Google Workspace for Education - All Versions
A Brand. The theme or design that distinguishes one thing, person, or good from another. Better said, it is an online presence. In the world at large, branding is a hot topic. But when it comes to branding accounts for Google services in an Education domain, letting users create an identity separate from their Google Account may not always be the best choice.
Some reasons to want Brand Accounts:
- For teaching staff as well as staff members in public-facing roles.
- For a school’s Sports Team so that it can not be tied to a Workspace User’s account.
In years past, Brand Accounts could be used with various Google services. Recently, Google suspended Brand Accounts for Workspace for Education accounts. Now education domain Brand accounts are back in a limited capacity. When in use Brand Accounts are linked to YouTube, Google My Business, Google Photos, and Google Currents. Brand Accounts are ON for all of these, or OFF for all of these.
Let’s look at Brand Accounts for YouTube channels and the controls admins have over what users can create and manage with those accounts.
Recommendation: Brand or not to brand
CDW Amplified for Education recommends leaving the Brand Accounts Admin console setting OFF for staff and students. If Brand Accounts are needed, consider using Access Groups to allow a small subset of users to create and manage those accounts.
Admin console: Brand Accounts service status
The service status setting for Brand Accounts is located here:
Apps > Additional Google services > Settings for Brand Accounts > Service Status
It is important to note that there are no controls for the setting in terms of what services can be used with Brand Accounts. If it is turned ON, Brand Accounts can be used for any of the available services that use Brand Accounts as long as that service itself is turned on for the Workspace user.
When ON:
Users/Access Group members can create YouTube channels.
YouTube restrictions (Strict/Moderate) do apply even when logged in to the Brand Account’s Channel.
When OFF:
When Users/Access Group members attempt to create a new channel on YouTube (youtube.com/account) they receive an Invalid Request.
Not specific to YouTube, the ability to join brand accounts also requires the Brand Accounts service to be ON.
If you would like assistance with managing your settings or training your team, book some time with our technical services team by reaching out to support@amplifiedit.com. Learn more about the various ways we can help your team.