Google salespeople are said to keep telling advertisers how to target teenagers

Google representatives gave ad buyers tips on how to reach teenagers, even though the company prohibits targeted advertising to users under 18 based on their demographics, according to a report by Advertising Week.

Three unnamed ad buyers said Advertising Week that Google sales representatives thought they might be able to reach teens by targeting a group of “unknown” users whose “age, gender, parental status or household income” Google did not know. Advertising Week said it had also reviewed written documents that support the sources’ claims. A Google spokesperson said Advertising Week that the “Unknown” category may include users who are not logged into their accounts or who have turned off personalized ad targeting.

Google’s stated policy is to “block targeted advertising based on age, gender, or interests of people under 18.” Advertising Week The story is another example of how Google is allegedly helping ad buyers target teenagers by using its unknown user category after the Financial Times recently reported a similar situation.

Google spokesperson Jacel Booth said in a statement that the company “strictly prohibits personalized advertising for people under 18 – period. Our policies are reinforced by technical protections that continue to work well.” Booth added that Google will “take further action with sales reps to make it clear to them that they cannot help agencies or advertisers circumvent our policies.”

The reported behavior could potentially raise concerns under the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), which prohibits platforms from collecting personal information from children under 13 without parental consent. An updated version of the bill that has passed the Senate and is awaiting a vote in the House would ban targeted advertising to children under 17.

An unnamed agency buyer quoted in the Advertising Week The article said they were “shocked” at how explicitly a Google representative allegedly suggested including the “unknown” category for a client’s media buy on YouTube because they said teenagers could be included in that group. Another buyer for a brand said Advertising Week that Google representatives had suggested using the “Unknown” category to specifically target users over 16 who may have disposable income.

A third buyer, who worked at an agency representing a major entertainment brand, said Google representatives offered the Unknown category as a solution to potentially target some teens after the brand threatened to shift its spend to meta, which allows for some teen targeting.