YouTube has changed its layout for pages that contain CBS videos and is allowing CBS to censor "profane, unconstructive criticism." Most of the comments for those videos now appear on a separate page.

The layout change is not an entirely new development; a video's comments have always been broken off to separate pages (past 10 or 20 comments or so). And the layout change for CBS is part of a larger overhaul of YouTube's interface that hides more of the interactive features behind dynamic areas of the page.[1]

But by allowing CBS to erase profane criticism and banish comments to a less-trafficked page, YouTube is placing the desires of its content partners before those of its users. The change makes YouTube more similar to a broadcast network than a community portal. No doubt, that's what CBS wants. And YouTube stands to benefit too: They get good will from their corporate partners -- who are threatening either legal action or an online alternative -- and they clean up the main video page, where the high dollar advertisements are likely to appear.

I expect small changes like this will occur more and more often. Whereas the networks have been on their heels these last 18 months, Google's purchase of YouTube has put them in an excellent position to demand more concessions from the video-sharing site.

[1] Many of these changes, like hiding a video's awards behind an expanding section, are good for the user experience.