Google will pay a $136M fine to the FTC and $34M to the New York Attorney General to settle claims that it violated child privacy laws on YouTube
KEY POINTS — Google marketed itself as the “leader” for content for children ages 6 through 11, the allegations claim.
CNBC
Context & Ripple Effects
The number is finally official after weeks of leaks: Google will pay $136M to the FTC and $34M to New York, settling claims that it collected personal data from children on YouTube while marketing itself to advertisers as the "leader" for content aimed at kids ages 6 through 11. The total lands just under the $150M–$200M range reported when sources confirmed the deal earlier this month.
The FTC had already finalized the multimillion-dollar settlement in July, so today's news fixes the amount and splits the payment between federal and state enforcers rather than changing the substance. The allegations target the core tension in YouTube's business: a platform whose recommendation engine treats everyone as viewers, paired with advertising claims that court the under-13 audience.
First-order effects
Google pays out $170M across two regulators, converting an open-ended FTC investigation into a fixed, capped liability and closing the speculation over the fine's size.
New York gains a $34M share, establishing a state attorney general as a co-beneficiary alongside the FTC in a marquee child-privacy enforcement action against a major platform.
Second-order effects
Other platforms that monetize children's audiences through ad targeting now face the same enforcement template — a joint federal-plus-state action sized in the hundreds of millions rather than a warning letter.
Advertisers buying "family" inventory get a documented record that the platform marketed to young children, giving brands and their own compliance teams grounds to demand stricter audience-segmentation guarantees.
Third-order effects
The pattern holds long enough to become structural: seven years later Google paid [[a:1161570|$8.25M to settle an AdMob class action over data collected from devices used by children under 13]], suggesting child-data exposure is a recurring cost line across its ad stack, not a one-time YouTube fix.
If every major platform eventually faces this same sequence — investigation, leaked settlement range, record fine, follow-on private suits — child-data compliance hardens into permanent infrastructure cost baked into how ad-funded media is built.
The trend: Children's data collection on ad-funded video platforms is shifting from an unpriced externality to a recurring, regulator-priced liability that follows companies across products and decades.
Big Tech's invasion of children's lives is appalling. When companies like Google & YouTube repeatedly break the law & track kids online, the FTC must demand structural change & executive accountability—not just fines. https://www.nytimes.com/...
YouTube knowingly broke federal law by tracking kids in order to rake in advertising dollars without the requisite notice to and permission from parents. But the FTC let Google off the hook with a drop-in-the-bucket fine. Not a single Google executive or investor will bat an eye.…
(5/5) We know it's quite a lot to adapt to and that these changes may have business implications for you. Please know that in the ~four months before these changes take effect and beyond, we're committed to helping you adjust and explore alternative monetization options.
(2/5) These changes are necessary to address concerns about data collection on children's content on YouTube, and they will take effect globally in about four months.
Despite the fact that Youtube & Google knew these channels were geared for children, the platforms served ads & collected personal info anyway. This office is committed to protecting children & we will hold those who put our youth in harm's way accountable.
We reached a record $170M settlement with Youtube & Google for violating the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act for serving targeted ads to users watching videos meant for children. These companies risked children's personal info & abused their powers for profits.
In addition to the fine, Google will also have to make creators of children's content say whether their videos are for kids, a signal Google will use to shape its advertising practices. Google separately says it'll soon treat all data from kid videos as if the viewer is a kid.
Google and YouTube will pay record $170 million for alleged violations of children's privacy law. FTC, @NewYorkStateAG allege companies collected kids' personal info from child-directed YouTube channels w/o parental consent: https://www.ftc.gov/... #privacy #COPPA https://twitter…
Google had $32 BILLION in revenue last quarter so this fine represents just 0.5% of what it brought in during the last 90 days LESSON LEARNED https://twitter.com/...
Alphabet's 2018 full year revenue —$136,800,000,000 Fine for having “illegally collected personal information from children without their parents' consent” — $170,000,000 https://twitter.com/...
YouTube fine is beginning to illustrate the schisms at the FTC between three GOPers and two Dems over a) settlement concessions, and what the starting pt for negotiations should be, and b) the agency's existing power, and how much is needed to be tougher https://www.washingtonpos…
The settlement was a 3-2 vote, as we said, with Dems saying it doesn't require YouTube to do enough, or pay enough, for making money off improper collection of kids data. Republicans say the settlement is historic for fine and remedy. tip @Techmeme https://twitter.com/...