Made for Kids

What is Made for Kids on YouTube?

Made for Kids is a YouTube audience setting that marks a video or a whole channel as directed at children under 13. YouTube requires it under the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and a settlement with the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

Every creator has to declare an audience, even channels that never upload kids content. The setting works on 2 levels: for the whole channel or per video, and a video-level choice overrides the channel default. Content can count as child-directed even when children are not the primary audience; COPPA calls this "mixed audience" content.

Why the setting matters

On Made for Kids content YouTube limits data collection and stops serving personalized ads, which usually lowers CPM and overall YouTube monetization results for affected videos. YouTube openly warns that this can mean a decrease in revenue. How gross and net ad income differ is covered in our guide to YouTube ad revenue metrics.

The setting is also a legal obligation. If you set your audience inaccurately, you may face compliance issues with the FTC or other authorities, and YouTube may take action on your account. YouTube's machine learning can override your choice in cases of error or abuse: the video is then labeled "Set to Made for Kids" and the setting locks. You can appeal that decision, but only once per video. A useful side effect of an accurate setting: videos marked as made for kids are more likely to be recommended alongside other kids' videos.

What gets turned off on Made for Kids content

When a video or live stream is set as made for kids, YouTube restricts the following features:

• Autoplay on home

• Cards and end screens

• Video watermarks

• Channel Memberships

• Comments

• Donate button

• Likes and dislikes on YouTube Music

• Live chat and live chat donations

• Merchandise and ticketing

• Notification bell

• Personalized advertising

• Playback in the Miniplayer

• Super Chat and Super Stickers

• Save to playlist and Save to watch later

If the whole channel is set as made for kids, the channel additionally loses Channel Memberships, the notification bell, Posts, and Ask Studio.

Made for kids or not: how to decide

Under FTC guidance, weigh these factors when deciding whether your channel or video is made for kids:

• Subject matter of the video (e.g. educational content for preschoolers)

• Whether children are your intended audience (e.g. as indicated in your metadata) or the actual audience

• Whether the video includes child actors or models

• Whether it includes characters, celebrities, or toys that appeal to children, including animated characters or cartoon figures

• Whether the language is intended for children to understand

• Whether it includes activities that appeal to children, such as play-acting, simple songs or games, or early education

• Whether it includes songs, stories, or poems for children

• Any other evidence about the video's actual audience

• Whether the content is advertised to children

"Family friendly" is not the same as made for kids. A video is not necessarily made for kids just because it is safe for everyone, covers an activity traditionally associated with children, or children may incidentally see it. General audience content, and content with sexual themes, violence, or other mature themes, should be set as not made for kids. In the US a "kid" is anyone under 13; other countries may define the age differently.

How to set the audience in YouTube Studio

Channel level: open Settings, click Channel, open the Advanced Settings tab, and under Audience choose 1 of 3 options: the channel is made for kids, the channel is not made for kids, or you want to review the setting for every video. Click Save.

Video level: during upload, on the Basic info tab scroll to Audience and pick "Yes, it's Made for Kids" or "No, it's not Made for Kids". For existing videos, go to Content, tick the videos, then choose Edit, Audience. To appeal a forced "Set to Made for Kids" label, go to Content, hover over the label on the video, and click Appeal.