Meta is making some changes to how its apps handle advertising and young users. Under the new rules, advertisers on Instagram and Facebook won’t be able to leverage as much personalized data to target ads to teens. Users under 18 will also have new features with more choices about which ads they see and why.
See also: John Carmack, VR professional, resigns from Meta
Starting next month, Meta will remove the option to target ads to teen users based on gender. The company will also end the ability for advertisers to target personalized ads to users under 18 based on their in-app activity, including whotheyfollow on Instagram and which pages they like on Facebook.
See also: Microsoft, Amazon and Meta abandon offices in Europe-London
After the changes, personalized ads in these apps will only be based on a user's age and location to determine relevance. According to Meta, location is necessary to evaluate the products and services available in a user's area.
In two months, Facebook and Instagram will also roll out new controls for teen users (children under 13 aren't allowed on those apps — technically). Teens will have the option to "see less" of a particular topic by shaping the ads the platform shows them.
These changes are the latest effort to create some privacy protections for Meta’s younger users after all. In 2021, Instagram blocked advertisers from targeting teens based on their interests or online activity outside the app.
See also: Meta Cambridge Analytica: Settlement of 725 million
The Irish Data Protection Commission conducted a two-year investigation into how Instagram handled user accounts for children aged 13 to 17, particularly the company's practice of making these accounts public by default and allowing minors who choose business accounts to share phone numbers and other contact information.
Meta was fined about $400 million for these violations. At the time, the company said it planned to appeal and criticized the Irish regulator for punishing the company for its past policies.
Meta's gradual changes apparently stop short of completely disabling ads for teens, a solution that wouldn't be unreasonable given the risks involved. The company's decision to stay suggests that its younger users are valuable enough from an advertising perspective that Meta is willing to risk future regulatory disputes.
Information source: techcrunch.com
