Google and Meta accused of teaming up for ads targeting teen users

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Google and Meta have reportedly come together for Instagram ads on YouTube aimed at targeting teenagers. According to a report by The Financial Times, the collaboration between the two tech giants also bypasses Google’s policies on the treatment of minors. This has also raised concerns about ethical and privacy practices with digital marketing, claims the report.

According to the report, Meta is promoting its Instagram app to users between 13 and 17 years of age on YouTube, despite Google’s policy that prohibits personalised ads for users under 18 years.

The Instagram marketing project on YouTube was labelled as “Meta IG Connects” and the collaboration was first initiated by Spark Foundry, a U.S. subsidiary of Publicis, on behalf of Meta. Moreover, the marketing project in question targets users that lie in the “unknown” category, a demographic Google acknowledged as likely skewed toward users under 19.

Also, the report mentions that the campaign launched as a pilot program in Canada between February and April 2023 and was later extended to the US in May.

The report also highlights that the initiative was a part of Meta’s broader effort at retaining younger users and getting a competitive edge over the competition. However, despite Google’s policy against personalised ads for minors and all the other guidelines, the ad campaign ran on YouTube with Google’s advertising team’s approval. According to a document analysed by The Financial Times, Google staff found a loophole in the policy and used the “unknown” category as a workaround to run these ads.

The Financial Times has also reported that Instagram's YouTube ad campaign was already underway when Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg appeared before US Congress in January 2023 to apologise for child exploitation incidents on his platforms.

Both Google and Meta have defended their actions in a statement to The Financial Times. Google stated that its safeguards against targeting minors worked as intended since no registered YouTube users under 18 were directly targeted. Meta asserted that selecting the "unknown" audience did not violate any policies, adhering to its own and Google's guidelines.