Junk food ads targeting children to be banned online

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Advertisements for junk food that are aimed at children are to be banned from non-broadcast media, including online. The Committee on Advertising Practice (CAP) announced the measures, which will affect advertisers in the UK, as the government tries to tackle childhood obesity.

The ban means that foods high in fat, salt and sugar cannot be advertised on social media, YouTube channels and gaming websites in ways that will specifically appeal to children.

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Google goes green -- 100 percent renewable energy usage in 2017 to combat climate change

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Big companies like to be seen to be doing their bit, particularly when it comes to the environment, and tech companies are no different. Google -- being one of the biggest companies in the world -- has huge energy requirements, and it's looking to help address the problem of climate change.

The company has already done a lot to increase the energy efficiency of its data centers, but in 2017 it is going further. It says that it will be fully powered by renewable energy from next year, and that includes both data centers and offices.

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Google brings 4K video live streaming to YouTube

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While 1080p may look "good enough" to you, once you move to a higher resolution display, it is hard to go back. Prices for both 4K monitors and televisions continue to drop, meaning more and more consumers are buying them. During this past Black Friday, there were many such TVs being offered with big discounts.

Now that there are a healthy amount of these displays in the wild, content creators will be more motivated to release content in that resolution -- movies, TV, and video games. While Google added 4K playback to YouTube years ago, it did not offer live video streaming in that resolution. Today this changes, as the video site finally gets 4K live streaming -- including 360-degree streams. Best of all? Watching the streams won't require Microsoft Edge!

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Watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade 360-degree YouTube live video stream online here!

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Thanksgiving is coming this Thursday, meaning friends, family, food, and football. Around the USA, people will be chowing-down on Turkey, stuffing, and all the other popular food side-dishes too. Another popular Thanksgiving tradition is watching The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on TV (if you cannot be there in person). If you aren't familiar, it is a New York City parade featuring many giant inflatable cartoon characters, plus floats carrying celebrities.

Unfortunately, not everyone enjoys watching the parade, leading to fights over the television. This year, however, a TV is not required. If you have an internet-connected device, you can watch it on YouTube in glorious 360 degrees for the first time ever. Best of all, BetaNews has the video ready for you below.

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Google adds High Dynamic Range (HDR) video support to YouTube

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For some millennials, YouTube stars are more important than popular pop musicians or famous Hollywood actors. Older folks may not understand this phenomenon, but it actually makes a lot of sense -- YouTube is a platform where many young people spend their time.

Today, Google announces that it is making YouTube even better. The service can already stream video in 4K, and is available on countless devices, but now the videos are gaining High Dynamic Range (HDR) support too. This means the content will be presented with better contrast and more vibrant colors. Of course, the benefits will only be relaized with displays that support HDR.

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Watch Leonardo DiCaprio's new climate change film, Before The Flood, here for free

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With the tagline "the science is clear, the future is not", the climate change documentary Before The Flood wears its heart on its sleeve. With Martin Scorsese as executive producer, and featuring none other than Leonardo DiCaprio, the film paints a bleak picture of man's effect on the environment.

Before The Flood was produced by the National Geographic Channel, and received a cinema release on October 21. But the documentary is seen as being so important, it is also being made available to stream for free to bring it to as wide an audience as possible.

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YouTube makes it easier to create video ads

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YouTube has announced a new platform which will make creating video ads for the site easier. The number of visits, as well as visit duration, have gone up lately, and the company wants to cash in on the momentum. The new offering is called YouTube Director -- a solution to help businesses create a professionally-looking ad in no time.

There are two ways to do it: the YouTube Director for Business app and the YouTube Director onsite service. The former, free and currently only available in iOS, helps businesses create an ad through a custom template. With a step-by-step walkthrough, the app will "help the business understand not only what to film, but what to say and when".

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Watch Tim Kaine and Mike Pence VP debate live on YouTube in English or Spanish here

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While the Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton presidential debate broke a YouTube record, tonight's vice presidential debate isn't likely to garner the same audience. That's not to say that Senator Tim Kaine (Democrat) and Governor Mike Pence (Republican) aren't formidable debaters, its just that VP is a less exciting position than president. With that said, fans of politics and unsure voters will likely tune in to learn more about both men.

If you want to watch the debate but do not have a television, do not panic. Networks are live-streaming the debate on Google's YouTube, meaning if you have a computer or mobile device, you can watch it over the internet. To make things easier, we here at BetaNews have embedded some of the streams below. If you prefer Spanish, that is an option too. You can even tell us who you think won in the comments.

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If you rip your music from YouTube, we've got some bad news for you

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In the eighties and nineties, MTV was the place to go to watch music videos. That’s all changed now of course. If you want to watch a music video, YouTube is the number one destination.

If you like a song, it’s really easy to rip the music from the video, using one of the many free online services. Just paste in the URL and hey presto it comes out as an MP3. Some sites even let you specify the audio quality, and add tags. However, the music labels understandably aren’t keen on this "stream ripping", and plan to put a stop to it.

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Google unveils YouTube Go -- a social video Android app optimized for slow data

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YouTube is a very popular destination for millennials -- and older folks -- to consume media. Entertainers like Gabbie Hanna (The Gabbie Show), Ian Carter (iDubbbzTV) and Justine Ezarik (iJustine) are the real stars for some of these young folks -- not dinosaurs like Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, and Courteney Cox. This is a huge shift for the entertainment industry.

Unfortunately, while YouTube popularity grows around the world, many countries still suffer with slow data connections. Apparently, in India, many citizens still use 2G, which creates a poor video streaming experience. Google is looking to change this, and today, it announces 'YouTube Go'. This new app not only optimizes the viewing for slow data, but adds easy offline viewing, and social aspects too.

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Don't fall for the secret hack to add a headphone jack to the iPhone 7

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As you're probably well aware, with the launch of the iPhone 7 Apple ditched the familiar headphone jack in favour of a wireless audio option. Many people have questioned the sense in this 'courageous' decision which has led some owners to take drastic steps to allow them to use their favorite set of wired headphones.

Some have been spurred on by a YouTube video that reveals a 'secret hack' for returning the headphone jack to the iPhone 7. YouTuber TechRax has created a tutorial for uncovering the hidden jack that Apple left inside the new phone. Except, of course, it is complete nonsense.

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YouTube Heroes program rewards people who report videos

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Google has launched a new reward scheme that offers incentives for users to report videos that violate the site's guidelines. YouTube Heroes program also enables YouTubers to earn points for doing things like adding subtitles to a video and responding to questions in the help forums.

While the promise of rewards for helping to "create the best possible YouTube experience for everyone" is appealing, critics are not happy with the fact that users will now have an added incentive to report videos.

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Flico identifies landmarks in YouTube videos

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Flico is a clever Chrome extension which can identify landmarks in YouTube videos and tell you more about them.

It’s easy to use. If you spot a landmark you don’t recognize, pause playback, click the Flico icon, then "Scan Landmarks", and the add-on goes to work.

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YouTube does not pay musicians enough, says report

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YouTube was criticized recently for preventing content-makers from monetizing videos that covered certain topics. But this is far from being the only complaint levelled at the video site. British music industry body UK Music says that artists are not receiving enough in the way of royalty payment from YouTube.

UK Music's 2016 report, Measuring Music shows that YouTube remains the most popular way for people to consume music in the UK. Despite this, the report says that the effective 'per-stream' payment rate fell from $0.0020 to $0.0010.

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YouTube tells Philip DeFranco it hasn't changed its policy on demonetizing videos

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There has been much wailing and gnashing of teeth from YouTubers in recent days as rumors started to circulate that YouTube was demonetizing videos deemed not "advertiser friendly". Seasoned 'Tuber Philip DeFranco was one of the more high-profile to speak out, likening YouTube's actions to "censoring" people by hitting them in the wallet.

But YouTube has responded to these claims by saying that its policy on video monetization has not changed at all. While YouTubers have just started to complain that video about depression, videos with swearing, videos with controversial subject matter, and so on are being denied the opportunity to make money from ads, YouTube says the only thing that has changed is the way users are notified. DeFranco says this is "very concerning" and reveals that YouTube has clearly been secretly demonetizing videos for a while.

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