internet.

This means that, if a kid is defrauded by a video on YouTube, Google (owners of YouTube) can actually be sued and they’ll pay for damages they know little or nothing about. To prevent this from happening, YouTube have made amendment to its terms and conditions with the Is It Made For Kids been an important part of it.

Been a big company, Google understands that Ignorance is no excuse when it comes to LAW. Also, the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and/or other laws have been in existence for more than 18 years.

To avoid been help responsible, YouTube is now placing you in charge of the video content you are uploading. If its targeted at Kids, you have to specify and if for any reason that same video is used top defraud any kid you will be held responsible and not YouTube.

YouTube also place ad restriction on videos that are meant for Kids. Which means that Features like personalized ads and notifications won’t be available on videos made for kids. This is done so that kids won’t give out details that includes finance or any other related information.

How to Know if Your YouTube Video Is Made for Kids

There are lots of features that shows if your YouTube video is targeted at Kids. It includes, the images in the video, music used, persons that showed in the video, the text etc. Google also made some few suggestions as to what it means by Videos meant for kids. According to YouTube, your video is meant for kids if it has any or more of the following features

According to the FTC’s guidance on COPPA, a video is child directed (which we call “made for kids”) if:

  • Children are the primary audience based on the factors described below. 
  • Children are not the primary audience, but the video is still directed to children based on the factors below.

When deciding whether or not your channel or video is made for kids, you should consider various factors, including:

  • Subject matter of the video (e.g. educational content for preschoolers).
  • Whether children are your intended or actual audience for the video.
  • Whether the video includes child actors or models.
  • Text directed at children.
  • Images of children or of children actors or models.
  • Whether the video includes characters, celebrities, or toys that appeal to children, including animated characters or cartoon figures.
  • Whether the language of the video is intended for children to understand.
  • Whether the video includes activities that appeal to children, such as play-acting, simple songs or games, or early education.
  • Whether the video includes songs, stories, or poems for children.
  • Any other information you may have to help determine your video’s audience, like empirical evidence of the video’s audience.

Should You Select the Yes, It’s Made For Kids YouTube Option?

YES and NO: Yes, if the video meets any of the criteria listed above. If your video is made for kids then you have to tell YouTube so that they can show the video to the right audience. Skipping this option might have consequences and we mean even legal consequences that you might not be prepared for.

YouTube have also advised it’s publishers to even talk with a lawyer or a legal advisor if they don’t understand if their video is meant for kids or not.

NO, if your YouTube video does not include any of the features listed above. And this will enable YouTube to placed personalized ads and notifications on such videos. As advised by YouTube, you should talk to a legal advisor or lawyer in your country if you don’t understand the new terms and conditions or you don’t know if your YouTube videos are meant for kids or not.

Other adjustment made in the terms and conditions includes those meant for Parents, Account Termination and Business owners. Please we advise you read the new terms and conditions from YouTube for you to better understand how it affects you.

Changes When Uploading Videos on YouTube

Starting from January 2020, YouTube will require that you specify if your video is made for kids or not. This was something that was automatically decided by YouTube but now publishers will have to specify. Also, the interface for uploading videos on YouTube will change although the details will remain with some few changes in design.

What you can do now is get use to the new YouTube upload interface by using the Beta version now because come January 2020 YouTube publishers won’t have a choice.

The above is the major details you need to know about the new YouTube Terms and Conditions and how it affects video upload on YouTube. Make sure you select if your video is made for kids or not. If you still don’t understand please talk to a legal advisor in your country.

YouTube is trying to keep its space clean and they want the publishers to help keep it clean. So, there are few changes with the designs of the interface as to how publishers will be uploading videos on YouTube starting from January 2020. But the major note is the Yes, it’s made For Kids feature.

Festus Ayomike is a Blogger, Tech Enthusiast, skilled writer, and digital marketer. You can follow me on Tech Arena24 to get the latest phone deals, tech news updates, and more.

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