YouTube Wants to Better Identify “Inauthentic” Content on Its Platform

Google announced an upcoming YouTube policy update (via TechCrunch) that will aim to better identify “mass-produced and repetitious content.” This type of content has already been ineligible for monetization via the YouTube Partner program, but the new policies will better describe what Google considers “inauthentic” content.

“In order to monetize as part of the YouTube Partner Program (YPP), YouTube has always required creators to upload “original” and “authentic” content. On July 15, 2025, YouTube is updating our guidelines to better identify mass-produced and repetitious content. This update better reflects what “inauthentic” content looks like today,” the company explained in the policy update.

If Google didn’t explicitly describe what it sees as “inauthentic” content, the new policies likely target low-quality “AI slop” videos that have been populating the platform along with the democratization of AI tools. Such videos include random fake news reports narrated by an AI-generated voice over a slideshow.

In an answer to a post on X, the YouTube team also made it clear that the new policies won’t target YouTube channels doing reaction videos, compilations, and more. This should reassure content creators who may have feared seeing their reaction videos being flagged as “unoriginal.”