YouTube

A few years ago, Google launched YouTube Gaming, a dedicated app that hosted streamers and allowed gamers to find content aimed at them. Gaming has always been a big part of YouTube, but YouTube Gaming was Google's attempt to steal away some of Twitch's massive audience. Today, Google announced that it'll be shutting down YouTube Gaming, but for those who have spent the past three years building an audience on the platform, that isn't as bad as it sounds.

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YouTube is tackling its inappropriate content issue by enabling parents to limit their kids to only pre-approved videos and channels. The new feature has launched in YouTube Kids, fulfilling a promise the company made back in April. As well, YouTube Kids now offers a new option created specifically for older kids, one that features a "less restrictive" experience than the version presented to younger users.

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Watching a video recorded in a vertical orientation has long been an uncomfortable experience, but YouTube changed that last year with the arrival of proper vertical video playback. Now the company is back with another update, this one bringing the same experience to advertisements. When viewing on mobile, YouTube will start showing video ads in a vertical orientation.

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Today we're talking about a conspiracy theory that says Google released fake Pixel 3 XL units into the wild just to throw leakers off the scent of their true device design. If this is true, it's awesome. It's fun, and it creates the potential for some big surprise on behalf of Google. It's as if we want Google to reveal a surprise device more than an already-leaked high quality product.

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YouTube TV has a new option for customers who want to keep the service, but not watch it for awhile. As with Hulu, Netflix, and some other services, Google's livestreaming television option now enables users to temporarily suspend their membership while retaining the account. The pausing feature allows users to stop paying for the account (and lose access during that time) for up to six months.

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This morning Google started blasting the Dark Theme for YouTube on Android devices of many sorts. Not ALL sorts, mind you, but many sorts, many sorts indeed. This update was long awaited by lovers of the dark and the mysterious and/or festering recesses of the human soul, and now they can be satiated. YouTube can now have its colors flipped to darkness.

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One of the tenets of net neutrality is that all Internet data should be treated equally. In practice, this means ISPs shouldn’t give one kind of data preference over another. In other words, they shouldn’t throttle data based on what they are. With net neutrality dead (except in California), consumer advocates fear that carriers are already taking advantage of their new found freedom. That is pretty much the implication in a recently published study that points out how popular video streaming services like YouTube and Netflix are being throttled by nearly all US carriers, big or small.

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YouTube has expanded its Digital Wellbeing tools, a set of features designed to help users manage their use of the service including how many hours they spend watching videos. The Digital Wellbeing toolbox includes a Time Watched feature that shows users how much time they've spent watching videos during the present day, as well as the previous day and a sum total of the previous week.

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Google has issued an update on state-sponsored activity, revealing that it has deleted 58 accounts and channels across YouTube, Google Plus and Blogger that it had linked with Iran. The disclosure comes days after Facebook made a similar announcement in which it revealed that hundreds of accounts linked to Iran and Russia had been purged. As with Facebook, cybersecurity group FireEye helped Google surface some of the accounts.

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The European Union is becoming the champion of digital privacy, safety, and fair play, whether you like it or not. And some companies definitely don’t. After the still controversial GDPR and its high-profile fine of Google for its monopoly over Android, the European Commission, the EU’s legal body, is turning its sights on social networks like Facebook and Twitter. The body may start fining these platforms if they are unable to delete online terrorist propaganda within an hour after they have been flagged.

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YouTube has just announced a big milestone for its livestreaming television service, YouTube TV. The company has expanded the product into its 100th service location, making it available to people in parts of Tennessee and Virginia. With the expansion, YouTube TV is available in most of the nation's big cities and metro regions.

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YouTube has released a list of smartphones its recommends for the best streaming experience. These "Signature Devices," the term used by the company, are said to offer best-in-class YouTube experiences across multiple aspects, including reliability and performance, and when viewing 360-degree content in addition to regular videos. The new Samsung Galaxy Note 9 comes in at the top of the list, and there's one surprising absence.

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