YouTube profanity update, Age Check Rollouts, Gaming Trends Report + more! - TechLinked

Summary

TechLinked Podcast Summary
Episode: YouTube Profanity Update, Age Check Rollouts, Gaming Trends Report + More!
Release Date: July 31, 2025
Host: Linus Media Group

YouTube’s Profanity Policy Update

Timestamp: [00:30]

In the latest update, YouTube has revised its ad-friendly content guidelines concerning the use of profanity. Host B explains, “Strong profanity in the first seven seconds is now eligible to earn full ad revenue” ([00:30]). This marks a significant shift from the policy introduced two and a half years ago, which previously demonetized videos starting with non-approved language. The change came after considerable backlash, leading YouTube to allow limited ad revenue on such content once again.

Furthermore, B points out an inconsistency between YouTube’s tweet and their support article: while the tweet claims strong profanity is acceptable, the support article clarifies that only moderate profanity is permissible, with stronger language risking revenue loss. This ambiguity has sparked confusion among creators, with B humorously noting, “I should have sworn the intro. It would have been so cool,” reflecting on the impact of the policy on popular reaction videos ([01:17]).

YouTube’s Age Estimation Technology Rollout

Timestamp: [01:22]

YouTube is expanding its age estimation technology to a broader user base in the United States, following successful implementations in other markets without significant issues. Starting August 13th, if YouTube’s algorithms determine a user is likely under 18, several protective measures will activate. These include displaying only non-personalized ads, enabling "take a break" and bedtime reminders, and limiting the recommendation of potentially problematic videos.

B elaborates, “No Skibidi under 18 creators will also have their ability to earn gifts restricted on vertical live streams” ([01:22]). Additionally, users can dispute age estimations by providing a credit card or government ID, allowing for greater privacy preservation. However, the rollout has raised concerns about privacy and the rapid spread of age checks across platforms, likened to fleeting internet slang trends.

Age Verification Across Platforms

Timestamp: [02:10]

The conversation shifts to Google adopting similar age assurance measures for a subset of US-based accounts, paralleling YouTube’s approach. In Australia, the government has intensified its stance by nullifying exemptions for YouTube in the country’s social media bans. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced that by December, accounts for users under 16 will be illegal, a move that has been met with skepticism by host B, who humorously questions Australia’s expertise: “Should we really trust Australia with this when they can't even get an Orbital class rocket to stay in the air for more than 14 seconds?” ([02:50]).

Spotify has also joined the fray, threatening to delete UK users’ accounts if they fail age verification tests. This brings to light broader privacy concerns, especially with multiple age verification services collecting sensitive information like selfies and government IDs. The discussion highlights the precarious balance between safety measures and privacy rights, especially in the wake of recent data breaches in similar apps.

IGN’s 2025 Gaming Trends Report

Timestamp: [04:00]

Transitioning to gaming, the podcast delves into IGN’s comprehensive 2025 Gaming Trends Report. A key insight is the shifting identity among younger gamers: Gen Z and Gen Alpha prefer identifying as players of specific games (e.g., Roblox, Fortnite, Minecraft) rather than associating with traditional platforms like Xbox or PlayStation. Host B remarks, “Gen Z and Gen Alpha tend to see themselves less as gamers and more as players of a specific game” ([05:10]).

This trend aligns with executives' desires, as platforms like Roblox have seen a surge in daily concurrent users, particularly with the viral success of user-generated games like "Grow a Garden." The report also highlights that 93% of Gen Alpha prefer mobile gaming, a preference driven by practicality as parents often reclaim shared devices like TVs. Additionally, both Gen Z and Alpha expect instant access to content, mirroring broader digital consumption trends.

New Hardware and AI Tool Developments

Timestamp: [07:30]

The podcast touches on significant hardware releases:

AMD’s Ryzen Threadripper 9980X and 9970.X: These new processors have garnered positive reviews from enthusiasts, offering substantial improvements in performance and efficiency. Host B notes, “Overall it seems like enthusiasts are pretty happy with them as they deliver a solid jump in both performance and efficiency over their predecessors” ([07:30]).
Micron’s 9650 NVME SSD: Marketed as the world’s first actual PCIe Gen 6 SSD, this high-capacity storage solution (up to 30.72 TB) targets server applications rather than standard desktops. The host humorously admits unfamiliarity with the form factors, “I only just heard about today” ([08:15]).

On the software front, AI tools have seen meaningful updates:

Adobe Photoshop Beta: Introduces AI upscaling to unblur old photos and a new "Harmonize" feature that allows realistic alterations of lighting, shadows, and colors, facilitating the addition of people and objects to images.
ChatGPT’s Study Mode: Enhances the user experience by walking users through the thinking process rather than merely providing answers, making it especially beneficial for educational purposes.

Quirky Tech News

Timestamp: [09:30]

In a lighter segment, the podcast shares intriguing scientific findings and corporate updates:

Peacock Feathers as Lasers: A group of international researchers discovered that when peacock feathers are coated and energized with a light source, they can emit photons at laser wavelengths. While amusingly exaggerated, Host B clarifies, “Peacocks aren't about to become pompous, strutting avian weapons platforms” ([09:50]).
Microsoft’s Smurfs-Themed Surface Laptops: Microsoft has released a limited edition of 100 Surface laptops in collaboration with the new Smurfs movie. Although Host B expresses confusion over the marketing strategy, he underscores the quirky nature of such partnerships: “Microsoft made a hundred special editions of their newest Surface laptop to go along with the new Smurfs movie” ([10:20]).

Closing Remarks

The episode concludes with Host B encouraging listeners to stay tuned for more tech news in the following episodes, despite the lighthearted frustrations expressed throughout the discussion.

Notable Quotes:

“Strong profanity in the first seven seconds is now eligible to earn full ad revenue.” — Host B ([00:30])
“Gen Z and Gen Alpha tend to see themselves less as gamers and more as players of a specific game.” — Host B ([05:10])
“Peacocks aren't about to become pompous, strutting avian weapons platforms.” — Host B ([09:50])

This episode of TechLinked offers a comprehensive overview of recent developments in YouTube’s content policies, the expansion of age verification across major platforms, evolving gaming trends among younger generations, and the latest advancements in hardware and AI tools. Additionally, it provides entertaining snippets of quirky tech news, ensuring listeners are well-informed and engaged with the rapidly changing tech landscape.

Transcript

A (0:01)

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B (0:30)

Welcome back to TechLinked, the show that isn't afraid to say stop. Don't Google that. Let Riley do it. Instead, YouTube has once again updated its ad friendly content guidelines, tweeting that strong profanity in the first seven seconds is now eligible to earn full ad revenue. I should have sworn the intro. It would have been so cool. The new policy comes about two and a half years after YouTube demonetized videos started right out with non mother approved language from the get go before responding to backlash and allowing limited ad revenue on those videos. YouTube referenced their prior flip flops in the video update for this change and seemed to take credit for providing YouTubers with content.

A (1:17)

You may have even made a couple of popular reaction videos based on that very policy update.

B (1:22)

Yeah, you're welcome. Now, swearing in the first seven seconds won't limit your revenue at all. Although the tweet said strong profanity is fine, while the actual support article says moderate, with stronger profanity putting you at risk of earning no revenue. Hey, that's unclear. Well, now that YouTube's becoming a wretched hive of scum and villainy, the platform is rolling out age estimation technology to a small set of users in the US after using it in other markets and seeing nothing exploding so far. Starting on August 13th, if YouTube's machines think you're under 18, they'll activate protection measures like showing only non personalized ads, enabling take a break and bedtime reminders you need your sleep and recommending fewer videos that could be problematic if viewed in repetition. No Skibidi under 18 creators will also have their ability to earn gifts restricted on vertical live streams, which as we all know is a much more dangerous aspect ratio. It's weird though. You can dispute the age estimation by uploading a credit card or a government id, so I guess you can preserve more privacy if you don't act like a 12 year old online. It's not clear how long that will be the case though, as age checks are currently spreading across the Internet faster than that hot new brain rot slang that just dropped you know the one. I won't say it. I know what it is though, because Google is actually doing the same thing as YouTube, announcing that age assurance will roll out to a small set of US based Google accounts over the next few weeks. Over in Australia, the government is nixing the exemption they were going to make for YouTube in the country's social media ban. So now, come December, accounts for users under 16 will be illegal, with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announcing Russia Right, I'm calling time on it, but should we really trust Australia with this when they can't even get an Orbital class rocket to stay in the air for more than 14 seconds? I mean, it's not even just the front that fell off, it's the whole thing. Australia, please send me more of your memes. I'm done with the front fell off thing for now. As Emma Roth writes at the Verge, for better or worse, age verification is happening. And now Spotify is threatening to delete UK users accounts if they fail the age verification test. But what if you're an adult and you just have the mind of a child? People are getting worked into a frenzy. Fears of the EU's upcoming official age checking app only allowing users to install apps that were certified by Apple or Google did turn out to be unfounded. But still, it's kind of an uncomfortable situation to have a bunch of different age verification services amassing hordes of selfies and government IDs, especially in the wake of the women's dating safety app T having thousands of those very things leaked before suffering another breach for good measure. Clearly, just calling your app a safety app and being a safe app is not there. You know, it's different. Different like gamers these days? Ah, that's according to IGN's new expansive 2025 gaming trends report, which shares some interesting insights into the games industry biz. They helped them with the report. I didn't think this one through. So what are the main takeaways? First off, Gen Z and Gen Alpha tend to see themselves less as gamers and more as players of a specific game. While Gen X or Millennials might identify with Xbox, PlayStation or PC as their chosen platform, the youngins treat Roblox, Fortnite or Minecraft as their platforms with which is exactly what gaming executives have wanted. So congrats on making EA CEO Andrew Wilson very happy. The CEO of Roblox is also pretty happy because that game or platform thing was already beating Fortnite in daily concurrent users, but since May it shot up from around 10 million to 25 million thanks to the user made game Grow a Garden, which has become a viral sensation in even the Associated Press reported on it with perhaps the busiest game screenshot I've ever seen. It's ugh. It's like I can feel it. Like so many classic microtransaction traps, Grow a Garden is an idle game. So you buy seeds, plant them, wait for them to grow, and then collect them. And what makes this game super cool is remember your garden literally grows while you are offline. Star. Whoa. Literally. The report also found that 93% of Gen Alpha prefer to play games on mobile because their dads have to use the TV as soon as they get home to see whether the 70 86ers are gonna make it to championships this year. It's important. And Gen Z and Alpha also expect every song, TV show and video game to be available to them in instantly. Which to be fair, probably also applies to everyone because we have the Internet now. You don't have to ship the files to my Steam account and you don't have to let Big Tech read your emails either. If you use our sponsor Proton, the email provider that's not linked to Big Tech, so they have no interest in your personal data. Oh, you have X hobbies and Y interests. They literally don't care. See, Proton uses end to end zero access encryption so only you can read your emails. Plus they use advanced phishing protection, tracker blocking, and they even monitor the Dark web to see if your email shows up. Because the dark web people shouldn't care about your personal info either. That's kind of weird. And if you're super serious about privacy, Proton lets you use unlimited email aliases and you can connect to it through the Tor network for another layer of anonymity. Wow. I wish Proton could also replace apps like Google Docs and my VPN and password manager too. That would be Guess what? They can. So. So yeah, I guess you gotta go and create an account for free. Try it for a few months and see how it feels to stick it to Big Tech now using our links in the description now of course you could Google these quick bits yourself, but I don't know. I mean, I'm pretty good at googling. Do you know about Reddit reviews for AMD's new Ryzen Threadripper 9980X and 9970.X are live and overall it seems like enthusiasts are pretty happy with them as they deliver a solid jump in both performance and efficiency over their predecessors. Is that. Is that really? There's not like A scandal about a horribly misleading graph or something? Just new chips. They're good. Okay. Yeah. Okay. Feels weird. Micron has finally launched the 9650 NVME, the world's first actual PCIe Gen 6 SSD, three and a half years after the PCIe 6 spec was finalized, which was cool, but I guess no one knew what to do with it. Of course, this SSD is not for normal desktops. It's got capacities up to 30.72 terabytes, and it only comes in E1s and E3s form factors, which, I'm not gonna lie, I only just heard about today. But I'm sure they're good for servers. Some AI tools have gotten updates that are actually useful, which is kind of exciting. Adobe's new Photoshop beta finally features AI upscaling so you can unblur old photos. And. And the new Harmonize feature makes it perhaps a bit too easy to alter lighting, shadows and color so you can realistically add people and objects to photos. Which will be fine, don't worry. Meanwhile, ChatGPT's new study mode will actually walk the user through the thinking process instead of just delivering an answer. And now let's maybe. Hey, let's make that the default for kids and most adults. Peacock feathers can emit laser beams. I'm sorry? Yeah, peacock feathers can be lasers. If you slather them and die and energize them with a light source, they'll emit photons in the wavelength of lasers, according to an international group of researchers. So, no, peacocks aren't about to become pompous, strutting avian weapons platforms. But the headlines definitely made it sound like that, and I will hold that against them. And look. Microsoft made a hundred special editions of their newest Surface laptop to go along with the new Smurfs movie that is apparently coming out soon. It's the Smurfus laptop. Don't look at me. Tom Warren posted that. What was I supposed to do, ignore it? I know what you're supposed to do. Come back here on Friday for more tech news, or else I'll be googling stuff all day for nothing except to learn about stuff just for me. And what's the point of that?