Google and Meta reportedly struck a secret deal to target minor YouTube users with ads promoting rival Instagram service — breaking the internet search giant’s own ad rules, according to a bombshell report Thursday.
The Instagram ad campaign was aimed at YouTube users who were classified as “unknown” in Google’s advertising system and designed to appeal to users aged 13 to 17, the Financial Times reported, citing internal documents. and people familiar with the matter.
The report said that Google was aware that the “unknown” user category skews towards those under 18, but allowed the campaign anyway. On its website, Google defines the “unknown” category as referring to users “whose age, gender, parental status or family income we have not identified.”
Internal documents obtained by the media reportedly showed that employees tried to disguise the true purpose of the campaign to reach underage users. Google has banned ads targeting users under 18 based on age, gender or interests from 2021.
The two companies launched the ad campaign in the US in May after earlier trials in Canada, the report said. They are said to have partnered with Spark Foundry, an agency that is a subsidiary of ad juggernaut Publicis.
An email from an advertising manager at Spark asked Google to pitch for the campaign, specifically identifying the “primary” demographic to be targeted as ages “13 to 17,” the FT reported.
Big Tech’s staunch foes apparently had their own motives for the secret pact, with Google looking to boost ad revenue and Meta trying to prevent younger Instagram users from flocking to the popular video-sharing app. TikTok, according to the release.
Sources told the FT that Google launched an investigation into the allegations after being contacted by the media and has since canceled the campaign.
“We prohibit ads from being tailored to people under 18,” a Google spokesperson said in a statement. “These policies go beyond what is required and are supported by technical safeguards.”
“We have confirmed that these safeguards worked properly here,” the spokesman added. “We will also take additional action to reinforce with sales representatives that they should not help advertisers or agencies run campaigns that try to work around our policies.”
A Meta spokesperson said the company “has been open about marketing our apps to teenagers as a place for them to connect with friends, find community and discover their interests.”
“Google’s ‘unknown’ targeting option is available to all advertisers – not just Meta – and we have clear principles we adhere to when it comes to how we market our apps to teens on other platforms, including not using information about their interests to target them with ads,” the Meta spokesperson added.
Spark Foundry did not immediately return a request for comment.
Google and Meta reportedly drew up the plan late last year — meaning it was already underway when lawmakers in Congress confronted Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg over the company’s failure to protect children from online harm. .
During a dramatic hearing in January, Zuckerberg publicly apologized to the families of victims of online child sexual abuse.
Late last month, the Senate passed a landmark bill called the Children’s Online Safety Act, which would enact a legal “duty of care” that requires social media companies like Instagram and YouTube to protect users minor – or face enforcement action from the FTC.
A companion bill, the Children and Adolescent Online Privacy Protection Act, or COPPA, blocks targeted ads aimed at minor users and would mandate the creation of an “rubber” button on social media sites that allows children and parents to delete information.
“Big tech companies can’t be trusted to protect our children,” Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn, who co-sponsored the KOSA bill, told the FT after learning of the Google-Meta scheme.
“Once again they have been caught exploiting our children and these Silicon Valley executives have proven that they will always put profit over our children.”
Josh Golin, chief executive of children’s internet safety group Fairplay, said: “Google and Meta not only breached their own policies, they breached the trust of families across the country.”
“Enough with the empty promises of social media companies — we need Congress to pass the Children’s Online Safety Act and the Children and Teens Online Privacy Protection Act as soon as possible,” Golin added.
Jeff Chester, executive director of the Center for Digital Democracy, which advocates for children’s privacy, told the newspaper: “Meta is bleeding young people, and they’ve found a backdoor.”
Both pieces of legislation face an uncertain path to final passage in the House of Representatives.
Meta is currently being sued by dozens of state attorneys general, who have accused the company of building addictive apps that exploit teenagers for ad revenue at the expense of their mental health.
Separately, the state of New Mexico is suing Meta for allegedly failing to protect children from contact by suspected sex predators.
The company has repeatedly denied wrongdoing and defended its efforts to implement safety tools and resources for children and parents active on its platforms.
Google was dealt a major regulatory blow earlier this week after a federal judge ruled that the company has maintained an illegal monopoly over Internet search. Court proceedings to determine appropriate remedies will begin this fall.
Google also faces a federal antitrust lawsuit targeting its digital ad tech business.
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