YouTube's child viewers may struggle to recognise adverts in videos from 'virtual play dates'

YouTube’s highest earning star in 2018 was a seven-year-old boy named Ryan, writes Rebecca Mardon. That’s right – a child out-earned the likes of the infamous Logan Paul, video game vlogger PewDiePie, and even make-up mogul Jeffree Star.

Between June 2017 and June 2018, Ryan is estimated to have earned an impressive US$22m from the platform.