Shorts: How YouTube banning clickable links in Shorts will benefit users

YouTube has announced that it is making some changes regarding the links on Shorts. The Google-owned company said that in order to tackle the increasing scams and spam appearing in the short video format, it will make links related to Shorts unclickable.

It said that along with an increase in volume and speed of content being published on YouTube, the “speed and level of engagement has made it easier for spammers and scammers to share links in Shorts comments and Shorts descriptions that harm the community.”
These clickable links drive users to malware, phishing, or scam-related content.

It said that along with the existing systems and policies to detect and remove these kinds of links, the company needs additional preventative measures to make it harder to take advantage of users via links.

Certain links will not be clickable
Starting on August 31, links in Shorts comments, Shorts descriptions, and links in the vertical live feed will no longer be clickable. This change will roll out gradually.
“We’re also removing the clickable social media icons from all desktop channel banners, as these can be a source of misleading links. We don’t have any plans to make any other links unclickable. Because abuse tactics evolve quickly, we have to take preventative measures to make it harder for scammers and spammers to mislead or scam users via links,” YouTube said in the support page.
YouTube also said that it is working on reducing impersonation across YouTube and has made substantial improvements to policies and systems that help detect and remove impersonating channels.

It has also rolled out more powerful comment moderation tools which detect and hold potentially spammy and inappropriate comments for optional review by creators.
How creators can showcase links
Beginning August 23, viewers on mobile and desktop will start seeing prominent clickable links on channel profiles near the ‘Subscribe’ button where creators can share websites, social profiles, merch sites and other links that comply with Community Guidelines.
The company also said that it will start introducing a safer way for creators to direct viewers from Shorts to their other YouTube content by the end of September.