Google and Meta: secret deal to lure young people

Google has supported Meta in a marketing project. There is said to have been collusion between the two big tech companies. According to this, 13 to 17-year-olds who were on YouTube were explicitly targeted with advertisements for Instagram - the actual competitor, if you think of reels and shorts. Above all, however, the approach contradicts the company's own guidelines.

The Financial Times reports on the secret deal . It is said to have documents relating to the agreement. According to this, Instagram is said to have run a campaign aimed at a group that was labeled as "unknown" in its own advertising system. However, Google is said to have known exactly which target group was meant - namely under 18-year-olds. According to the Financial Times, this was a deliberate cover-up.

Google prohibits personalized advertising aimed at young people on its own platform. In the EU, it is generally prohibited to display advertising to under-18s if they have been selected on the basis of personal data. In the USA, the so-called Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) is being planned, a law that is concerned with the safety of children online.

Big tech, children and a law to protect children

Only at the beginning of the year, in a hearing in the US Senate, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg apologized to families whose children had been harmed by the use of his company's online platforms. Zuckerberg said: "I'm sorry for everything you've been through. No one should have to suffer the pain that your families have suffered, and that's why we are investing so much and will continue to make industry-leading efforts to ensure that no one has to suffer the pain that your families have suffered." Other social media executives also had to testify before the Senate. It was about the fundamental problems of social networks for children and young people.

Secret agreements with Google on how to address young people and attract them to their own platform cast the apology in a different light. The YouTube ad in question is said to have been played in Canada between February and April. Other markets should follow. According to the Financial Times, Google has launched an investigation. A spokeswoman told the newspaper: "We prohibit personalized ads aimed at under-18s." The corresponding protective measures are said to have worked. Accordingly, no YouTube user who was known to be under 18 had seen the advertisement.

According to the Financial Times, Meta denied that the "unknown" target group was actually intended to circumvent rules and was aimed at young people. "We have openly advertised our apps as a place where young people can meet friends, find community and discover their interests," said a Meta spokesperson.

(emw)