YouTube Shorts is implementing a modification in response to the growing spam problem on the short-form video platform. According to the firm, links in the Shorts comments section, Shorts descriptions, and the vertical live feed will no longer be clickable as of August 31st. This new policy is intended to be a preventative step, making it more difficult for scammers and spammers to mislead and swindle people through links.
According to the corporation, the change was essential because spammy links could lead visitors to hazardous information such as malware, phishing, or other frauds.
Given that YouTube currently has mechanisms and regulations in place to detect and delete bogus connections, the step is pretty harsh. Instead of depending on this technology, it has disabled these ties entirely. Because the changes will be implemented progressively, not all links will be disabled on August 31st.
Furthermore, the business is deleting clickable social media icons from all desktop channel banners, as these have been used to deceive consumers with deceptive links.
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However, links can be useful for legal creators at times, especially when it comes to monetizing their work by suggesting products and brands to their followers. YouTube said it will create new ways for users to safely insert links in their content to address this.
Beginning August 23, YouTube viewers on mobile and desktop will notice “prominent” clickable links near the ‘Subscribe’ button on creators’ channel profiles. Creators can use this field to link to websites, other social profiles, merchandising websites, and other links that follow YouTube’s Community Guidelines.
Furthermore, Shorts makers who enjoy using links to direct viewers to their long-form videos will be able to do so in the near future. YouTube says it will create a new and safer option for those creators to lead viewers from Shorts to their other YouTube video by the end of September.
These modifications are in addition to other initiatives YouTube has implemented to reduce spam across the site, such as upgrades to systems that recognise impersonation channels. YouTube claims that the number of impersonation-related removals and terminations grew by more than 35% between Q1 2022 and Q1 2023.
It has also upgraded its function that detects and holds potentially spammy and unsuitable comments for optional review by creators, resulting in a 200% increase in comments held for review when comparing the first week of June after the improvements went live to the first week of May before the changes went live.
