Made for Kids Shorts: Should You Mark Yours?

Mark a Short "made for kids" if it targets children as its main audience, or as one of its audiences and qualifies as child directed after weighing YouTube's factors, like subject, characters, language and who it's made for. Kids possibly seeing it isn't the test. The setting turns off personalized ads, comments and more.

The setting comes from a 2019 settlement with the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) and New York Attorney General: Google and YouTube agreed to let channel owners flag child-directed content so YouTube can comply with COPPA, the US Children's Online Privacy Protection Act. YouTube requires every creator to set an audience, even those who never make kids' content, and notes that in the US a kid is "anyone under the age of 13."

This is general information, not legal advice.

What does "made for kids" turn off on a YouTube video?

YouTube limits data collection on made-for-kids content and serves no personalized ads there, which "may result in a decrease in revenue for some creators." Here's YouTube's list for made-for-kids videos or live streams, grouped by type:

Made-for-kids content can still be served contextual ads, though not food and drink ads. A baking Short for young kids also loses recipe questions in the comments. For Partner Program eligibility, see our Shorts monetization guide.

Is a Short made for kids just because kids might watch it?

No. YouTube says a video isn't necessarily made for kids because it is family friendly, covers an activity traditionally associated with children, or children may incidentally see it.

A podcast clip about buying a home sits among what the FTC calls "traditionally adult activities," probably not covered by COPPA unless geared toward kids.

For less clear-cut clips, use YouTube's factors as a pre-post checklist, though matching some doesn't automatically make a video made for kids.

Two shortcuts don't settle it: YouTube Analytics isn't designed to tell you whether content is child directed, and a 13+ disclaimer "doesn’t mean that the FTC will automatically deem your content as not made for kids." Since YouTube counts video metadata as a sign of intended audience, describe it honestly in your titles and descriptions.

What is mixed-audience content on YouTube?

A Short that targets kids as one of its audiences and qualifies as child directed after weighing the factors is mixed audience, "a type of made for kids content."

Here's the catch: there's no middle setting, and YouTube said in January 2020 that data from anyone watching a made-for-kids video will be "treated as coming from a child, regardless of the age of the user."

Picture an adult science channel with a cartoon segment for young kids. A Short cut from the segment likely targets kids as one audience; one cut from the adult part may not. Each Short carries its own setting. If the cartoon Short qualifies, mark it, and everyone watching it, adults included, sees it without comments or personalized ads.

What happens if my made-for-kids setting is wrong?

YouTube "may override your audience setting choice in cases of error or abuse," though its systems may miss content regulators consider made for kids.

If it overrides your choice, you can't change it but can appeal once per video: on a computer in YouTube Studio, open Content, go to the video, and "Hover over “Set to made for kids” and click Appeal."

Per the Disney complaint, YouTube told Disney in mid-2020 it had switched "more than 300 Disney videos" to made for kids, yet Disney kept channel-level designations. In December 2025 a federal judge approved an order "requiring Disney to pay $10 million to settle Federal Trade Commission allegations."

If you post commercially, your content is directed to kids, and personal information is collected by you or on your behalf (say, an ad-targeting identifier), the FTC says you "will be deemed an operator," and a court can hold violators liable for "civil penalties of up to $53,088 per violation."

How do I set the audience on a Short?

• Shorts upload (phone): YouTube app: tap Select audience. Studio app: set it with the title and privacy settings.
• New upload (computer): studio.youtube.com > CREATE > Upload videos > Basic info tab > Audience.
• Existing videos (web): Content, tick the videos, then Edit > Audience > Yes, it's 'Made for Kids' > UPDATE VIDEOS.
• Channel default (web): Settings > Channel > Advanced Settings tab > Audience.

A podcast channel set to not made for kids posts a sing-along Short for listeners' kids. Per the FTC's Disney lesson, it inherits that default unless you mark the Short itself made for kids.

Everpop is review-first, with Autopilot off unless you turn it on, so approval is a natural moment to ask whether a clip targets children. If one does, finish it in your editor via the FCPXML/EDL/SRT export, upload it yourself and set the audience as above. On kid-heavy channels, leave Autopilot off.

Where does each claim in this article come from?