YouTube Kids celebrated its 10th anniversary on February 24, 2025, marking a significant milestone for the platform, which has evolved from a niche mobile app into a comprehensive ecosystem of children’s entertainment. On September 19, 2025, YouTube released a retrospective celebrating this journey, featuring insights from Katie Kurtz, Managing Director of Youth and Learning Partnerships, who shared reflections on the platform’s growth since its inception in 2015.
The retrospective includes comments from Johanna Voolich, YouTube’s Chief Product Officer, who played a key role in launching the platform. Voolich noted how YouTube Kids was influenced by organic user behaviour from the very start. “In the early days, we observed a powerful trend: families were using YouTube to discover content together, engaging with unique creators in ways traditional media couldn’t provide,” she explained.
Designed specifically for children, YouTube Kids initially launched as a dedicated mobile app available for both Android and iOS devices. Since its launch, the service has expanded significantly, reaching smart TVs from leading brands such as LG, Samsung, and Sony, as well as platforms like Android TV and Apple TV as of May 27, 2020. Today, it operates in 69 countries, with data reflecting its broad reach as of September 2019.
The platform’s decade-long journey has been marked by cultural moments, such as the “slime phenomenon” of 2017. Voolich highlighted how this trend, which originated in the DIY community on YouTube, had a significant real-world impact by causing a glue shortage in the United States. This emphasises how YouTube Kids creators have the power to shape cultural trends that extend into retail markets.
Through engaging and interactive content, creators on YouTube Kids have forged strong connections with young audiences. Voolich shared a touching story about her daughter, who sent a drawing to the creator known as NerdECrafter, who then turned that artwork into a sculpture. “This unique connection between creators and their young fans is what makes YouTube so special — it’s more than just videos, it’s a community where kids feel inspired and valued,” she remarked.
The evolution of YouTube Kids reflects broader changes in family viewing habits and advancements in technology. The platform has grown beyond its original app to include supervised experiences for older children and teenagers. Recently, YouTube has enhanced the living room viewing experience, recognising that families often gather around television sets to watch together.
Since its launch, parental controls have been a fundamental aspect of YouTube Kids’ design. Families must set up the service to ensure their kids have suitable viewing experiences. According to Google Play documentation, YouTube Kids offers four viewing modes tailored to different age groups: Preschool mode for the youngest children, Younger mode for songs and cartoons, Older mode for music and gaming videos, and Approved Content Only mode, which provides complete parental curation.
The platform also adheres to strict advertising policies, which differ from standard YouTube. As outlined in their policy documentation, all ads in YouTube Kids must receive pre-approval. The platform enforces bans on various categories, including food and beverage products, beauty items, dating services, and political ads. Additionally, video ads are subject to specific time constraints: 15-20 seconds for non-skippable ads and up to 60 seconds for skippable formats.
Content moderation remains a challenge for YouTube Kids. The platform has faced scrutiny over the presence of inappropriate content, prompting the implementation of enhanced review processes and filtering mechanisms. Since 2018, human-reviewed channels and whitelisting systems have been implemented, along with enhanced automated filtering technologies.
YouTube Kids functions within Google’s comprehensive child protection framework. The consolidated advertising policies for children and teens, introduced in January 2025, provide robust safeguards across YouTube and related platforms. These policies prohibit interest-based ads and remarketing pixels in YouTube Kids, implementing additional protections for users under 18.
In terms of technical specifications, content creators must adhere to specific guidelines. Content designed for children that is deemed age-sensitive faces automatic restrictions, with any films rated higher than PG and shows rated above G being banned. Video games must also maintain an ESRB rating of E10+ or lower.
With this milestone, YouTube Kids continues to emphasise its commitment to providing a safe and enriching digital environment for children while adapting to their viewing needs and preferences.
