YouTube is cracking down on clickbait in videos, and a Toronto expert says this is a step in the right direction for addressing misinformation online.
The company is planning to increase its enforcement against “egregious clickbait” in videos with misleading titles or thumbnails, according to a memo shared by the YouTube team on the Google India Blog on Dec. 18.
“This is especially important when the video covers topics like breaking news or current events, ensuring viewers aren’t misled about what they watch on YouTube,” the memo shared, adding that the rollout will begin in India in the coming months.
There is no word on when this will begin in Canada or other parts of the world.
YouTube describes egregious clickbait as a video with a title or thumbnail that “includes promises or claims that aren’t delivered within the video itself, especially when that content focuses on breaking news or current events.”
The company says that using clickbait tactics like this can leave viewers feeling tricked, frustrated, or even misled.
To make sure that creators have time to adjust to the new clickbait rules, the video-sharing platform will first remove content violating the new rules without issuing the offending channel with a strike. Then, as it continues to educate creators on the site, enforcement of the new rules will prioritize new videos.
A STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION
Francis Syms, the associate dean of the Faculty of Applied Sciences and Technology at Toronto’s Humber Polytechnic, says that this is a step in the right direction to counter misinformation online.
Syms explained that while YouTube introduced the custom thumbnail feature to help users promote their videos, some people have taken it to the “next level,” creating thumbnails that are misleading to generate more views.
“YouTube wants people to continue to come to their platform and trust that when they click on something, they’re getting what they ask for,” Syms told Now Toronto on Monday, adding that this is an issue, as there is a wealth of misinformation online.
Misinformation is something on the minds of many Canadians. In 2023, Statistics Canada found that 43 per cent of Canadians reported finding it more difficult than it was three years earlier to tell the difference between true and false information. Meanwhile, in 2022, 73 per cent of Canadians said they had seen content online that they believed to be inaccurate over the previous 12 months.
“I think what they [Google] are concerned about… is that customers are not going to have trust in the platform, and they’re going to eventually start to walk away,” Syms explained.
But that’s not the only problem. Syms said that there is also the issue of ad placements.
In addition to creating a better user experience on the platform, Syms believes that YouTube is implementing these new rules to combat issues they face with advertisers.
He explained that misleading thumbnails and titles can lead to ads being placed on videos they do not necessarily correlate with.
“Therefore the advertisers are increasingly getting frustrated because they’re feeling like they’re paying for ads, and their ads are supposed to be placed next to content, where they want to be or they want to be seen, and that’s not actually what’s happening,” Syms said.
“And now… the advertiser’s brand is getting associated with these clickbait videos, and so it creates multiple layers of reputational issues.”
GOOGLE SELF-POLICING
Syms said that with a company such as Google, the parent company of YouTube, that operates in multiple jurisdictions, a single country cannot step in to tell the company how to operate.
“Google has to do some sort of self-policing here, right, to improve the quality of the services that they offer,” Syms explained.
The professor shared that there are other behind-the-scenes elements to consider, including the U.S. government’s concerns about Google’s control over online content.
“There are concerns by the U.S. government that Google has too much power, especially as it relates to both running and owning all the advertising, or most of it, on the internet, and offering all these other, you know, video services, search services,” Syms explained.
“People are entering the data in their platforms, and then they’re using that data to run and deliver ads,” Syms said. “So, I think what Google is realizing is that they have to start to do a better job at self-regulation, because when the government starts to look in and start asking questions on whether they’re a monopoly or if what they’re doing is in the best interest of the citizens, they want to look like they’re doing the right thing.”
