Google restricts ad targeting to teens based on features such as age, gender, and interests. Restrictions that make it more difficult for advertisers to reach people under the age of 18 are expected to take effect on September 2. This was stated in a press release today by the Association of Communication Agencies (AKA).
The new measures are likely to be felt most by companies targeting the under-18 age group, such as retailers of gaming accessories and other electronics. Restrictions should also affect companies that offer alcohol and tobacco or gamble.
For the time being, the measures will concern countries in the European Economic Area (EEA), of which the Czech Republic is a member, as well as Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Subsequently, it should apply worldwide.
Users over the age of 18 may also encounter the new policy. If the Internet search engine algorithm evaluates them as juveniles, they will have to prove their age by proving personal documents.
“In practice, this will work so that if the system identifies a user under the age of 18, it will stop showing personalized ads and ads from sensitive categories such as gambling or alcohol. Users who are incorrectly identified by the system can submit documents with which they can prove that they are over 18 years of age, “said Tomáš Varga from the communication group Publicis Group, which is part of AKA.
According to Varga, it is premature to speculate on how the new measures will affect advertisers. Google will test the restrictions and may change their appearance.
People under the age of 18 should now be able to request that their photos be removed from a search engine. By default, you should also be able to set up SafeSearch.
Teenagers will also be able to set a privacy mode on the YouTube video sharing server owned by Google from the Alphabet group. Applications and websites operated by Google should provide information about how they use juvenile data.