Skip to main content

Upcoming YouTube Kids version may ditch recommendation algorithms for whitelisted, handpicked content

There’s a vast amount of information on YouTube, ranging from tutorials to reviews to funny pranks and all the way down to content produced for kids. There’s something for everyone, but when you hand a 5-year-old child the keys to all of that, they might stumble on something they shouldn’t. That’s why YouTube Kids was introduced a while back, but the algorithms in that app haven’t proved as successful as the company intended. Now, it seems that YouTube is rethinking its approach.

You’ve probably heard a few times that content not suitable for children has been slipping through the cracks of the filters involved with YouTube Kids. As much as the company strives to perfect the algorithms that select what can and cannot show within the app, it just doesn’t work perfectly.

According to a report from Buzzfeed News, YouTube is rethinking how to impose these filters. Instead of relying solely on computers, a new version of the YouTube Kids app may be incoming which contains content which is handpicked directly by a team of curators at YouTube. In short, videos in the app would have to be manually approved by a human being instead of a computer.

It’s unclear right now if this will land as a new app entirely, but it seems most likely based on the available information that this would be a new mode for the currently existing application. YouTube didn’t comment on the report, but sources say that the new version could arrive “in the coming weeks.” For concerned parents, this is a big win for sure.


Check out 9to5Google on YouTube for more news:

FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.

You’re reading 9to5Google — experts who break news about Google and its surrounding ecosystem, day after day. Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, and follow 9to5Google on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop. Don’t know where to start? Check out our exclusive stories, reviews, how-tos, and subscribe to our YouTube channel