Google and Meta secretly collaborated to target teenagers with ads on YouTube for Instagram, bypassing Google’s own rules on how minors should be treated online. This information comes from documents viewed by the Financial Times and conversations with people familiar with the situation. The clandestine arrangement aimed specifically at 13- to 17-year-old users, labeled as ‘unknown’ in Google’s advertising system—a category known to skew under-18.
The campaign contravened Google’s policies that forbid personalized and targeted ads to minors, including prohibiting demographics-based ads. Additionally, steps were reportedly taken to disguise the true intent of this campaign. This initiative was already in progress when Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg faced the U.S. Congress in January, apologizing for incidents of child exploitation and abuse on his platforms.
Both tech giants, typically fierce competitors, initiated this campaign late last year. The effort involved Spark Foundry, a subsidiary of Publicis, and initially ran in Canada from February to April before being trialed in the U.S. in May. The perceived success of these pilot programs led to plans for broader international expansion and the promotion of other Meta apps like Facebook.
Following inquiries from the Financial Times, Google launched an investigation and subsequently canceled the project. A Google representative stated, “We prohibit ads being personalized to people under 18, period. These policies go well beyond what is required and are supported by technical safeguards.” The company also noted that no registered YouTube users under 18 were directly targeted through the loophole, but added they would reinforce the policy with sales representatives.
Meta argued that targeting the ‘unknown’ audience did not constitute personalization or policy circumvention, maintaining that it adhered to its own and its peers’ advertising policies. The company did not address whether staff knew that the ‘unknown’ category predominantly included younger users.
For further details, please visit the full article on the Financial Times website.