Google, Meta Accused of Secret Deal to Target Teens with Ads

Google and Meta secretly teamed up to run ads on YouTube promoting Instagram to teenagers, according to documents seen by the Financial Times. The deal let Meta target users aged 13 to 17, bypassing rules designed to protect minors online.

The campaign, which began in early 2023, was part of Meta’s effort to attract younger users to Instagram amid growing competition from TikTok. Ads were aimed at an anonymous group that included many under 18, which raised concerns as it went against Google's policies on targeting minors.

Google has since canceled the program and is reviewing the situation. The company said it did not directly target users under 18 but is looking into how the anonymous group was used.

Meta stated it followed all advertising guidelines and did not view the targeting method as a breach. This news comes as the US Senate recently passed a bill to enhance protections for children online, highlighting ongoing issues with how tech companies manage child privacy.

Recently, a US District Judge Amit Mehta ruled that Google’s dominance in the internet search market constitutes an illegal monopoly.

Judge Mehta's ruling comes nearly a year after the start of a high-profile antitrust trial between the US Justice Department and Google. The ruling follows a detailed examination of evidence, including testimony from top executives at Google, Microsoft, and Apple during the 10-week trial.

In his 277-page decision, Mehta concluded that Google is a monopolist and has acted to maintain its monopoly, citing its 89.2% share of the general search market, which rises to 94.9% on mobile devices. The decision represents a major setback for Google and its parent company, Alphabet Inc., which has argued that its search engine's popularity is due to its superior quality and consumer preference.