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Google and Meta struck secret ads deal to target teenagers

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Re: Google and Meta struck secret ads deal to target teenagers

#131

Post by thfuran »

pfdietz wrote: post #87
londons_explore wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not allowing advertising to children I think isn't the correct route for society. Instead we should prevent children having money. Until you're 16, you may not handle money. You may not buy things for money. You may not sell things. You may not enter into contracts to exchange money. Your parents however can do all of those things on your behalf. At that point, advertising to children no longer is relevant - the chil…

Having ads targeted at children can be seen as a good thing: it trains the children in what advertising is like, about how they can be manipulated and exploited. It's good for them to get this experience while young when the stakes are low. Of course, this might also train children to be the exploiters and manipulators. Maybe their parents would think that's a good thing too, at least in the long run.

Wouldn't it be better to remove exploitation and manipulation than to subject children to it in the hopes that it somehow makes them resistant to more of it later?

Re: Google and Meta struck secret ads deal to target teenagers

#132

Post by jay-barronville »

dartos wrote: post #127
ndriscoll wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are tons of tech jobs out there. That excuse doesn't work so well when you're in one of the most lucrative careers there is. Creating a dystopia where everyone is spied upon 24/7 is also not something someone with kids should want to do.

There _were_ tons of tech jobs. Much harder to jump ship nowadays since layoffs have flood the market with high skilled job seekers and borrowing money is no longer free for tech firms. Life is complicated, employees can be just as much locked in to their jobs at Google as most people are to their products.

Exactly. I was about to respond with something similar, but you did it for me!

Not only are folks getting laid off left and right, salaries have gone down significantly and it’s very difficult to secure a new job in this market (no matter your skills, experience, etc.).

Re: Google and Meta struck secret ads deal to target teenagers

#133

Post by snapcaster »

guerrilla wrote: post #68
hn72774 wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Tax ad revenue as a vice like at alcohol and tobacco levels, or higher.

It's not an abused substance, it's violence.

I hate ads, but this is not a winning argument. Instead of winning people over to the sympathetic cause (nobody really LIKES ads besides google and meta employees) you alienate people

Re: Google and Meta struck secret ads deal to target teenagers

#134

Post by pyrale »

volleygman180 wrote: post #123
imiric wrote: post #22

"We're sorry." This is not surprising. Google has a history violating the privacy of and targetting ads to not only teenagers, but children: - https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/23/business/youtube-ads-kids... - https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/09/business/media/youtube-ki... - https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/20/business/media/google-you... - https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/04/technology/google-youtube... - https://www.n…

Are commercials during saturday morning cartoons not ads targeted at children? When I was growing up at least, it was all for candy, toys, and sugary cereal, and often had kids or cartoon characters featured in the commercial.

There's a difference between placing a sports shoes ad in front of a gym, and getting to know the history and habits of every person that ever entered that gym, and showing each a different ad.

I mean, 30 years ago, we were horrified by the extent to which Stasi spied on their own people. Now, we'd call them amateurs.

Re: Google and Meta struck secret ads deal to target teenagers

#135

Post by signatoremo »

fedeb95 wrote: post #126
volleygman180 wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are commercials during saturday morning cartoons not ads targeted at children? When I was growing up at least, it was all for candy, toys, and sugary cereal, and often had kids or cartoon characters featured in the commercial.

it's a matter of threshold. There's a point up to which targeted advertising doesn't cause harm, after that, it does. Ads on smartphones cross that threshold. Doesn't matter if TV also does: if it does, it should be limited too, otherwise, it doesn't matter. Why smartphones and related software cross that threshold? They're specifically designed to increase use time, i.e. to be addictive. It's a drug.

What are the thresholds for tv and the web? Does FCC have any specific guidelines? How about other countries?

Re: Google and Meta struck secret ads deal to target teenagers

#136

Post by tantalor »

mrweasel wrote: post #106
TekMol wrote: post #6

So this was about ads for Instagram on YouTube, targeting people under 18? I am surprised that this is something that has to be kept secret. What is the main problem with it?

The problem, at least in some countries, is that the laws regarding targeting children and teenagers are VERY strict, to the point where it almost doesn't make sense to do it. By having an "unknown" category, you could argue that you had no way of knowing that you where targeting children, so you can't be responsible. The other party could also easily argue that they put those under 18 in that group to protect their…

> they put those under 18 in that group to protect their privacy and age

That's not how it works!

Re: Google and Meta struck secret ads deal to target teenagers

#137

Post by [deleted] »

imiric wrote: post #22

"We're sorry." This is not surprising. Google has a history violating the privacy of and targetting ads to not only teenagers, but children: - https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/23/business/youtube-ads-kids... - https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/09/business/media/youtube-ki... - https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/20/business/media/google-you... - https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/04/technology/google-youtube... - https://www.n…

[deleted]

Re: Google and Meta struck secret ads deal to target teenagers

#138

Post by [deleted] »

moffkalast wrote: post #67
imiric wrote: post #22

"We're sorry." This is not surprising. Google has a history violating the privacy of and targetting ads to not only teenagers, but children: - https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/23/business/youtube-ads-kids... - https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/09/business/media/youtube-ki... - https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/20/business/media/google-you... - https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/04/technology/google-youtube... - https://www.n…

[flagged]

[deleted]

Re: Google and Meta struck secret ads deal to target teenagers

#139

Post by mattmcknight »

volleygman180 wrote: post #123
imiric wrote: post #22

"We're sorry." This is not surprising. Google has a history violating the privacy of and targetting ads to not only teenagers, but children: - https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/23/business/youtube-ads-kids... - https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/09/business/media/youtube-ki... - https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/20/business/media/google-you... - https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/04/technology/google-youtube... - https://www.n…

Are commercials during saturday morning cartoons not ads targeted at children? When I was growing up at least, it was all for candy, toys, and sugary cereal, and often had kids or cartoon characters featured in the commercial.

Absolutely, pretending like this is some Google/Meta only thing.

Newspapers filled their for kids sections with advertising targeted at children. Comic books featured scammy ads targeted at kids.

Re: Google and Meta struck secret ads deal to target teenagers

#140

Post by tantalor »

iamacyborg wrote: post #47
Ylpertnodi wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> this is one case where contextual advertising would actually work better than what we have now. No. No. No. That a) would involve tracking and b) what we have now are ads based on what you bought/ have looked at. I already have an 'x', why would i want more ads for it...or ads for what some algorithm thinks i might be interested in, related to it. Unless I choose to.

Contextual ads wouldn’t require tracking as it’s just advertising based on the page context, ie a video about a videogame will have different ads than an article about remortgaging. There should probably be laws in place to prevent advertising targeting children though, regardless of the advertising mechanism.

This might violate the policy against "proxy targeting"
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