YouTube to limit teens' exposure to videos about fitness and weight across global markets

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YouTube is going to limit teens’ exposure to videos that promote and idealize a certain fitness level or physical appearance, the company announced on Thursday. The safeguard first rolled out in the U.S. last year and is now being introduced to teens globally.

The announcement comes as YouTube has faced criticism over the past few years for potentially harming teens and exposing them to content that could encourage eating disorders.

The type of content that YouTube will limit exposure to includes videos that compare physical features and idealize certain fitness levels, body types and weight. Separately, YouTube will also limit exposure to videos that display “social aggression” in the form of non-contact fights and intimidation.

The Google-owned platform notes that this type of content may not be as harmful as a single video, but if the content is repetitively shown to teens, then it could become problematic. To combat this, YouTube will limit repeated recommendations of videos related to these topics.

Since YouTube’s recommendations are driven by what users tend to watch and engage with, the company needs to introduce these safeguards to protect teens from being repeatedly exposed to the content even if it adheres to YouTube’s guidelines.

“As a teen is developing thoughts about who they are and their own standards for themselves, repeated consumption of content featuring idealized standards that starts to shape an unrealistic internal standard could lead some to form negative beliefs about themselves,” YouTube’s global head of health, Dr. Garth Graham, said.

Thursday’s announcement comes a day after YouTube introduced a new tool that allows parents to link their accounts to their teen’s account in order to access insights about the teen’s activity on the platform. After a parent has linked their account with their teen’s, they will be alerted to their teen’s channel activity, such as the number of uploads and subscriptions they have.

The tool builds on YouTube’s current parental controls that allow parents to test supervised accounts with children under the age of consent for online services, which is 13 in the U.S. It’s worth noting that other social apps, like TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram and Facebook, also offer supervised accounts linked to young users’ parents.

Travly lets travelers submit videos for a chance to earn a 5% commission from hotel bookings

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Travly co-founders Zak Longo (CEO) and Mayur Patil (COO)

Image Credits: Travly

Travly is a new social-first discovery and hotel booking platform designed to cater to the growing number of travelers who rely on short-form video content for trip ideas. 

The platform features user-generated content that provides authentic reviews of hotels instead of generic information and often outdated images. Creators who submit videos of hotels have the chance to earn a 5% commission from bookings.

Co-founded by travel enthusiasts Zak Longo (CEO) and Mayur Patil (COO), Travly initially began as a travel network on Instagram and TikTok. In the summer of 2022, the duo acquired @Travel, building a social community of millions of followers across Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat. Longo and Patil run 45 channels in total, including @Cruises, @Hotels, @Resorts, and @Vacation on Instagram and TikTok. Collectively, the pages reach over 1 billion monthly views, they say. Travly also has an ambassador group of about 1,000 creators who help out with brand deals on its host of social media accounts. 

The company recently branched out to develop its own trip discovery product, using its insights to launch a video-focused booking platform and mobile app. Travly integrated with Booking.com to power its search capability, which features millions of hotels worldwide. 

Image Credits: Travly

“We were always like, ‘Okay, we need a product to go with this,’” Longo told TechCrunch. “So we put our heads together, and we were thinking, ‘Why don’t we do a booking platform?’ Because nowadays, we feel like the newer generation of travelers are using social media as a search tool … we could bridge the gap with our network and help people book the stuff they’re seeing on social media.” 

The platform is currently accepting video submissions, offering anyone with high-quality videos of hotels a 5% commission from all bookings done through the platform for that hotel. Travly only accepts one video per hotel and may replace it if it performs poorly. 

“We’re going to analyze whether a video doesn’t perform optimally for a hotel. We want to be fair to the hotel in that regard,” Longo said, explaining that Travly will consider factors like the average duration of the view or click-through rate. It may also swap out new and up-to-date videos if, for example, hotels offer new amenities they want to promote. 

Travly touts around 2,000 sign-ups and 500 video submissions so far.

Image Credits: Travly

Another way Travly stands out is its Destination Dupes feature. A playful spin on a makeup “dupe,” or close duplicate of a product, Travly compares luxurious travel destinations to more affordable ones that are similar in feel. This feature helps users not only save money but also discover hidden gems that offer a similar experience. For instance, it highlights the price difference between a hotel in London (~$325 per night) and one in Krakow, Poland (~$75 per night), offering a similar charm at a lower cost. Although it’s not a global cultural and financial capital like London, Krakow is known for its culture, cobblestone streets, and historic landmarks.

If users are still unsure where to travel next, they can click on the “Discover new directions” button to answer a series of questions and get a curated selection of ideas. For instance, if they want a lazy, low-budget holiday, Travly’s AI assistant pulls up hotels that fit the description.

In the future, Travly is set to expand its offerings, aiming to integrate more experiences into the platform. These include offering trip packages, restaurant reservations, and concert tickets, providing a comprehensive travel planning experience. In terms of additional revenue, the company is considering having ads on the platform as well.

With the creator economy estimated to be a $250 billion industry and the market expected to nearly double in size to $480 billion by 2027, other startups in the booking space are also tapping into the travel influencer trend. Plannin, a new travel booking platform founded by former Priceline executives, enables creators to monetize their hotel recommendations.