Google’s Targeted Instagram Ads for Teens Under 18: A Report on Rule-Breaking by the Tech Giant

According to a report, Google and Meta reached a confidential agreement to promote Instagram to teenagers by running ads. However, Google’s own policy strictly prohibits the customization and targeting of ads towards individuals under the age of 18.

In a covert collaboration, Google and Meta joined forces for an advertising campaign overseen by Spark Foundry, the American division of the French advertising powerhouse Publicis. Spark Foundry was hired by Meta to attract a larger teenage audience to Instagram, as the platform has been facing competition from TikTok in North America.

The Financial Times has obtained documents showing that Google and Instagram joined forces for a marketing campaign aimed at advertising on YouTube to 13- to 17-year-old users.

The campaign specifically targeted a group of users labeled as “unknown”in Google’s advertising system, which Google was aware mostly consisted of individuals under the age of 18.

The report also reveals that Google intentionally attempted to hide the true objective of the campaign.

instagram whatsapp facebook applications with notifications — Unsplash: Brett Jordan

This advertisement violated Google’s ad policy, which is in place to safeguard individuals under the age of 18.

According to the policy, Google has implemented extra safeguards in its Ad-serving Protections for Teens policy. For individuals above the digital age of consent but under 18, ads personalization is disabled on their Google Accounts.

According to the Financial Times, the marketing initiative was initially launched in Canada from February to April of this year. After experiencing perceived success, the campaign was subsequently tested in the US in May. The companies had intentions to further expand the program to global markets and advertise other Meta apps, including Facebook.

Google informed the Financial Times that it had launched an inquiry into the allegations. “Furthermore, we plan to take further measures to remind sales representatives that they are prohibited from aiding advertisers or agencies in circumventing our policies,”the company stated.

Despite Meta’s disagreement, the company maintained that selecting the “unknown”audience did not violate any personalization rules or policies, as it adhered to both its own guidelines and those set by Google.