Tech giants Meta and Google are under the spotlight for a secretive ad campaign that targeted teenagers on YouTube with Instagram ads, breaking Google's own rules. This was revealed by the Financial Times, showing how these companies might have bent the rules to reach younger users, leading to controversy.

According to the report, Meta and Google worked together on a hidden campaign to show Instagram ads to users aged 13 to 17 on YouTube. This went against Google’s policy, which bans ads targeting people under 18. The ads were aimed at a group called "unknown" in Google's system, users whose age and other details are not known.

But Google could use information from app downloads and online activity to figure out that these "unknown" users were likely teenagers. This allowed the companies to bypass Google's 2021 rules, which were meant to prevent ads aimed at minors based on their age or interests.

The campaign was managed by Spark Foundry, a US-based advertising agency. It ran in Canada this year and was tested in the US in May, with plans to expand globally and promote other services like Facebook. This happened around the same time Google’s ad revenue fell and Meta's younger users moved to platforms like TikTok.

After the campaign was exposed, Google launched an investigation and cancelled the program. They stated, “We prohibit ads being personalised to people under 18, period,” and promised to strengthen their policies to prevent future rule-breaking.

In 2023, Meta updated its ad system to stop targeting users under 18 by gender on Facebook and Instagram, ensuring ads are age-appropriate. This incident highlights concerns about how far tech companies might go to keep their ad revenue, emphasizing the need for clear and ethical advertising practices.