• Marketing Land
  • Sections
    • CMO
    • Social
    • SEM
    • SEO
    • Analytics
    • Display
    • Retail
    • MarTech
    • Resources
    • More
    • Home
  • Follow Us
    • Follow
  • Marketing Land
  • CMO
  • Social
  • SEM
  • SEO
  • Analytics
  • Display
  • Retail
  • MarTech
  • Resources
  • More
    • Follow
  • SUBSCRIBE

Marketing Land

Marketing Land
  • CMO
  • Social
  • SEM
  • SEO
  • Analytics
  • Display
  • Retail
  • MarTech
  • Resources
  • More
  • Home
  • Newsletters
  • Home
Video

YouTube settlement with FTC includes $170M fine, changes to how it monetizes children’s content

The company said it will stop serving up personalized ads on kid videos.

Amy Gesenhues on September 4, 2019 at 12:49 pm
  • More

YouTube has reached a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission and New York attorney general for allegedly violating the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), according to CNBC. The agreement includes a combined $170 million fine — $136 million to the FTC and $34 million to the New York attorney general — and requires YouTube change data collection on child-directed content on the platform.

“This latest violation is extremely serious. The company baited children using nursery rhymes, cartoons and other kid-directed content on curated YouTube channels to feed its massively profitable behavioral advertising business,” said FTC Commissioner Rohit Chopra in a dissenting statement on the settlement.

The charges against YouTube. The FTC and New York attorney general charged YouTube with violating COPPA laws by collecting data on minors without parental consent. YouTube was also accused of claiming it was a leader in reaching children ages 6 to 11 when marketing itself to toy companies like Mattel and Hasbro — while simultaneously telling an advertising company it did not have to comply with COPPA because it didn’t have users younger than 13 years old, according to the CNBC report.

“YouTube touted its popularity with children to prospective corporate clients. Yet when it came to complying with COPPA, the company refused to acknowledge that portions of its platform were clearly directed to kids,” wrote FTC Chairman Joe Simons.

YouTube to modify data collection policies. In addition to the $170 million it has agreed to pay (the largest amount every paid to the FTC for COPPA violations), YouTube is also changing its data collection and ad targeting policies connected to children’s content.

“Starting in about four months, we will treat data from anyone watching children’s content on YouTube as coming from a child, regardless of the age of the user,” wrote YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki on the Official YouTube blog, “This means we’ll will limit data collection and use on videos made for kids only to what is needed to support the operation of the service.”

No more personalized ads on kid videos. Wojcicki said YouTube will also stop serving personalized ads on children’s content “entirely” — meaning children’s content will still be monetized, but ad targeting will be limited to ads that have not been personalized to the viewer based on their specific activity and behavior on the platform.

We asked YouTube for clarification on how ads will be targeted to children’s content going forward. In response, the company sent a link to (and the full copy) of the blog post stating it would stop serving personalized ads, but did not offer any further explanation.

How YouTube will identify children’s content. YouTube is putting the onus on creators to notify the platform if their videos fall into the category of children’s content. The company said it will also use machine learning to identify videos that target children, “For example, those that have an emphasis on kids characters, themes, toys or games.”

Wojcicki said the company is giving creators impacted by the platform updates four months to adjust before the coming changes. “We recognize this won’t be easy for some creators and are committed to working with them through this transition and providing resources to help them better understand these changes,” wrote Wojcicki.

Why we should care. YouTube’s platform changes resulting from this settlement will impact advertisers two-fold. First, limiting the amount of data being collected on anyone watching children’s content means YouTube will have less information on users to target ads.

Also, any marketers or advertisers aiming to reach users viewing children’s content are going to have a harder time implementing highly targeted campaigns as this type of content will no longer include personalized ads. Marketers will have to rely on “non-personalized” signals for ads targeting children’s content, and could potentially see a drop in ad performance and engagement.


Opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily Marketing Land. Staff authors are listed here.



About The Author

Amy Gesenhues
Amy Gesenhues was a senior editor for Third Door Media, covering the latest news and updates for Marketing Land, Search Engine Land and MarTech Today. From 2009 to 2012, she was an award-winning syndicated columnist for a number of daily newspapers from New York to Texas. With more than ten years of marketing management experience, she has contributed to a variety of traditional and online publications, including MarketingProfs, SoftwareCEO, and Sales and Marketing Management Magazine. Read more of Amy's articles.

Related Topics

Channel: VideoGoogleGoogle AdsGoogle: Business IssuesGoogle: LegalGoogle: MarketingGoogle: YouTubeVideo

We're listening.

Have something to say about this article? Share it with us on Facebook, Twitter or our LinkedIn Group.

Get the daily newsletter digital marketers rely on.
See terms.

ATTEND OUR EVENTS

MarTech 2021: March 16-17

MarTech 2021: Sept. 14-15

MarTech 2020: Watch On-Demand

×

Attend MarTech - Click Here


Learn More About Our MarTech Events

February 23, 2021: SMX Report

April 13, 2021: SMX Create

May 18-19, 2021: SMX London

June 8-9, 2021: SMX Paris

June 15-16, 2021: SMX Advanced

August 17, 2021: SMX Convert

November 9-10, 2021: SMX Next

October 2021: SMX Advanced Europe

December17, 2021: SMX Code

Available On-Demand: SMX

×


Learn More About Our SMX Events

White Papers

  • 6 Powerful Ways Experience Analytics Can Help Your Business Now
  • Email Tune-Up: A 5-Point Inspection to Get Your Program in Gear
  • Digital Marketing Report Q4 2020: Benchmarks and Insights for 2021
  • Data SEO – The Next Big Adventure
  • Getting Started with Email Marketing Automation
See More Whitepapers

Webinars

  • The Secret Behind SEO Success: Predict Rank with the Power of Data Science
  • How to Avoid the Digital Transformation Trap
  • How to Build a Marketing System of Record
See More Webinars

Research Reports

  • Local Marketing Solutions for Multi-Location Businesses
  • Enterprise Digital Asset Management Platforms
  • Identity Resolution Platforms
  • Customer Data Platforms
  • B2B Marketing Automation Platforms
  • Call Analytics Platforms
See More Research

h
Receive daily marketing news & analysis.
Marketing Land
Download the Marketing Land app on iTunes Download the Marketing Land App on Google Play

Channels

  • MarTech
  • CMO
  • Social
  • SEM
  • SEO
  • Mobile
  • Analytics
  • Retail
  • Display

Our Events

  • MarTech
  • SMX

Resources

  • White Papers
  • Research
  • Webinars
  • MarTech Conference
  • Search Marketing Expo

About

  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Privacy
  • Marketing Opportunities
  • Staff
  • Connect With Us

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Newsletters
  • Instagram
  • RSS
  • Youtube
  • iOS App
  • Google Play

© 2021 Third Door Media, Inc. All rights reserved.

Your privacy means the world to us. We share your personal information only when you give us explicit permission to do so, and confirm we have your permission each time. Learn more by viewing our privacy policy.Ok