YouTube has a new plan to combat clickbait

Thumbnails play the YouTube equivalent of a movie poster, aiming to draw your attention to click and watch when you have hundreds of videos clogging your recommended content. Most of us have been baited to click on a video thanks to a flashy title and enticing thumbnail, only to be disappointed when the actual content has nothing to do with what the headline promised. 

Using attention-grabbing (often misleading) thumbnails and titles has become a standard practice on YouTube. However, the platform has now announced a crackdown on particularly “egregious” examples of clickbait.

Starting with a rollout in India, YouTube will take action against videos that feature clickbait titles and thumbnails, particularly those tied to breaking news or current events. YouTube spokesperson Jack Malon told The Verge that the enforcement will extend to more countries in the coming months. While creators won’t receive strikes during the initial phase, any videos violating the new policy will be removed.

“We’re strengthening our efforts to tackle egregious clickbait on YouTube. This means we’re planning to increase our enforcement against videos where the title or thumbnail promises viewers something that the video doesn’t deliver,” the company said in a Google India blog post. “This can leave viewers feeling tricked, frustrated, or even misled—particularly in moments when they come to YouTube in search of important or timely information.”

YouTube provided examples of egregious clickbait, such as a video titled “The President Resigned!” that doesn’t cover a resignation, and a “Top Political News” thumbnail attached to a video with no actual news content. Accusations of clickbait are common, so YouTube’s fairly narrow definition is useful for those who want to avoid getting into hot water with the platform. 

“As we continue to educate creators, our enforcement efforts will prioritize new video uploads moving forward,” YouTube’s statement added.

The question of how to tackle misinformation and disinformation has long been a challenge on the internet. Over the past year, YouTube has introduced a number of other changes, including a feature that allows users to leave notes correcting misinformation, similar to X’s Community Notes.

https://www.fastcompany.com/91252550/youtube-has-a-new-plan-to-combat-clickbait?partner=rss&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=rss+fastcompany&utm_content=rss

Created 3mo | Dec 26, 2024, 11:20:02 AM


Login to add comment

Other posts in this group

TikTok Notes is shutting down as Lemon8 steps in

TikTok is shutting down TikTok Notes—wait, you didn’t even know it existed? Well, that explains a lot.

TikTok Notes, the platform’s short-lived attempt to take on Instagram (just as Inst

Apr 3, 2025, 7:40:05 PM | Fast company - tech
Women dominate online influencing. So why are they paid less?

Influencing has a major pay gap, and it’s not what you might expect. 

A new report from Collabstr, based on over 15,0

Apr 3, 2025, 7:40:04 PM | Fast company - tech
An OpenAI ‘open’ model shows how much the company—and AI—has changed in two years

Welcome to AI DecodedFast Company’s weekly newsletter that breaks down the most important news in the world of AI. You can sign up to receive this newsletter every week 

Apr 3, 2025, 5:20:11 PM | Fast company - tech
How Elon Musk’s political gambit could tarnish his legacy at Tesla

Tech leaders often brand themselves as “disruptors”—and few fit that label more snugly than Elon Musk. In the three months since joining Donald Trump in the White House following Trump’s election,

Apr 3, 2025, 5:20:10 PM | Fast company - tech
Visa unveils a trio of new tools to make the payments process easier

At Visa’s ETA Transact event on April 3, the payments giant introduced three new products designed to simplify and secure payment acceptance. These innovations—Authorize.net 2.0, Unified Checkout,

Apr 3, 2025, 12:40:06 PM | Fast company - tech