theQuestion: Should Google be forced to limit advertising for its new YouTube app for kids?*
Allow me to taunt and outrage. Parents can be cheap and lazy — at least those who can afford to. They refuse to pay for quality online video or to take the time to curate a collection of what is suitable and safe for their kids to watch from the millions of videos on YouTube.
Parents often use YouTube to placate and distract their kids — same as television was used for decades. The problem is the benefits adults find so useful — vast choice and ease of search — often serve up salacious content inappropriate for children.
Google has come up with a solution, a new child-friendly video app called YouTube Kids, which prevents accidental discovery of lewd and obscene material when kids browse or search approved family-focused content. The app, like the content, is free and comes with a curated collection of kid-safe videos, the control to disable search, and the ability to set a timer to limit the amount of YouTube video that can be watched.
By all accounts, this is a great app. So what’s the problem? Well, it’s advertiser supported and that has the usual coalition of “principled activists” complaining to regulators about the quantity of ads, deceptive practices and product placements. These caterwaulers are demanding the regulations and standards that govern children’s programming on television to include free mobile apps made for kids.
Ridiculous. Someone has to pay for the production and distribution of children’s programming online. Why should parents get free content for their kids? If they don’t want to pay for it via subscription or paid download then the only other way is through advertising. I am tired of hearing people complain about ads when they know full well the solution is opening up the wallet.
Complaining about Fisher-Price and LEGO-branded channels is also a non-starter — they make toys. It’s entirely appropriate for these brands to sponsor content in the app. And if their toys show up in content — so what? You are living on another planet if you haven’t realized that all children’s programming (even Sesame Street) is one big ad for toys, branded clothing and other knick-knacks available on store shelves — they all have licensed product lines.
In response to the criticism, YouTube said in a statement that “great content shouldn’t be reserved for only those families who can afford it.” I couldn’t agree more.