Determining if your content is "made for kids"

• Children are the primary audience based on the factors described below. 
• Children are not the primary audience, but the video is still directed to children based on the factors below. (This is known under COPPA as “mixed audience” content, which is a type of child directed content. General audience content is not the same as mixed audience.)

When deciding whether or not your channel or video is made for kids, you should consider various factors, including:

• Subject matter of the video (e.g. educational content for preschoolers).
• Whether children are your intended audience (e.g. as indicated in your video metadata) or the actual audience for the video.
• Whether the video includes child actors or models.
• Whether the video includes characters, celebrities, or toys that appeal to children, including animated characters or cartoon figures.
• Whether the language of the video is intended for children to understand.
• Whether the video includes activities that appeal to children, such as play-acting, simple songs or games, or early education.
• Whether the video includes songs, stories, or poems for children.
• Any other information you may have to help determine your video’s audience, like empirical evidence of the video’s audience.
• Whether the content is advertised to children. 

Notes:

• Just because your content may include some of these factors does not automatically mean it’s made for kids. You should carefully consider who you’re trying to reach with your videos as you evaluate your content and the factors above.
• YouTube Analytics (YTA) is not designed to help determine if your content is child directed. You should use the factors outlined by the FTC above to set your audience.
• Videos that you set as “made for kids” are more likely to be recommended alongside other kids’ videos. Check out our most frequently asked questions about content that is made for kids.  

• It’s safe or appropriate for everyone to watch (aka it’s “family friendly”).
• It covers an activity that’s traditionally associated with children.
• Children may incidentally see it. 

General audience content

General audience content is content that could appeal to everyone, but isn’t intended specifically for children, or content that is intended for a teen or older audience. General audience content should be set as “not made for kids.”

Here are some examples of the types of videos that could be considered “general audience”, in the absence of information suggesting an intent to target kids:  

• A DIY video teaching hobbyists how to remake dolls or to make clay figurines
• A family vlog telling other parents about an amusement park visit 
• A video featuring detailed instructions around creating mods or avatars
• Animated content that appeals to everyone
• A gaming video that features adult humor

What’s the difference between general audience and mixed audience?

Mixed audience content, on the other hand, is considered a type of made for kids content. This is content that targets children as one of its audiences, even if it’s not the main or primary audience, and that qualifies as child directed after balancing the factors described above.
 
Note: Content that contains sexual themes, violence, obscene, or other mature themes not suitable for young audiences is likely not made for kids.