YouTube says it will start cracking down on videos with clickbait titles in India

A lot of YouTube videos have flashy, misleading titles and thumbnails, such as “BREAKING NEWS” or “The president steps down,” to bait the user into watching the video, which has non-related content.

YouTube said Wednesday that it is now cracking down on such videos — especially if videos cover topics like breaking news or current events — starting in India. The company noted that it will also start enforcing stricter rules against clickbait titles and thumbnails in the coming months.

The enforcement will include YouTube removing such videos without issuing a strike against the creator of the channel at the beginning of this program. Last year, the company launched a program for creators to take an educational training course to wipe out any warnings against their channels.

“We’re strengthening our efforts to tackle egregious clickbait on YouTube. This means we’re planning to increase our enforcement against videos where the title or thumbnail promises viewers something that the video doesn’t deliver,” the company said in a Google India blog post.

“This can leave viewers feeling tricked, frustrated, or even misled—particularly in moments when they come to YouTube in search of important or timely information.”

It is unclear how YouTube plans to categorize news or current events. For instance, does it only count movements in politics and government as breaking news, or do sports events also count? The company also hasn’t detailed specifics about how it detects differences between thumbnails or titles and the video’s actual content. We have asked Google to provide more information and will update the story if we hear back.