Wendy Goldman Getzler over on iKids examines if the planned launch of a kid-sfae YouTube will spell the end to other online video services.

Getzler writes that while 'children’s content is no stranger to YouTube – the Google-owned network is home to clips and episodes from pretty much every major kids series, and it hosts dedicated paid children’s channels from such heavy hitters as DHX and Sesame Workshop. It’s also just as cosy with a whack of inappropriate content and ads that are easily viewed unintentionally by kids under 13, despite a safety mode that displays fewer inappropriate search results.'

Quoting research from the Platypus Research findings that found that YouTube, Facebook and Twitter still reign supreme among young social media users, with YouTube being the most visited social site among today’s British kids (97% said they liked or loved YouTube, and 72% admitted to being regular users of the site. The majority (77%) heads to YouTube to watch funny video clips, while 64% are using it to watch music clips, and 28% are looking for tutorials and gaming tips.)

Getzler talks to Tony Wible, a media/entertainment analyst specializing in TV and social media, at Janney Capital Markets:

“I don’t think it will affect something as big as Netflix, whose content portfolio leads by a margin. It’s important for parents to not have advertising, which YouTube and Google can’t live without, and unless YouTube is willing to give stuff away for free, then they will have advertising to subsidize content costs. There’s already a lot of stuff on YouTube, and yet Netflix continues to grow, and there are more linear TV kids channels than before. So, YouTube won’t displace anything.”

And sticking with iKids and the kids online services - Carla Engelbrecht Fisher's extensive anlysis, What makes the perfect children’s online video service?, gives a great overview of the services available as of Janurary 2014.

In setting a list of criteria to measure all services side-by-side Engelbrecht Fisher concludes that none of the services tested are perfect, yet… there's room for new-comers like Hopster to compete strongly against larger platforms.